Figure 7.

TUNEL assays in WT and Cryaa-dnNCOA6 lens fiber cells. (A–C) At E13.5, sporadic apoptotic nuclei were detected only in the epithelium cells of WT lenses. (D–F) In contrast, apoptotic nuclei were detected in both epithelium and lens fiber cells of transgenic lenses. TUNEL-positive nuclei: 5.47 ± 2.00 nuclei/section. (J–L) Similar results were observed in E14.5 lenses with slightly elevated number of apoptotic nuclei in transgenic lens fiber cells. TUNEL-positive nuclei: 12.88 ± 7.59 nuclei/section. (P–R) At E16.5, strong TUNEL signals were detected in the frontal part of lens fiber cell compartment in the transgenic lens. No TUNEL-positive nuclei were observed in WT lens fiber cells (A–C, G–I, and M–O). Nonspecific signals outside of the lens are explained in Figure 6. Lens epithelium, LE; transitional zone, TZ. Scale bar is shown in A, D, G, J, M, and P.