Figure 5

Morphology of collagen lamellae in the annulus of a mouse discs. The morphology was examined with Masson-trichrome stain and with polarized light microscopy of the same field. (a) and (b) Annulus of the wild-type (WT) mouse shows regular, even lamellar layers. (c) and (d) Annulus of the null mouse shows less regular polarized light patterns in (d). Thoracic disc, magnification, ×300.