Function Hyaline cartilage
In normal joints the bone ends are covered with hyaline cartilage. In articular cartilage, the collagen fibrils are arcade-shaped. They extend radially from the deepest zone, then bend in a tangential direction and retract again into the depth.
This results in a zonation from top to bottom. In the tangential zone, the fibrils run tangentially to the surface and are oriented in the direction of the strongest tensile stress. This is followed by a transition zone and a radial zone.In the zone of mineralized cartilage, the fibrils are anchored and the zone is interlocked with the bone beginning below. The arrangement is closely linked to the respective function.
