FIG. 1.

Remodeling of vertebral trabecular bone induced by elevated levels of Shh. Vertebrae from C57BL/6 mice were harvested 18 days after intravenous administration of adenovirus encoding a soluble form of Shh (AdShhN), a control adenovirus without a transgene (AdNull), or PBS. Microscopic morphology of mouse vertebrae were examined in histologic sections stained with H&E by brightfield microscopy or by μCT. (A) H&E images of vertebrae. PBS (left; AdNull (middle); and AdShhN (right). AdShhN-treated vertebrae show remodeling of trabecular architecture. Bar = 200 μm. (B) Total trabecular area in H&E-stained sagittal sections (n = 5 for all groups). (C) Reconstructed μCT image of a 370-μm midline sagittal section through the lumbar level 6 (L₆) vertebra. (D) Tissue mineral density of L₆ vertebrae (n = 5 for all groups). For B and D, data shown as mean ± SE.