Fibrocartilage from the distal region of bovine flexor tendon exhibited the greatest overall electrophoretic mobility for the cationic dye amongst the tissues and less, if any, anisotropy compared with tendon (Fig. 2). The distal region of the bovine flexor tendon is adapted to primarily compressive loading such that fibrocartilage exhibits greater cellularity, more loosely packed and disorganized collagen fibers exhibiting an interwoven organization, greater amounts of anionic glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), including elevated levels of large (~220 kDa) aggrecan proteoglycans, and thus greater water retention compared with tendon (Fig. 4) (Benjamin and Ralphs, 1998, Koob and Vogel, 1987 and Vogel and Evanko, 1987).