Abstract
Chick limb‐bud mesenchymal cells, plated in micromass culture, differentiate in vitro to form a cartilaginous structure analogous to the epiphyseal growth plate. When inorganic phosphate, Pi, is included in the medium such that the total Pi concentration is 4 mM, apatite mineral precipitates around the “hypertrophic” chondrocytes. These hypertrophic chondrocytes are characterized by their increased expression of type X collagen, alkaline phosphatase activity, and apoptosis, as well as by the ability of their extracellular matrices to support mineral deposition. Under standard mineralizing conditions (0.8 × 10^6^cells/micromass; 4 mM Pi, 1.3 mM Ca^2+^, 10% FCS, and antibiotics) mineralization does not commence until day 14–16. Based on the ability of bone morphogenic protein 6 (BMP‐6) to stimulate chondrocyte maturation in other systems, 100 ng/ml BMP‐6 was added to chick limb‐bud mesenchymal cell cultures 2 and 5 days after plating, and the effects of this addition on mineral accretion and the characteristics of the mineral and matrix determined. Addition of BMP‐6 accelerated the differentiation of the mesenchymal cells to hypertrophic chondrocytes. In the presence of BMP‐6 added on both days 2 and 5, mineralization (assessed on basis of ^45^Ca uptake) commenced by day 12. Fourier transform infrared imaging (FTIRI) was used to monitor the mineral content and mineral crystallinity as a function of time from day 9 to 21 in cultures with and without exogenous BMP‐6. While BMP‐6 accelerated the rate of mineral accretion, and the crystals that were formed in the BMP‐6 cultures were initially more mature, by day 21 the crystal size distribution in experimental and control cultures were not significantly different. This study, the first to report the detailed application of FTIRI to cell cultures, indicates the importance of the extracellular matrix in the control of crystal maturation. J. Cell. Biochem. 84: 509–519, 2002. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.