Figure S3.
Hemichannel opening by FFSS is regulated by integrin α6β1 in lens epithelial cells. Primary chick lens culture was pretreated with or without integrin α6 blocking antibody (α6 Ab) at 10 µg/ml for 1 h, then subjected to FFSS at 1 dyn/cm2 for 10 min or treated with β1 Ab at 20 µg/ml for 1 h separately or in combination, followed by EtBr/FITC dye uptake assay. FITC-dextran (Mr 10 kD) was used as a control for nonspecific membrane permeability (dying cells). The monolayer epithelial cells were imaged, and the level of EtBr uptake was quantified with EtBr dye uptake (excluding cells that took up both EtBr and FITC-dextran) using ImageJ. Each data point in the graph represents an individual quantified epithelial cell in one of three independent experiments. The data are presented as mean ± SEM. ***, P < 0.001.