Research Paper Advance Articles
Blood vessel and osteocyte networks concurrently rearrange during bone maturation and decline during aging in the femur of male mice
Figure 5. Age-related changes for the gene expression and protein synthesis of Sclerostin, DMP1 and PHEX. (A) Sost gene expression. (B) Quantification of Sclerostin-positive osteocytes (Ocy) based on immunofluorescence. (C) Representative images for Sclerostin immunofluorescence for the 4 groups, Sclerostin labeling appears in white (filled arrowhead), the empty arrowhead shows a negative cell, nuclei appear in blue. (D) Dmp1 and Phex gene expressions. (E) Correlation between Dmp1 and Phex expression in osteocytes from growing, mature, middle-aged, aged animals. (F) Quantification of PHEX-positive osteocytes based on immunofluorescence during aging. (G) Representative images for PHEX immunofluorescence for the 4 age groups, PHEX labeling appears in white (filled arrowhead), the empty arrow shows a negative cell, nuclei appear in blue. The data are presented as mean ± s.d. Statistical analyses: KW, Dunn’s multiple comparison test with the mature group as reference, *p < 0.05.