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. 2015 Nov;185(11):2875–2885. doi: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2015.07.003

Figure 9.

Figure 9

Structural characteristic evaluation of the articular cartilage of knee joints from losartan-treated mice at 8 weeks after DMM surgery. A: The structural characteristic conditions of articular cartilages in mice are similar to Tgfbr2-deficient mice. Fibrillation (arrow) in the articular cartilage of mice without treatment of losartan; no fibrillation is observed in mice with treatment of losartan (Safranin O/Fast Green). B: The mean scores were 2.14 ± 0.58 in mice without the treatment of losartan and 0.64 ± 0.23 in mice with the treatment of losartan. C: Immunostaining for p-Smad2/3 protein is similar to Tgfbr2-deficient mice. The p-Smad2/3 positive-staining cells (16%) are seen in the articular cartilage of mice without treatment of losartan after DMM, whereas the p-Smad2/3 positive-staining cells are detected at approximately 1% in the losartan-treated mice after DMM surgery. The white dashed line separates the articular cartilage from the subchondral bone. Data are expressed as means ± SD. n = 8 mice. n = 7 mice. ∗P < 0.05 (t-test). Scale bars: 100 μm (A); 50 μm (B). DMM, destabilization of the medial meniscus.