Fig. 1

Germline deletions of miR-204/-211 cause multifaceted OA phenotype. a Schematic of miR-204 (or miR-211) conditional knockout (cKO) allele. Note that the contents, such as lines, boxes and arrows, are not proportional. b Representative μCT images of 46-week-old miR-204/-211 floxed (control) and global double knockout mice (miR-204^−/−; miR-211^−/−). Red arrowheads, osteophytes. n = 5. Scale bar, 1 mm. c Representative histology images of knee joints of 46-week-old miR-204/-211 floxed mice and global double KO (miR-204^−/−; miR-211^−/−) mice stained by Alcian blue/Orange G. Yellow arrowhead, loss of articular cartilage; red arrowhead, osteophytes; green arrowhead, synovial hyperplasia; black arrowheads, subchondral sclerosis. n = 5. Scale bar, 200 μm. d, f Histomorphometric quantification of medial AC area (d), and calcified meniscus area (f) of 46-week-old miR-204/-211 floxed mice (control) and miR-204^−/−; miR-211^−/− mice (mutant). ****P < 0.0001, n = 4 or 5. Unpaired Student’s t test. e Osteoarthritis research society international (OARSI) scoring system was used to evaluate knee joint articular cartilage (AC) destruction in 46-week-old control and mutant mice. **P < 0.01, Mann−Whitney test. n = 6