Figure 1. Le-Cre mediated deletion of Cited2 and morphological changes in Cited2^CKO mice. A: Expression of Cited2 was decreased in Cited2^CKO mice compared to control (n=3, *p<0.05). Modest increase of HIF-1α and substantial increase of VEGF were observed in Cited2^CKO mice. B: Under a dissecting microscope, eyes collected from Cited2^CKO mice showed smaller sizes and cornea opacity (upper panel). H&E staining showed smaller lens, lens stalk (LS) formation at the anterior side of the lens, and hyaloid hypercellularity and aberrant vasculature at the posterior side of the lens in Cited2^CKO mice (lower panel). The insets represent higher magnification of the areas indicated by arrows. C: Immunostaining with Cited2 antibody showed decreased expression of Cited2 (magenta) in Cited2^CKO mouse lens. Counterstaining with DAPI (blue) indicated that Cited2 localized in the nucleus. H&E pictures were taken at 5× magnification to show the entire eye structure. DAPI pictures were taken at 10× using adjacent sections. Red box indicates the area shown in the Cited2/DAPI counterstained pictures (20×). Scale bar in each picture indicates 100 μm. D: Immunostaining with α-SMA, F4/80, and CD31 (red) showed composition of the hyaloid vascular system. Pictures were taken at 20× to show the red-boxed area. Scale bar in each picture indicates 100 μm. A↔P: anterior and posterior orientation of the eye.