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The presence of vitamin-D-dependent calcium-binding protein (CaBP-9K) in tibial growth-plate cartilage was immunohistochemically demonstrated using a specific antibody to rat duodenal CaBP-9K. The protein was found to be mainly localized in the cytoplasm of maturing chondrocytes. In hypertrophic chondrocytes, CaBP-9K concentrations decreased, and the protein was found in the cytoplasmic processes. No CaBP-specific immunoreactivity was seen in the hypertrophic chondrocytes of the lower calcified hypertrophic zone; in contrast, the protein was found in the extracellular lateral edges of longitudinal septa, i.e. where matrix vesicles are preferentially localized and where cartilage mineralization is initiated. These findings suggest that vitamin D has a direct function in this tissue. It also seems likely that CaBP-9K is an indicator of chondrocyte maturation, and that it is involved in the matrix vesicle-associated process of cartilage calcification.

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