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. 2021 Feb 26;12:1293. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21545-1

Fig. 6. Macro-, micro- and nano- structures of neotendons regenerated by ACF loaded with rPOSTN.

Fig. 6

a (i-iii) Schematic of surgical procedure: (i) A full defect model; (ii) Grafting; (iii) Healing. (iv-x) Gross morphology of an Achilles tendon pre-surgery, surgery, and post-surgery. b HE and Masson’s trichrome staining of neotendons from different groups at 2, 4, and 8 weeks postoperatively (n = 5 rats per group). c (i) Immunofluorescence staining of CD146, Sox2, and Oct4 of neotendons of each group at 2 weeks postoperatively. (ii) Semi-quantification of (i) (n = 5 rats per group, by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test: ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01). d (i) Immunofluorescence staining of Tnc and Tnmd of sections of each group at 8 weeks postoperatively. (ii) Semi-quantification of (i) (n = 5 rats per group, by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test: ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05). e (i) SEM and TEM (transverse and longitudinal) of newly-formed tendon collagen fibrils of each group at 8 weeks postoperatively. (ii) Collagen fibril diameter distribution and circularity in the ACF and ACF-rP groups (n = 3 rats per group, by two-tailed Student’s t test: *P < 0.05). Data are represented as mean ± SD. Exact P values were given in the Source Data file.