Figure 2. Le-Cre mediated deletion of Cited2 and HIF-1α and phenotypic rescue by HIF-1α deletion. A: The expression levels of Cited2 and HIF-1α were decreased in Cited2^fl/fl;HIF^fl/fl;Le-Cre⁺ mice compared to the control (n=3, *p<0.05). B: Increased VEGF in Cited2^CKO resumed to the normal level after HIF-1α was deleted in Cited2^CKO mice. C: Under dissecting microscope, eyes collected from Cited2^fl/fl;HIF^fl/fl;Le-Cre⁺ mice showed smaller sizes and cornea opacity (upper Panel). H&E staining showed smaller lens and lens stalk formation at the anterior part of the lens in Cited2^fl/fl;HIF^fl/+;Le-Cre⁺ and Cited2^fl/fl;HIF^fl/fl;Le-Cre⁺ mice. The insets represent higher magnification of the areas indicated by arrows. D: Expression level of Cited2 (magenta) was low in Cited2^fl/fl;HIF^fl/fl;Le-Cre⁺ mice compared to the control . 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 counterstained pictures (20×). Scale bar in each picture indicates 100 μm. E: α-SMA, F4/80, and CD31 protein expression indicated the cell types in 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.