Fig. 2
Deficiency of miR-204/-211 in mesenchymal progenitor cells recapitulates OA pathogenesis. a Representative μCT images of 42-week-old miR-204/-211 floxed (control) and conditional double KO (dKO, with Prx1-Cre) mice. Red arrowheads, osteophytes. n = 5. Scale bar, 1 mm. b Representative histology images of knee joints in 42- (top) or 33-week-old (bottom) control and dKO mice stained by Alcian blue/Orange G. Yellow arrowheads, loss of articular cartilage; red arrowheads, osteochondrophytes; green arrowheads, synovial hyperplasia; black arrowheads, subchondral sclerosis. n = 5. Scale bar, 200 μm. c Results of von Frey test on 33-week-old control and dKO mice. n = 6. **P < 0.01, unpaired Student’s t test. d, e In situ hybridization using highly specific LNA-enhanced miR-204 (d) or miR-211 (e) probe (green) on knee joint sections of 7-month-old mice. The bottom panels are the enlargements of the upper images as indicated. DAPI staining marks nuclei (blue). Red arrowheads, miR-204- or miR-211-positive cells. Scale bar, 100 μm. f, g qRT-PCR analysis of miR-204 and miR-211 expression in CD45− BMSCs from control or dKO mice. **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001, unpaired Student’s t test. n = 3. Data are shown as the mean ± s.d.
