Figure 6

The panels on the left show representative photomicrographs of gelatinase B/MMP-9 mRNA expression in the chondro-osseous junction (6A), denoted by the black color and arrows, 20×); ^a p < 0.02 Rapamycin (2 weeks) vs Rapamycin (4 weeks). RANKL protein expression in the hypertrophic chondrocytes (6B, denoted by arrows and brown color), 50×; ^ap < 0.008 Rapamycin (2 weeks) vs Control (2 weeks); ^bp < 0.002 Rapamycin (2 weeks) vs Rapamycin (4 weeks). OPG protein expression localized to the hypertrophic chondrocytes (6C, denoted by arrows and brown color), 50×. The panels on the right show the quantification of the protein expression for gelatinase B/MMP-9 (upper panel); RANKL (middle panel); and OPG (lower panel) after 2 weeks and 4 weeks in Rapamycin and Control groups expressed as number of labeled cells to the total number of cells in the appropriate zone (Labeling Index).