Figure 4.

Sox9 promotes BMP2-induced chondrogenesis in MSCs, which is inhibited by Smad7. (A) C3H10T1/2 cells were infected with the indicated adenoviral vectors and implanted subcutaneously in athymic nude mice for 8 weeks. The retrieved masses were subjected to microCT analysis (A-a) to determine the average bone volume (A-b) and the mean mineral density in Hounsfield unit (HU) (A-c). No masses were retrieved from Sox9 only, Smad7 only, and GFP only groups. Representative images are shown. “*”, p < 0.05, vs. Ad-BMP2+Ad-GFP; “^#” p < 0.05, vs. Ad-BMP2+Ad-Sox9. (B). Histologic evaluation of the retrieved bone masses. The retrieved masses were fixed, decalcified and subjected to hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) (a), Masson's trichrome (b), and alcian blue staining (c). Representative images are shown.