Figure 4.

Cell proliferation and cell death in rat lenses following alkali injury. A: Cell proliferation as evaluated by expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in rat lenses following alkali injury. PCNA is not detected in the central region in the uninjured lens and at 6 h. At 12 h, PCNA is weakly positive in the nuclei of a few lens epithelial cells. At day 1, PCNA was detected in many lens epithelial cells. After two days, PCNA was positive in the layers of spindle-shaped fibroblastic cells and was also detected at later times. Nuclei were counterstained with methylgreen. B: Cell death as determined by TUNEL staining. From 1-2 h, TUNEL-positive nuclei are detected in lens epithelial cells. At 6 h, they are not present. Nuclei were counterstained with methylgreen. The bars represent 10 μm.