RESEARCH ARTICLE Adult chondrogenesis and spontaneous cartilage repair in the skate, Leucoraja erinacea Aleksandra Marconi1, Amy Hancock-Ronemus2,3, J Andrew Gillis1,3* 1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; 2Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, Massachusetts, United States; 3Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States Abstract Mammalian articular cartilage is an avascular tissue with poor capacity for spontaneous repair. Here, we show that embryonic development of cartilage in the skate (Leucoraja erinacea) mirrors that of mammals, with developing chondrocytes co-expressing genes encoding the transcription factors Sox5, Sox6 and Sox9. However, in skate, transcriptional features of developing cartilage persist into adulthood, both in peripheral chondrocytes and in cells of the fibrous perichondrium that ensheaths the skeleton. Using pulse-chase label retention experiments and multiplexed in situ hybridization, we identify a population of cycling Sox5/6/9+ perichondral progenitor cells that generate new cartilage during adult growth, and we show that persistence of chondrogenesis in adult skates correlates with ability to spontaneously repair cartilage injuries. Skates therefore offer a unique model for adult chondrogenesis and cartilage repair and may serve as inspiration for novel cell-based therapies for skeletal pathologies, such as osteoarthritis. Introduction Hyaline cartilage is a skeletal tissue that consists of a single cell type (the chondrocyte) embedded *For correspondence:
[email protected] within a homogeneous, collagenous extracellular matrix (reviewed in Gillis, 2018). In mammals, hya- line cartilage is predominantly an embryonic tissue, making up the anlage of the axial (chondrocra- Competing interests: The nial, vertebral and rib) and appendicular (limb) endoskeleton. The vast majority of mammalian authors declare that no hyaline cartilage is replaced by bone during the process of endochondral ossification, with cartilage competing interests exist.