Lubrication of Articular Cartilage

The major synovial joints such as hips and knees are uniquely efficient tribological systems, able to articulate over a wide range of shear rates with a friction coefficient between the sliding cartilage surfaces as low as 0.001 up to pressures of more than 100 atm. No human-made material can match...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of biomedical engineering 2016-07, Vol.18 (1), p.235-258
Main Authors: Jahn, Sabrina, Seror, Jasmine, Klein, Jacob
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
articular cartilage
boundary lubrication
cartilage lubrication
Cartilage, Articular - chemistry
Cartilage, Articular - physiology
Friction
friction and lubrication
Humans
hyaluronan
hydration lubrication
Joints - chemistry
Joints - physiology
Lubrication
lubricin
Models, Biological
Models, Chemical
osteoarthritis
phospholipids
Rheology - methods
supramolecular synergy
Synovial Fluid - chemistry
Synovial Fluid - physiology
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Summary:The major synovial joints such as hips and knees are uniquely efficient tribological systems, able to articulate over a wide range of shear rates with a friction coefficient between the sliding cartilage surfaces as low as 0.001 up to pressures of more than 100 atm. No human-made material can match this. The means by which such surfaces maintain their very low friction has been intensively studied for decades and has been attributed to fluid-film and boundary lubrication. Here, we focus especially on the latter: the reduction of friction by molecular layers at the sliding cartilage surfaces. In particular, we discuss such lubrication in the light of very recent advances in our understanding of boundary effects in aqueous media based on the paradigms of hydration lubrication and of the synergism between different molecular components of the synovial joints (namely hyaluronan, lubricin, and phospholipids) in enabling this lubrication.
ISSN:1523-9829
1545-4274
DOI:10.1146/annurev-bioeng-081514-123305