Figure 4
Radiographical, functional and histological assessments for fracture healing following Lnk siRNA transfection. (a) Representative micro-CT 3D reconstruction images and axial images of fracture sites in both the groups at week 3. Arrowheads show rat femur fracture sites. (b–e) Quantitative micro-CT analysis of fracture healing. Callus volume, bone density, width and number of trabecula were quantified in the micro-CT images and averaged. *P<0.05 and **P<0.001 vs control siRNA. (f, g) Functional recovery after fracture was assessed by biomechanical three-point bending test at week 4. The percentage of each parameter for ultimate stress (f) and extrinsic stiffness (g) indicates the ratio of each value in the fracture site to the contralateral intact femur (n=3 in each group and each parameter). *P<0.05 vs Control siRNA. (h and i) Histological evaluation of endochondral ossification by toluidine blue staining. White dotted line marks the edge of the callus formation. Arrowheads show the sites of femur fracture. Images are shown as sets of lower magnification figures (above) and higher ones (below) of the area surrounded by yellow square in the lower ones. bc, bridging callus; cb, cortical bone; ft, fibrous tissue; gt, granulation tissue; tb, trabecular bone (h). The extent of fracture healing was assessed by Allen’s classification (n=3 in each group and at each time point). *P<0.05 vs control siRNA (i).
