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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: J Bone Miner Res. 2012 May;27(5):1080–1092. doi: 10.1002/jbmr.1552

Fig 1. OSX expression profile correlates with cellular cementum formation during postnatal development.

Fig 1

a. Representative H&E staining images show a very thin layer of cellular cementum at 3 weeks (left panel); an expanded cementum layer at 6 weeks (middle panel), and a dramatically larger cementum layer at 6 months (right panel, inset); b. OSX immunohistochemistry stained images show a weak signal in PDL and cementoblast cells at 3 weeks (left panel, inset); a strong signal in PDL and cementoblast cells at 6 weeks (middle panel, inset) and no signal at 6 months (right panel, inset); c. DMP1 signal is apparent in the cemental extracellular matrix at 3 weeks (left panel, inset) and 6 weeks (middle panel, inset) but not at 6 months (right panel, inset); d. 4-wk-old lower jaws obtained from OSX-lacZ knock-in and Dmp1-lacZ knock-in mice, where lacZ is used to trace the endogenous gene (OSX, left panel; Dmp1, right panel) expression pattern, were processed for x-gal stain. OSX-lacZ is expressed in progenitor cells in the PDL region, cementoblasts and cementocytes (left panel). Dmp1 is expressed only in cementocytes and alveolar bone osteocytes (AB, right panel); e. X-gal stain reveals a OSX-lacZ signal not only in cementoblasts/cementocytes but also in progenitor cells in the PDL region with an expression gradient pattern (6-wk-old, left panel; red arrow); the FITC confocal image (6-wk-old, right panel) shows numerous cells in PDLs (likely progenitors for cementoblasts) that surround the cementum and appear to correlate with lacZ positive-stained cells on the left panel (white balls). C, cementum; D, dentin; Cb, cementoblast; Cmc, cementocyte; Od, odontoblasts; PDL, periodontal ligament.