Figure 3. Effects of L-NAME, TGFβ, and SNP
on the morphology of lens epithelial explants. Explants were cultured
for five days with the NOS inhibitor L-NAME (A), for two days
with 50 pg/ml TGFβ2 (B), or for nine days in the control medium (C)
or control medium supplemented with the NO donor SNP (D) and
then photographed by phase contrast microscopy. In explants cultured
with L-NAME (A), large regions of smooth lens capsule were
visible (denoted by an asterisk) between strands of cells and clusters
of bright, detached cells, and cells abutting the capsule showed
cell-surface blebbing (arrowheads). In explants cultured with TGFβ for
two days (B) and sparsely covered explants cultured in control
medium without SNP for nine days (C), progressive cell loss was
accompanied by extensive cell-surface blebbing (arrowheads), and
exposed regions of the lens capsule (denoted by an asterisk) exhibited
wrinkling (arrow). A corresponding explant cultured with SNP (D)
became well covered with a monolayer of cells in the cobblestone array
typical of the normal lens epithelium. The bar represents 80 μm in A
and 100 μm in B-D. NAME stands for Nω-nitro-L-arginine
methyl ester; TGF stands for transforming growth factor; and SNP stands
for sodium nitroprusside.