Histomorphometric Analysis of Mouse Growth Plate during Maturation and Senescence.

Abstract

The growth plate (GP) is cartilage tissue at both ends of long bones and plays an essential role for long bone formation and growth. GP changes in overall height, width, zone proportion, cell density and size during skeletal growth and becomes arrested upon skeletal maturation. There is limited information on GP microscopic changes. To establish GP histomorphometric parameters changes throughout skeletal maturation, the tibia of C57Bl/6J mice were evaluated from neonatal to young adult stages. GP histology in the proximal tibia was analyzed regarding total and zone height, width and area. The results showed unique GP changes in width, height and area during growth. The parameters also showed strong correlation with growth rate of the tibia. We studied GP proliferation activity and also found its correlation with tibia growth rate. The results of this study provide groundwork that will aid skeletal research on understanding of GP changes during bone growth.