Fig. 2

Lens epithelial cells apoptosis was associated with the age-related cataract base on mice samples. a, b Displayed the young and aged eye photos respectively. The eyes of the young (3 months) mice remained clear, while, the natural aging mice displayed obvious cataracts over 24 months, and the eyes photos were taken. c A comparison of the lens epithelial cells between the old and young mice. The LECs stained with eosin, nuclei stained with hematoxylin was shown in blue. Scale bar: 20 µm. d Decreases in mouse LECs density from the old mice compared to the young mice using HE staining of whole lenses. The cell density was determined by counting nuclei stained with the hematoxylin in 5 randomly selected fields from three experiments and are shown as means ± SD. **p < 0.01 versus the young LECs. e Apoptotic LECs increased in old mice by positive TUNEL and Hoechst 33342 staining. Scale bar: 100 µm. f Counting both positive TUNEL and Hoechst 33342 cells in 5 randomly selected fields from three experiments and are shown as means ± SD. **p < 0.01 versus the young LECs