Fig. 2: Fibulin2 knockout accelerates bone formation during early skeletal development and inhibits inflammatory bone resorption after cecal ligation and puncture surgery in mice.

a Fibulin2 knockout (KO) neonatal mice and wild-type (WT) mice from the same litter were used to stain whole skeletal tissue with alizarin red/Alcian blue, and the staining intensity was assessed after 0, 7 or 14 days. Mineralized bone was stained red, and cartilage was stained blue. b Trabeculae in the area within 1 cm of the proximal end of the growth plate in femurs. Trabecular number was determined by microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). c Quantification of the micro-CT results. Bone volume (BV), bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV), trabecular bone number (Tb. N), and connectivity density (Conn. D.). (NS not significant; *P < 0.05, n ≥ 3). d HE-stained and Masson’s trichrome-stained femurs. (CLP cecal ligation and puncture). All femurs were harvested 28 days after surgery.