Fig. 2.

Distribution of MBs anterior to Descemet's membrane (DM) in normal (A–B) and keratoconic button 2 (C–E) corneas, using tannic acid staining. Blue = DM, Gold = MBs, Pink/Purple = Keratocyte. 3D reconstruction in normal cornea (A–B) shows an extensive elastic fiber network concentrated between DM and the keratocyte (blue arrow). These structures run towards the limbus (yellow arrow), parallel to the surface of the cornea and were seen to bifurcate (red arrow). SBF SEM images from keratoconic cornea displayed poor contrast (C), although a small number of electron dense MBs were visible (white arrows). 3D rendering of this data set shows four MBs running longitudinally, anterior to the keratocyte, towards the limbus (D–E) (yellow arrows). No MBs were present directly anterior to DM. Scale bar = 5 μm. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)