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. 2016 Oct 10;7:13073. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13073

Figure 1. TMJ SZ provides a niche for FCSCs.

Figure 1

(a) EDU was administered to Sprague Dawley pregnant rats (n=2) daily for 3 days. EDU+ LRCs were chased in newborns (NB), 8 and 16 weeks. (b) H&E and immunohistochemistry for aggrecan (ACAN). Arrows indicate SZ EDU+ LRCs (green). Scale bar, 50 μm. (c) LRCs were quantified in total condyle (total), SZ, and CC using ImageJ software. Data represented are mean percentage±s.d.; n=5 Sprague Dawley rats; two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc. (d) TMJ SZ was dissected in a 8-week Sprague Dawely male rat. SB, subchondral bone. Scale bar, 2 mm. (e) H&E and immunohistochemistry for lubricin and aggrecan (ACAN). Scale bar, 50 μm. (f,g) qRT-PCR of SZ relative to CC. Data represented are mean fold change normalized to GAPDH±s.d.; n=4 male Sprague Dawley rats 8 week; paired Student's t-test. (h) Lineage tracing experiment in αSMACreERT2/Ai9 male mice. Sixteen-day αSMACreERT2/Ai9 littermates were treated with tamoxifen. αSMA+ cells quantified after 2 and 15 days. (i) Col2a1 expression was examined in αSMACreERT2/Ai9 mice and αSMA+ cell percentages were calculated in total tissue (SZ + CC), SZ and CC. Data represented are mean percentage±s.d.; n=2 αSMACreERT2/Ai9 littermate male mice 18 and 31 days; two-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc. (j) Representative images of immunohistochemistry for col2a1 (green) and analysis of αSMA+ cells (red) in αSMACreERT2/Ai9 mice treated with tamoxifen. Untreated αSMACreERT2/Ai9 littermates were negative controls. Scale bar, 25 μm. ANOVA, analysis of variance; H&E, haematoxylin and eosin; qRT-PCR, quantitative real-time PCR.