Fig 3. Comparison of osteoclastogenesis using ER-Hoxb8 cells from different WT mouse strains.

(A) ER-Hoxb8 OC progenitors (16,000 cells per cm²) obtained from BM cells of C57BL/6J, BALB/c and C3H/HeJ WT mice were subjected to osteoclastogenesis with M-CSF and sRANKL. TRAP activity of supernatants was measured at d5 of differentiation. Data are displayed as the mean ± SD, n = 3 (three differentiation experiments from identical batches of ER-Hoxb8 SCs). Significant differences in average TRAP activity compared to C57/BL6J-derived OC values are indicated by asterisks (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001, Student’s t-test). (B) Representative microscopy images of formalin-fixed and TRAP-stained ER-Hoxb8-derived OCs of indicated WT origin. Representative multi-nucleated and TRAP-positive OCs are shown at lower (left column; scale bars = 200 μm) and higher magnification (right column; scale bars = 100 μm).