Comparison of Sulfate Metabolism in Costal Cartilage of Normal and 'Little' Mice

Abstract

C57BL/6J and mutant 'little' (lit/lit) mice c. 50 days of age were injected with doses of [35S]sulfate proportional to their body weight. Despite the diminished growth rate of lit/lit mice compared with normal mice at this age, uptake of radioactivity per unit mass of cartilage was similar for both mouse types, confirming previous data. Additional experiments with these mice established that the similarity of sulfate uptake could not be accounted for by differences in the location of bound sulfate or (for females) by differences in cartilage cellularity. Investigation of sulfate loss by costal cartilage in vivo indicated that cartilage degradation occurred at a greater rate in lit/lit mice than in normally growing mice. These latter data suggest that growth hormone, which is lacking in lit/lit mice, may in part regulate skeletal growth (at least for female mice) by inhibiting degradation of cartilage.