Figure 1.

Galectin 3 (GAL3) deficiency induces osteoarthritis (OA) during aging. (A) Knee cartilage sections stained with safranin-O from non-operated Gal3^−/− (n = 5 mice) and wild-type (WT) (n = 7 mice) 14-month-old mice. Low (top panels) and high (low panels) magnification are presented. OA lesions were assessed by OARSI score (right panel). (B) Immunohistochemistry of expression of ADAMTS-5 and type X collagen (n = 4 WT and n = 7 Gal3^−/− mice). The percentage of ADAMTS-5-positive chondrocytes in Gal3^−/− and WT cartilage was counted ((B), right panel). Negative controls were nonspecific IgG antibodies. Scale bars: 100 µm. Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test between WT and Gal3^−/−.