Fig. 6
The Flnb−/− phenotype is rescued by combinatorial inhibition of TGFβ and p38 signaling. a–d Representative images of sagittal sections of T7-T8 cultured IVDs stained with Alcian Blue for proteoglycan secretion or IHC-HRP using an antibody against type II collagen. a–a” Flnb–/–spine exhibiting increased proteoglycan secretion Type II Collagen secretion and disrupted tissue architecture (b–b”) Inhibition of BMP/p38 in combination reduces proteoglycan secretion in the AF while maintaining higher levels in the AC of Flnb–/– IVDs and shows improvement of Type II Collagen levels but not distribution (black arrows). c–c”) Inhibition of TGFβ/Smad2,3/p38 improved proteoglycan levels but not distribution while reducing type II collagen secretion in the AF and maintaining higher levels in the AC of Flnb–/– IVDs (black arrows). d–d” Inhibition of TGFβ/Smad2,3/ERK/p38 in combination reduces proteoglycan secretion, and type II collagen in the AF maintains higher levels in the AC of Flnb–/– IVDs (black arrows) while also rescuing tissue architecture. n = 3 individual mouse spines with multiple affected IVDs
