In serum-containing medium, ascorbic acid induces maturation of prehypertrophic chick embryo sternal chondrocytes. Recently, cultured chondrocytes have also been reported to undergo maturation in the presence of bone morphogenetic proteins or in serum-free medium supplemented with thyroxine. In the present study, we have examined the combined effect of ascorbic acid, BMP-2, and serum-free conditions on the induction of alkaline phosphatase and type X collagen in chick sternal chondrocytes. Addition of either ascorbate or rhBMP-2 to nonconfluent cephalic sternal chondrocytes produced elevated alkaline phosphatase levels within 24-72 h, and simultaneous exposure to both ascorbate and BMP yielded enzyme levels at least threefold those of either inducer alone. The effects of ascorbate and BMP were markedly potentiated by culture in serum-free medium, and alkaline phosphatase levels of preconfluent serum-free cultures treated for 48 h with BMP+ascorbate were equivalent to those reached in serum-containing medium only after confluence. While ascorbate addition was required for maximal alkaline phosphatase activity, it did not induce a rapid increase in type X collagen mRNA. In contrast, BMP added to serum-free medium induced a three- to fourfold increase in type X collagen mRNA within 24 h even in the presence of cyclohexamide, indicating that new protein synthesis was not required. Addition of thyroid hormone to serum-free medium was required for maximal ascorbate effects but not for BMP stimulation. Neither ascorbate nor BMP induced alkaline phosphatase activity in caudal sternal chondrocytes, which do not undergo hypertrophy during embryonic development. These results indicate that ascorbate+BMP in serum-free culture induces rapid chondrocyte maturation of prehypertrophic chondrocytes. The mechanisms for ascorbate and BMP action appear to be distinct, while BMP and thyroid hormone may share a similar mechanism for induction.

Purpose-The purpose of this study was to determine the facial movement characteristics of patients who underwent orthognathic surgery. The specific aims were to determine the presurgery versus postsurgery differences in facial movements; to determine whether the presurgery facial movements were similar among patients with different dentofacial deformities; and to determine whether patients have a more similar post-than presurgery dentofacial morphology and soft tissue movement. The hypothesis was that there are differences between the pre-and postsurgery facial movements.Patients and Methods-The sample consisted of 19 patients (11 women, 8 men) with a mean age of 20.6 years (SD ± 8.34). Facial movement and lateral cephalometric data were collected at presurgery, and at 6 and 12 months postsurgery. Measures of the facial skeletal differences were made from lateral cephalometric radiographs and facial movements were recorded by a videobased tracking system. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed on principal component scores generated from the movement data. A linear mixed-effects model was used to test for significant differences in movement.Results-Differences were found between the presurgery and 12-month postsurgery visits for the instructed smile, lip purse, eye closure, grimace, and mouth opening movements as well as the natural smile. Also, there were significant differences at presurgery among the dentofacial groups for the lip purse movement but no differences were found at postsurgery for any of the movements.Conclusion-These findings suggest that facial movements are effected by skeletal malocclusion and orthognathic surgical procedures.Facial appearance and our expressive behaviors have a major impact on how we are perceived and how others in society perceive us. For an individual with a facial functional impairment and/or disfigurement, however, these interactions and associated perceptions Early methods to evaluate facial impairments were based on 2-dimensional (2D) measures; however, because of a lack of information in all planes of space and a resultant oversimplification of the findings, 3-dimensional (3D) measures are now preferred. 1 Currently, 3D measures generated from video-based tracking techniques are regarded as the most valid approach to record and evaluate facial movements. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] For the correction of facial disfigurements caused by dentofacial deformities, the standard procedure is orthognathic surgery. This type of surgery is reasonably predictable and results in a harmonization of facial skeletal structures. 11-13 Much less is known, however, about the pre-and postsurgery facial soft tissue function in orthognathic surgery patients, and whether impairments in movement exist in association with the skeletal deformity. Previous research has suggested that patients with severe skeletal deformities have impairments in movement outside the range of that seen in unaffected individuals. 9 If functional impairments exist presurgically in orthognat...

During development, mRNA for matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) is found associated with cartilage undergoing hypertrophy, suggesting that this collagenase plays a role in cell enlargement and/or cartilage calcification. Using chondrocytes from prehypertrophic cartilage of chick embryo sternae, we have examined the relationship between MMP-13 expression and the transition to hypertrophy. When hypertrophy was induced by serum-free culture with ascorbate and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2), MMP-13 mRNA levels paralleled those for type X collagen. Chondrocytes from the caudal, nonhypertrophying portion of chick sternae expressed neither type X collagen nor MMP-13, confirming that MMP-13 mRNA is a marker for hypertrophy. Zymography with conditioned medium yielded a proteinase band at 59 kDa, which was absent in nonhypertrophic chondrocytes. A polyclonal antibody raised against chick MMP-13 reacted with the 59-kDa protein, confirming that it is MMP-13. Although mRNA for MMP-13 peaked at days 4-5 of culture, only low levels of MMP-13 activity were present, and the activity increased gradually in parallel with later increases in MMP-2. These results suggest that MMP-13 is activated by MMP-2 during chondrocyte maturation, and that the combination of both proteinases is required to prepare cartilage matrix for subsequent calcification, before endochondral ossification.

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