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Fig. 4 | BMC Developmental Biology

Fig. 4

From: FOXL2 modulates cartilage, skeletal development and IGF1-dependent growth in mice

Fig. 4

Analysis of cartilage maturation and bone mineralization in WT and Foxl2−/− embryos. (a,b) At 12.5 dpc, alcian blue/nuclear fast red coupled with Von Kossa staining shows impaired vertebral condensations in the Foxl2 −/− mouse, with reduced intervertebral mesenchyme and disorganized mesenchymal tissue (mt, white arrowheads). (c,d) At 12.5 dpc in Foxl2 −/− mice SOX9 expression shows a lack of definition of the vertebral condensations (vc), with the prevalence of dispersed SOX9 marked cells in intervertebral mesenchyme (im). (e,f) At 15.5 dpc, alcian blue/nuclear fast red coupled with Von Kossa staining of mandibular bone surrounding Meckel cartilage (Mk) shows the initial mineralization only in the WT mouse, indicated by white arrowhead. (e1,f1) 100X magnification relative to the boxed areas in Figures e and f. (g-n) At 16.5 dpc, alcian blue/nuclear fast red coupled with Von Kossa staining (g,h, k-n) and immunostaining with antibody to SOX9 (i,j), revealed retarded mineralization in Foxl2 −/− vertebral column (g,h), with SOX9 still expressed in the vertebral bodies (vb, white arrowhead; i,j), suggesting a delay in mineralization process. Retarded mineralization was also evident in Foxl2 −/− frontal (k,l) and basoccipital bone (m,n). vc, vertebral condensations; im, intervertebral mesenchyme; mt, mesenchymal tissue; Mk, Meckel cartilage; np, nucleus pulposus; vb, vertebral bodies. Magnifications 20X, scale bar = 50 um for all figures except for e1, f1 with magnifications 100X and scale bar = 5 um

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