Figure 1

Characterization of mice with cartilage-specific Elf3 deficiency. (A) IL-1β treatment significantly induced Elf3 mRNA in WT but not in cKO cartilage explants (n = 4/ea). Data are represented as the fold-change in mRNA levels relative to untreated controls (dotted line). (B) RTqPCR analyses of total RNA extracted from kidney, liver, and lung (n = 4/ea) showed no difference in Elf3 mRNA levels between cKO and WT samples. (C) Representative histological sections of growth plates from tibiae of cKO and WT mice at P7 and P21. Vertical lines indicate proliferative (PZ, white) and hypertrophic (HZ, black) zones. Quantification of the thickness of hypertrophic and proliferative zones is shown for P7 (n = 4/genotype) and P21 (n = 3/genotype). (D) Representative images of type X collagen (Col10) immunostaining in hypertrophic zones of cKO and WT mice at P7. The quantification of the Col10-positive area (n = 3/ea) is shown as mean signal intensity (red = Col10-positive, blue = DAPI). Scale bar = 100 μm. (E) Representative digital radiographs of tibiae and femora from WT and cKO mice at P21 (n = 3/ea). Quantification is shown on the right. Scale bar = 1.87 mm. Data are shown as mean ± S.D. *p < 0.05 by t-test.