Figure 5.

The absence of Dp71 leads to a dramatic disorganization of the secondary fibers close to the germinative zone of the lens. Immunolocalization of AQP0 (green) in the germinative zones of the lenses from wt (A-C) and KO-Dp71 (D-F) mice. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). As expected, AQP0 is localized at the membrane of the secondary lens fibers in wt mice. In the absence of Dp71, the regular consistent staining of AQP0 is dramatically altered. Higher magnification images of the periphery of the germinative zone of wt (G) and KO-Dp71 (I) mice show limited disruptions to AQP0 staining. As well, images from the deeper regions of the KO-Dp71 (J) mice show an almost complete loss of organization of the secondary lens fibers when compared to similar regions in wt animals (H) (e: epithelial cells; f: fiber cells; tz: transition zone). Scale bar A: 50 μm; Scale bar I: 8 μm.