Fig. 7. Effects of
NLef1 transgene on tail epidermis. Tissue sections (A-D)
and wholemounts (E-P) of wild-type (A,C,E,G,I,K,M,O) and K14
NLef1
transgenic mice (B,D,F,H,J,L,N,P) at 3.5 weeks (A,B.E,F,I,J,M,N) and 3.5
months (C,D,G,H,K,L,O,P) of age. (A-D) Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. Note
epithelial cysts (EC) at the base of hair follicles (HF) in transgenic skin.
IFE, interfollicular epidermis; SG, sebaceous glands. (E-H) Wholemounts
immunolabelled for keratin 14 (red) and LRC (green). Arrows in F indicate
bending of base of hair follicles associated with early cyst formation. Arrows
in H show loss of LRC in deformed hair follicles of transgenic mice. (I-L)
Staining with Nile Red. (I,K) Staining restricted to sebaceous glands (SG).
(J,L) Arrows indicate increased sebocyte differentiation along the length of
hair follicles. (M-P) Immunolabelling for ß1 integrins (red) and CDP
(green). Immunolabelling for CDP is observed in wild-type anagen follicles
(arrows in M,O) and some follicles of 3.5-week-old transgenic mice (arrows in
N), but is completely lost from the abnormal follicles of older animals
(arrowheads in P). Scale bar: 100 µm.