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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Glia. 2016 Nov 23;65(6):851–863. doi: 10.1002/glia.23102

Figure 4. Intraepithelial corneal nerve density is greatest at the basolateral and apical aspects of the corneal basal cells.

Figure 4

Using confocal stacks of images acquired for assessment of axon density, we determined in unwounded mouse corneas, axon density as a function of distance from the basement membrane zone (BMZ). We defined the BMZ as the site where β4 integrin, the integrin present within hemidesmosomes, had its maximum intensity. ~70% of all axon density is seen within 5 μm of the BMZ and includes the basal cells and the basal-most aspect of the suprabasal cells. Only 7-10% of all ICN density is found within the apical squames.