Fig. 2
GNPs treatment alleviated ACLT-induced OA. (A) To evaluate the mitigation of GNPs on OA, C57BL/6J mice (6–8 weeks, male, 20–25 g) were selected to undergo anterior cruciate ligament transection surgery to induce the OA models, and randomly assigned to ACLTVehicle or ACLTGNPs group. The ACLTVehicle and ACLTGNPs groups were given continuous gavage with the equivalent amount of saline and GNPs for 8 weeks, respectively. (B) H&E, Safranine O and Toluidine Blue staining of femur articular cartilage in ACLTVehicle and ACLTGNPs groups. (C) Immunohistochemical staining of the expression of MMP-13 in articular cartilage of sections. (D) Immunohistochemical staining of the expression of Aggrecan in articular cartilage of sections. (E) Quantitative analysis of Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) histology scoring. (F) Quantitative analysis of MANKIN grading. (G) Quantitative analysis of percentage of cells with positive staining for MMP-13 in articular cartilage. (H) Quantitative analysis of percentage of cells with positive staining for Aggrecan in articular cartilage. (I) Representative µCT images about 2D images of longitudinal section femurs and 3D images of distal femur. The coloring parts represent the regions of interest (ROI) for analysis. Quantification of femoral BMD, BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.N and Tb.Sp in indicated groups, n = 7. (J) Representative µCT images about 2D images of longitudinal section tibias and 3D images of proximal tibias. The coloring parts represent the ROI for analysis. Quantification of tibial BMD, BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.N and Tb.Sp in indicated groups, n = 7. (K) Representative images of IF staining of TRAP in the subchondral bone of the ACLTVehicle and ACLTGNPs mice. (L) Representative images of IF staining of Netrin-1 in the subchondral bone of the ACLTVehicle and ACLTGNPs mice. (M) Representative images of IF staining of CGRP+ fibers in the subchondral bone of the ACLTVehicle and ACLTGNPs mice. (N) Quantitative analysis of TRAP staining. (O) Quantitative analysis of Netrin-1staining. (P) Quantitative analysis of CGRP+ fibers staining. (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001, N.S represented not significant)