Figure 2. Mammary gland development is retarded in the virgin and adult Igfbp7^−/− female mice.

The inguinal glands from the wild-type (+/+) or the Igfbp7-null mice (−/−) were removed, fixed and stained with carmine alum during the different stages of the mammary gland development. Whole mount slides were visualized at 2X magnification and a ruler was photographed at the same magnification as reference (longer marks are in centimeters and shorter marks are in millimeters). The insert pictures were obtained at 4X the magnification. As can be seen, the Igfbp7^−/− glands are smaller and less dense at 3-week or 11-week old, pregnant and lactating glands compared to the wild-type glands.