Regulation of Growth in Mandibular Condylar Cartilage

The mandibular condylar cartilage (MCC) has a distinctly different developmental and phylogenetic history from cartilages of the limbs and cranial base. Because the cells that divide to effect growth and adaptation in the MCC are of perichondrial/periosteal rather than chondrogenic origin, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate MCC growth are only beginning to be understood. This article summarizes information regarding receptors and their ligands that are potential growth regulators at the MCC, and examines how growth regulation at the MCC may differ from the mechanisms that take place in growth plate. Finally, emerging evidence bearing on the possibilities for altering MCC growth rate or direction for therapeutic purposes will be discussed.