Analysis of mineral content in the developing insertion.

<p>A) The average mineral concentration of fully mineralized fibrocartilage was determined by the ratio of the heights of the 960 Δcm⁻¹ to 1003 Δcm⁻¹ Raman peaks for the different time points in this study (P7, P10, P14, P28, and P56). The average was taken over 3 regions from each traverse that were within the fully mineralized fibrocartilage closest to the bone side of the insertion. The data plotted represent the mean of 5 separate measurements (i.e., from 5 mice) and the error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean. B) Bone mineral density (BMD) measured by X-ray microcomputed tomography increased throughout postnatal development in the mineralized region underlying the supraspinatus tendon (p<0.0001). The numbers above the bars indicate p<0.05 relative to the indicated time point. The inset shows a representative analysis region in black (scale = 500 µm). C) Area fraction of matrix relative to cells, as measured from histological sections, increased throughout postnatal development in the mineralized areas of the insertion (p<0.001). Significant differences between timepoints are indicated above each bar.