Fig. 1.

Loss of IFT20 in MSCs causes significantly shortened limbs and inhibits skeletal development. (A–D) Representative whole-mount skeletal-stained image of Prx1-Cre; IFT20^f/f mice and age-matched controls at the newborn stage (P0). The black arrows direct to the shorten limbs and the serious area of bone loss at P0. N = 5. (E) Representative H&E-stained image of the tibiae from Prx1-Cre; IFT20^f/f mice and controls at P0. Scale bars, 100 μm. N = 5. (F) High magnification image of box area from (E). Scale bars, 50 μm. (G) Relative length of growth plate and the proliferation zone (PZ) was identified based on (E, F) as indicated. (H, I) Representative image of colony formation (CFU) stained with 0.5% crystal violet, and quantified colony numbers as indicated. (J, K) Representative fluorescence image of BrdU⁺ in the tibiae from Prx1-Cre; IFT20^f/f mice and controls at P0. Scale bars, 100 μm. The BrdU⁺ cells were quantified in the corresponding column (K). N = 5. (L–O) Representative fluorescence image of MMP13 and ColX at P0 tibiae, and the corresponding quantification as indicated. N = 5. Error bars were the means ± SEM from three independent experiments. ***P < 0.001. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)