Fig. 9.

Disappearing lens vesicle and Ap2α in lens and retina. The apoptotic marker Cleaved Caspase 3 (green) was used to characterize apoptotic events during ocular development from E11.5 -E13.5, when the lens structure diminishes. The arrows marking the mutant lens at E11.5-E12.5 clearly indicate that the apoptotic death of the lens structure. The ocular transcription factor Ap2α (red) was used to characterize transcriptional regulation of ocular development from E11.5 -E13.5, when the lens structure diminishes. The apoptotic process leads to a shrinking lens as it can be observed from the decreased number of Ap2α-positive cells in the subsequent stages. The bars indicate 50 μm.