FIGURE LEGENDS
Figure 1. Macroscopic images of the human scapholunate interosseous ligament (SLIL) analyzed in this work. The left image shows the lunate bone (L) attached to the scaphoid bone (S) by the SLIL. The image to the right shows the different zones within each region of the SLIL: D1: dorsal region (part 1), D2: dorsal region (part 2), M1: membranous region (part 1), M2: membranous region (part 2), P1: palmar region (part 1), P2: palmar region (part 2). The asterisk corresponds to the radio-scapho-lunate ligament.
Figure 2. Histological analysis of the human scapholunate ligament (SLIL) stained with hematoxylin-eosin staining showing the 6 zones analyzed in the present work. Illustrative high-augmentation images are also shown for each zone. D1: dorsal region (part 1); D2: dorsal region (part 2); M1: membranous region (part 1); M2: membranous region (part 2); P1: palmar region (part 1); P2: palmar region (part 2). Scale bars: 100µm. The histogram to the right corresponds to the quantification of the number of cells per unit of area in each zone of the SLIL.
Figure 3. Analysis of elastic and collagen fibers in the human scapholunate ligament (SLIL) and control tissues using Verhoeff (VHF) and picrosirius red (PSR) histochemistry, respectively. Histograms represent the results of the staining signal quantification for each analysis method. FT: Flexor tendon, CL: Carpal ligament, AC: Articular cartilage, TF: Triangular fibrocartilage, CC: Carpal articular capsule, RT: Retinaculum, D1: dorsal region (part 1), D2: dorsal region (part 2), M1: membranous region (part 1), M2: membranous region (part 2), P1: palmar region (part 1), P2: palmar region (part 2). Scale bars: 100µm.
Figure 4. Analysis of collagen types I, III and IV in the human scapholunate ligament (SLIL) and control tissues as determined by immunohistochemistry. Histograms represent the results of the staining signal quantification for each analysis technique. FT: Flexor tendon, CL: Carpal ligament, AC: Articular cartilage, TF: Triangular fibrocartilage, CC: Carpal articular capsule, RT: Retinaculum, D1: dorsal region (part 1), D2: dorsal region (part 2), M1: membranous region (part 1), M2: membranous region (part 2), P1: palmar region (part 1), P2: palmar region (part 2). Scale bars: 100µm.
Figure 5. Analysis of proteoglycans and glycoproteins in the human scapholunate ligament (SLIL) and control tissues as determined by alcian blue (AB) and Periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) histochemistry and versican (VSC) immunohistochemistry. Histograms represent the results of the staining signal quantification for each analysis technique. FT: Flexor tendon, CL: Carpal ligament, AC: Articular cartilage, TF: Triangular fibrocartilage, CC: Carpal articular capsule, RT: Retinaculum, D1: dorsal region (part 1), D2: dorsal region (part 2), M1: membranous region (part 1), M2: membranous region (part 2), P1: palmar region (part 1), P2: palmar region (part 2). Scale bars: 100µm.
Figure 6. Analysis of expression of the cell markers S100 and CD73 and quantification of blood vessels in the different regions of the human scapholunate ligament (SLIL). Histograms represent the results of the quantitative analysis as number of positive cells or number of blood vessels per unit of area. FT: Flexor tendon, CL: Carpal ligament, AC: Articular cartilage, TF: Triangular fibrocartilage, CC: Carpal articular capsule, RT: Retinaculum, D1: dorsal region (part 1), D2: dorsal region (part 2), M1: membranous region (part 1), M2: membranous region (part 2), P1: palmar region (part 1), P2: palmar region (part 2). Scale bars: 100µm.
Figure 7. Hierarchical clustering analysis of the tissues analyzed in this work (controls and human scapholunate ligament -SLIL- zones) based on the quantitative analysis of ECM composition. FT: Flexor tendon, CL: Carpal ligament, AC: Articular cartilage, TF: Triangular fibrocartilage, CC: Carpal articular capsule, RT: Retinaculum, D1: dorsal region (part 1), D2: dorsal region (part 2), M1: membranous region (part 1), M2: membranous region (part 2), P1: palmar region (part 1), P2: palmar region (part 2). Tissues with high relative signal for each analysis method are represented in red, whereas tissues with the lowest signal appear in blue.