Ectopic Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation affects fiber cell nuclei localization and expression of lens regulatory proteins.

Cryosections of E16.5 wild-type (A, C, E, G, I, K, O) and αA-CLEF (B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P) embryos stained with hematoxylin and eosin (A, B), DAPI (C, D), for lens epithelial cell marker Pax6 (I, J), its target Foxe3 (M, N), for early differentiation marker Prox1 (O, P) and for fiber cell differentiation markers Sox1 (G, H) and c-Maf (K, L). (E, F) CLEF transgenic protein is detected with anti-Lef1 antibody nuclei of fiber cells from transitional zone to fiber cell compartment. Fiber–cell-nuclei are detected throughout the fiber cell compartment in αA-CLEF lenses (B, D), and the expression of Pax6 (F), Sox1 (H) and c-Maf (L) is stronger in the fiber cell compartment of αA-CLEF lenses (indicated with red arrows) compared to wild-type (E, G, K). Scale bars indicate 50 µm.