ΔVHL mice shown promoted the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts/osteoprogenitors and increased levels of β-catenin protein in osteoblasts/osteoprogenitors.

<p>(A) H&E staining showed diaphyseal regions of the murine femurs at 3 weeks of age. Abundant bone marrow stromal cells surround the numerous trabeculae in the ΔVHL mouse. (B) Representative images of EdU-labeled proliferating bone marrow stromal cells (red) merged with Hoechst-stained-nuclei (blue). (C) Representative histological sections of diaphyseal regions of femurs from 3-week-old ΔVHL and CON mice, after staining with anti-PCNA antibodies. (D) Immunocytochemical analysis reveals that the osterix protein is strongly detected in the abundant stromal cells in the diaphyseal regions of the femur. (E) Sections from 1-month-old CON and ΔVHL mice were IHC-stained using an antibody against β-catenin. β-Catenin-positive osteoblasts/osteoprogenitors in the diaphyseal regions of the femurs are stained brown in the ΔVHL mouse. (F) Total protein extracts were prepared from the tibiae of 1-month-old CON and ΔVHL mice and used for western blot analyses for β-catenin.