Table 2.
Distribution of SIBLING proteins in the ECM and chondrocytes of the femoral head cartilage
| 4-Week-old rat |
8-Week-old rat |
16–Week-old rat |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | D | S | M | D | S | M | D | |
| Matrix/cell | M/C | M/C | M/C | M/C | M/C | M/C | M/C | M/C | M/C |
| DMP1-N | ++/++ | +/++ | −/+ | ++/++ | +/++ | −/+ | ++/+++ | ++/++ | +/++ |
| DMP1-C | +/+ | −/+ | −/+ | +/+ | −/+ | −/+ | +/+ | −/+ | −/+ |
| BSP | +/+ | +/+ | −/+ | +/+ | +/+ | +/+ | +/+ | ++/+ | +/+ |
| OPN | +/+ | +/+ | −/+ | +/+ | +/+ | +/+ | +/+ | ++/++ | +/++ |
| DSP | +/+ | −/+ | −/+ | +/+ | −/+ | −/+ | +/+ | −/+ | −/+++ |
We divided the femoral head cartilage from 4- to 16-week-old rats into three layers: the superficial layer (S), the middle layer (M), and the deep layer (D). M, signal in ECM; C, signal in chondrocytes. SIBLING, small integrin-binding ligand, N-linked glycoprotein; ECM, extracellular matrix; DMP1-N, NH2-terminal region of the DMP1 amino acid sequence; DMP1-C, COOH-terminal region of DMP1 amino acid sequence; ++, moderately positive; +, slightly positive; −, negative; +++, strongly positive.