Figure 6.

Intraepithelial nerve terminals extension into the apical most cell layers increases in SDC1-null corneas after trephine injury. Representative 3D images rotated to generate cross-sectional views show the localization of βIII tubulin (red) and GAP43 (green) at 4, 14, and 28 days after trephine wounding in WT and SDC1-null corneas. Punctate GAP43 is increased within the epithelium in SDC1-null compared with WT corneas at 14 days (*). βIII tubulin+ and GAP43+ INTs in the apical most cell layers were quantified as a function of time after trephine injury and normalized relative to control (presented in Fig. 2A). Asterisks within bars indicate differences that are significant relative to unwounded controls; asterisks between bars indicate significant differences between time points. In WT corneas, the numbers of βIII tubulin+ and GAP43+ INTs extending apically decrease relative to controls at 28 days for βIII tubulin+ INTs and at 4 and 28 days for GAP43+ INTS, in SDC1-null corneas, both βIII tubulin+ and GAP43+ INTs increase at all time points assessed. Scale bar: 25 μm.