"The ground substance in joint cartilage fills in the gaps between the collagen fibers, which run parallel to each other within the cartilage. As an analogy, the collagen fibers are like the bricks of the cartilage structure, and the glycosaminoglycans are like the mortar between the bricks. Not only does glucosamine sulfate supplementation stimulate the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans, but it stimulates the synthesis of collagen by chondrocytes. "