Fig. 5. Decreased acinar atrophy and corneal epitheliopathy in aged mast-cell deficient mice.

a Cross-sections of lacrimal glands of young and aged wildtype C57BL/6 (WT), and aged cKit^W-sh mice stained with hematoxylin and eosin to visualize tissue atrophy (black arrow) and immune cell infiltration (scale bar, 500 µm (upper); 50 µm (lower)). b Representative slit-lamp images (left) and cumulative bar chart (right) quantifying corneal fluorescein staining (CFS) of the indicated mice. Cumulative data (mean ± SD) from three independent experiments are shown, with each experiment consisting of n of 4 to 6 mice/group. *p < 0.05.