Figure 6. LepR⁺ cells give rise to osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes after intrafemoral transplantation.

(A) Experimental design.

(B–D) Representative femur sections from Col2.3-GFP mice transplanted with 500 Tomato⁺Col2.3-GFP⁻ cells as described in (A) (n=5). Note that the transplanted Tomato⁺Col2.3-GFP⁻ cells gave rise to Col2.3-GFP⁺ osteoblasts (B), Perilipin⁺ adipocytes (C), and Aggrecan⁺ cartilage cells (at the injection site, D).

(E) Fraction of recipient mice in which Tomato⁺ cells were observed to contribute to each of the indicated mesenchymal lineages (n=12 mice).

(F) The percentage of LepR⁺ bone marrow stromal cells or Col2.3-GFP⁺ osteoblasts that were also Tomato⁺ (donor-derived) in the femurs of recipient mice (mean±SD from 3 mice in 3 independent experiments).

(G) No Tomato⁺LepR⁺ cells or Tomato⁺Col2.3-GFP⁺ cells were observed in the femurs of mice transplanted with 10⁵ non-hematopoietic Col2.3-GFP⁻Tomato⁻ cells from Lepr-cre; tdTomato; Col2.3-GFP mice (n=3).