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Figure 3. Proliferating zone area of sham control and mechanical stimulation. Representative photomicrographs of the cranial base cartilage (CBC) showing sham control (A,A'), static force (B,B'), and cyclic force (C,C'). A, B, and C were stained with hematoxylin and eosin; A', B', and C' were stained with safranin O and fast green. The total proliferating zone area treated with cyclic forces (C,C'), manually isolated by computerized image analysis, showed marked increase in comparison with static forces (B,B') and sham controls (A,A'). Reaction to safranin O confirmed the presence of abundant chondroitin-sulfate and keratan-sulfate binding proteoglycans, most likely aggrecan, in the cartilage matrix. Scale bar: 150 µm.
