Molecular analyses. All the samples were processed for the analyses. (A) Survival of motor neuron (SMN)-specific immunoreactivity (representative samples; normal chondrocytes are also shown in regular light; magnification ×200). (B) Abundance of SMN-specific bodies. (C) Correlation between the abundance of SMN-specific bodies and osteoarthritis (OA) severity. The values of Figures 1B and 3B were combined to evaluate the correlation between the two parameters. *Statistically significant difference between groups. (D) Normalized mRNA expression of SMN (1.17–1.22, 1.24–1.27, 1.27–1.33 and 1.32–1.38 in normal, mild, moderate and severe OA samples, respectively) and type-II collagen (1.57–1.59, 1.72–1.76, 1.84–1.88 and 1.91–1.94 in normal, mild, moderate and severe OA samples, respectively). Statistically significant difference between groups for *SMN and +type-II collagen.