Feel the bendy part of your ear? That's cartilage. Chondroblasts are the young builder cells that make it.
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Cartilage is tough but bendy tissue. It's in your ears, your nose, and the ends of your bones.
Chondroblasts are young, busy cells found at the edges of cartilage and where new cartilage is growing. They are roundish, with a big nucleus and lots of machinery for making things.
Before you were born, much of your skeleton started out as cartilage. Later, most of it was swapped for bone!
A chondroblast pushes out a rubbery mix of fibers and gel called matrix. That matrix is what makes cartilage strong and springy.
As it works, the chondroblast slowly walls itself in. Once it's trapped inside its own matrix, it settles down and becomes a chondrocyte, a cartilage keeper cell.
Scroll up to the 3D model and press Build cartilage.
By Smile and Learn - English. A fun video for kids.
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