Fig. 7.

The expression pattern of Tcf7l2 varies among different types of conjunctival epithelial colonies. A: immunostaining was performed on fixed clones with Tcf7l2 (green) and PCNA (red) antibodies. Nuclei in the merge images were visualized with DAPI (blue). Colonies were then examined under a microscope (BX-53, Olympus). Stereotypic meroclones were relatively large with irregular borders formed by uneven cell size (n = 142 in 13 independent experiments). Tcf7l2 expression was positively correlated with PCNA expression. B: immunostaining of Tcf7l2 and CK13. Paraclones formed small colonies expressing the conjunctiva maturation marker CK13. Notably, Tcf7l2 expression was much lower in B than in A or Fig. 6. Furthermore, Tcf7l2 expression and CK13 expression were mutually exclusive (n = 187 in 13 independent experiments). Scale bars, 20 μm.