Figure 5
Upregulation of b-Catenin in the nucleus pulposus partially prevented the structural disorganization of tail IVD from compression and limited the loss of aggrecan expression. (A) Experimental design/timeline of 4 mo bCAT cACT and WT mice (b-Cateninfl(Ex3)/fl(Ex3)) injected with tamoxifen for 1 week and either tissues were harvested or tails were compressed for 1 week. Red “X” indicates tissue harvest. Letters on the right side of the “X” indicate the panels in the timeline. (B) Gene expression of bCAT cACT and WT IVDs following 1 week of tamoxifen (without loading, n = 3/grp). (C) Gene expression of bCAT cACT and WT IVDs following 1 week of tamoxifen and 1 week of compression (n = 3, grp). (D) Safranin-O stain of WT and bCAT cACT subjected to loading. Scale bar: (D) 100 µm. Data are presented as mean + SD. Loaded vs Control; *p < 0.05.
