Hyaline cartilage matrix is primarily made of type II collagen and chondroitin sulphate, both of which are also found in elastic cartilage. Hyaline cartilage exists on the sternal ends of the ribs, in the larynx, trachea, and bronchi, and on the articulating surfaces of bones.

The territorial matrix is the tissue surrounding chondrocytes (cells which produce cartilage) in cartilage. Chondrocytes are inactive cartilage cells, so they don’t make cartilage components.

Chondrocytes occupy relatively little of the hyaline cartilage mass. They are embedded in an extensive matrix and are located in matrix cavities known as lacunae, which appear as tiny white lakes under a light microscope.

Hyaline cartilage, the most common type of cartilage, is composed of type II collagen and chondromucoprotein and often has a glassy appearance. Note the numerous chondrocytes in this image, each located within lacunae and surrounded by the cartilage they have produced.

Abstract. Hyaline cartilage is found in the synovial joints and assists the motion of joints. It is composed of chondrocytes and extracellular matrix. Chondrocytes plays a major role in the organization of extracellular matrix, which is responsible for the biomechanical properties of cartilage tissue.

Hyaline cartilage is easily distinguished from elastic and fibrocartilage because of the homogeneous (no fibers are visible) extracellular matrix (ECM) . Elastic cartilage (like hyaline cartilage) has chondrocytes located in lacunae and the tissue is surrounded by a perichondrium .

The key difference between fibrocartilage and hyaline cartilage is that fibrocartilage is the strongest cartilage composed of alternating layers of hyaline cartilage matrix and thick layers of dense type I and type II collagen fibres while hyaline cartilage is the weakest cartilage composed of widely dispersed fine …

Note that the cartilage matrix is relatively homogeneous and basophilic. This is due to the masking of the collagen fibers by the high concentration of the glycosaminoglycans in the ground substance. The matrix immediately surrounding the lacunae is more intensely basophilic. This zone is the territorial matrix.

Hyaline cartilage. Cartilage is easy to recognize because it looks so much different from other tissues. This image shows a section of the wall of the trachea. You can feel the hyaline cartilage in your own trachea by pressing you fingers gently against the front of your throat and moving them slightly up and down.

The extracellular matrix of hyaline cartilage histology is homogenous and glassy in appearance. The amorphous ground substance of a hyaline structure is generally firm and contains a collagen fiber network (type II). You will find the pericellular, territorial matrix and interterritorial matrix in the hyaline cartilage structure.

Near the hyaline cartilage surface, these chondrocytes are small in size, and the lacunae are elliptical. But in the deep hyaline cartilage structure, the chondrocyte becomes larger and more polyhedral shaped. Lacunae are the oval or elliptical space like cavity in the matrix of hyaline cartilage.

Hyaline cartilage is identified by its blue-purple appearance and by its isogenous groups of chondrocytes. The lack of blood vessels in hyaline cartilage means that nutrients and wastes must diffuse through the tissue, thus limiting the thickness of the hyaline cartilage. 400x

This matrix region may play a functional role to initiate signal transduction within cartilage with load bearing. 15