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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Matrix Biol. 2019 Feb 24;82:54–70. doi: 10.1016/j.matbio.2019.02.004

Figure 5. p16Ink4a cKO mice alter aggrecan functionality and expression of major extracellular matrix collagens of the disc.

Figure 5

(A-B’) cKO mice show decreased levels of collagen I and collagen II expression in the NP. (C-D) Collagen X was expressed in both groups with an increasing expression in cKO. (E-E) Analysis of aggrecan (ACAN) and its functional attributes. Expression of ACAN core protein was similar between the two genotypes (E-E’). Levels of chondroitin sulfate (CS) in NP (F-F’, I) and aggrecanases generated degradation product, ARGxx in AF were lower cKO group (G-G’’’, I). (H-I’). Mann-Whitney test was used for comparing differences between the groups. NS = not significant; p ≤ 0.05 *; p ≤ 0.01 **. N = 6 animals/genotype, 1–2 discs per animal, were analyzed. Scale bar = 200 µm (A-A’, B-C’, E-G’, H-H’ ) and 20 µm (A’’-A’’’, C’’-C’’’, G’’-G’’).