Ontogeny of the meniscus in the anuran Xenopus laevis. 2023

María de Los Ángeles Lazarte, and Adriana Manzano, and Romel S Sanchez, and Virginia Abdala
Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical (IBN), UNT-CONICET, Tucumán, Argentina.

The anuran knee joint is subjected to the jump, one of the tetrapods' most demanding mechanical stresses. Consistent with this continuous effort, the knee of the anurans has a complex structure comparable to that of an amniote. Here, we describe the ontogeny of the Xenopus knee tissues and study the morphogenesis of the knee joint shape by performing a geometric morphometric analysis of specially selected anatomical structures: the menisci and the long bone epiphyses. A meniscus is a crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure, with a triangular cross-section inserted between joints surfaces. A meniscus transmits load across the tibiofemoral joint by increasing congruity of the long bone epiphysis and decreasing the resulting stress exerted on the articular cartilage. We ask two questions: (1) what is the tissue composition along the ontogeny of the menisci of a swimming frog? (2) How do the menisci acquire the shape that will allow their adjustment? We studied the structures and tissue ontogeny of the knee of several specimens of Xenopus laevis and evaluated the congruity of the knee structures across the species ontogeny. Histological sections showed that the cavitation process responsible for separating the menisci and the epiphyses seems to be pivotal in shaping the conformity of these structures and the long bone epiphyses of the hindlimbs. The geometric morphometric analysis allowed us to interpret three phases of differentiation associated with limb functionality. The characteristic shape of the meniscus appears early in the ontogeny of the knee, simultaneously with the epiphysis contours.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007719 Knee Joint A synovial hinge connection formed between the bones of the FEMUR; TIBIA; and PATELLA. Superior Tibiofibular Joint,Joint, Knee,Joint, Superior Tibiofibular,Knee Joints,Superior Tibiofibular Joints,Tibiofibular Joint, Superior
D008592 Menisci, Tibial The interarticular fibrocartilages of the superior surface of the tibia. Lateral Menisci,Medial Menisci,Menisci, Lateral,Menisci, Medial,Semilunar Cartilages,Tibial Menisci,Meniscus, Medial,Meniscus, Tibial,Tibial Meniscus,Cartilage, Semilunar,Cartilages, Semilunar,Lateral Meniscus,Medial Meniscus,Meniscus, Lateral,Semilunar Cartilage
D000072600 Meniscus Crescent-shaped cartilaginous tissue interposed between two articulating bones. Menisci
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013314 Stress, Mechanical A purely physical condition which exists within any material because of strain or deformation by external forces or by non-uniform thermal expansion; expressed quantitatively in units of force per unit area. Mechanical Stress,Mechanical Stresses,Stresses, Mechanical
D014982 Xenopus laevis The commonest and widest ranging species of the clawed "frog" (Xenopus) in Africa. This species is used extensively in research. There is now a significant population in California derived from escaped laboratory animals. Platanna,X. laevis,Platannas,X. laevi

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