Cartilage has a unique structure that makes it a strong but flexible tissue. Elastic cartilage is found in the ear and epiglottis (located in the throat) as well as parts of the nose and trachea.

The research reveals that both structures are composed of elastic cartilage and shares gene control elements that hint at their connection. This finding sheds new light on the evolution of the ...

Medical textbooks describe three types of cartilage: hyaline, elastic and fibrocartilage. Hyaline cartilage helps bones slide ...

Because of this, damaged cartilage takes much longer to heal, compared with other tissues that are supplied by blood. Elastic cartilage, fibrocartilage, and hyaline cartilage can all be damaged.

Cartilage tissue equivalents formed from hydrogels containing chondrocytes could provide a solution for replacing damaged cartilage. Previous approaches have often utilized elastic hydrogels.

The first clue toward cracking this mystery was the team’s discovery that gills and outer ears are both composed of a relatively rare tissue type: elastic cartilage. “When we started the study, there ...