2. Pathophysiology -- 2.1 Osteoarthritis -- Mary Goldring or Tom Aigner: Osteoarthritis in general -- Thomas Pap/Julia Bertrand: OA and Syndecans -- Tonia Vincent: Cartilage injury -- Richard Loeser: OA and aging -- Attila Aszodi: Integrin-mediated interactions in OA -- Susanne Grässel: Neuroendocrinology (POMC, sensory and sympathetic nervous system) and OA -- Andrew Pitsillides : OA and profiling or murine models -- Amanda Fosang: Proteoglycan degradation in osteoarthritis -- 2.2 Chondrodysplasias -- John Bateman: Chondrodysplasias in general -- Danny Chan: Chondrodysplasias or disk degeneration -- Mats Paulsson or Frank Zaucke: Matrilins/COMP mutations and cartilage pathology.

In three Volumes this mini book series presents current knowledge and new perspectives on cartilage as a specialized yet versatile tissue. This second volume is dedicated to basic pathologies of the two most common osteoarticular diseases affecting large segments of the Western population, osteoarthritis and chondrodysplasias. This book addresses Professors, researchers and PhD students who are interested in musculoskeletal and cartilage biology and pathobiology.