Figure 7

Spry-deficient lens epithelial cells are more responsive to TGFβ-induced EMT. Epithelial explants prepared from postnatal-d-15 WT murine lenses (A, B) or lenses deficient for all alleles of Spry1 and Spry2 (Spry^fl/fl/Spry2^fl/fl) by using MLR10-Cre (C, D) were exposed to either no TGFβ (A, C) or 200 pg/mL TGFβ (B, D) for 24 h before immunolabelling for α-sma (green) and counterstaining cell nuclei with propidium iodide (red) (A–D). Spry-deficient lens epithelial cells were more sensitive to the effects of TGFβ, with greater immunolabeling for α-sma (D) compared with WT lens cells (B) that express lower endogenous Spry levels. Scale bar, 20 µm.