The data represent WT and ERβKO mice under normal load (NL) or decreased occlusal loading (DOL) with either placebo (Plb) or estradiol (Esd) treatment. Specifically, the labels indicate the following: NL = normal load and placebo; DOL = decreased occlusal loading and placebo; Esd = normal load and estradiol; DOL + Esd = decreased occlusal loading and estradiol. Representative hematoxylin & eosin (H&E) images (A), cartilage thickness as determined by histomorphometry (B), BrdU proliferative immunohistochemical staining (C), and quantified percentage of BrdU+ cells (D) are shown. For histomorphometric and BrdU analysis, n=6 mice were utilized for all groups and the average of 3–6 sections/mouse was analyzed. BrdU+ cells were normalized to the total number of cells in the cartilage region as determined from the adjacent H&E section. Statistical significance was determined by a two-way ANOVA followed by posthoc analysis with the Bonferonni method with p < 0.05. Exact p values are listed above the bars that denote significance.