“…RNA in situ hybridization was performed as described (Minowa et al 1999). Digoxygenin labelled riboprobes were synthesized by using the following murine cDNAs: 1.0-kb Pax1, 290-bp Pax9 (kindly provided by Dr K. Imai, GSF-Research Center for Environment and Health, Neuherberg, Germany), 1.1-kb MFH-1 (kindly provided by Dr N. Miura, Akita University, Akita, Japan), 400-bp Col2a1, 440-bp Col9a2, 360-bp Col11a2, 470-bp aggrecan (kindly provided by DrBenoit de Crombrugghe, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX), 300-bp Col10a1 (kindly provided by K. S. E. Cheah, Hong Kong University, Hong Kong, China), 1.2-kb osteopontin (kindly provided by Dr S. Nomura, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan), and 450-bp Hox11 (kindly provided by Dr S. J. Korsmeyer, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA).…”