Figure 12.

Altered cell–cell adhesion in the skin of double fyn/src knockouts as directly assessed by ultra structural analysis. Newborn mice with single versus double knockout mutations of the fyn (F ⁻), src (S ⁻), and yes (Y ⁻) genes, and wild-type littermates, were killed immediately after birth and skin samples were processed for electron microscopy. (A) Ultrastructural analysis of skin from a wild-type newborn animal. (B and C) Ultrastructural analysis of the skin from a double fyn/src knockout animal at high (B) and low (C) magnification. Similar alterations were found in the skin of three double fyn/src knockouts, derived from two independent litters. Arrows point to the interdesmosomal areas of cell detachment found in the fyn/src mutant skin. The skin of all other mutant animals was found to have desmosomal structures and interdesmosomal spaces similar to the wild-type controls. Bars: (A and B) 300 nm; (C) 1.4 μm.