(A) Gross phenotypes of 3-week old control (on the left) and Prx1-Cre; Tg (on the
right) littermates. (B–E) Hematoxylin and eosin stained femur sections
of control (B,D) and Prx1-Cre;Tg mice (C,E). Images were captured at 2×
(B,C) or 10× (D,E) magnification. Note the absence of secondary
ossification center in Prx1-Cre;Tg samples (Panels C and E). (F) Elevated levels
of c-fos mRNA in BMSCs from Prx1-Cre; Tg compared to control littermates,
measured by using qRT-PCR and β-actin mRNA as a reference control. Data
represent mean ± SEM (n=7); *, p<0.05 vs control
(two-tailed Student’s t-test).