Figure 5.

Reduced soft and mineralized tissue in CKO vertebrae. CKO mice (B,D,F) had smaller vertebrae and intervertebral disks than Cre- age-matched control mice (A,C,E). Changes similar to those found in other bones were present in the vertebrae from CKO mice (D), with thinned cortices and thin trabeculae compared to comparable Cre- control mice (C). The intervertebral disks were also smaller in CKO mice (F) but had similar differentiation of the nucleus pulposus and annulus fibrosus. The cartilage end plates were comparable. Scale bars (A,B) = 200 μm. Scale bars (C–F) = 100 μm.