1. Pericytes enhance LAMA5 deposition and assembly of the basement membrane and hemi-desmosomes in OCs.
Pericytes enhance LAMA5 deposition and assembly of the basement membrane and hemi-desmosomes in OCs. (A) Immunofluorescent staining for LAMA5 (red) and DAPI (blue, nuclei) in OCs populated with fibroblasts, pericytes, or a combination of both demonstrating its uniform deposition in pericyte-populated OCs. Images representative of three independent OC experiments. Scale bar = 100 μm. (B) Transmission electron micrographs of the dermo-epidermal junction of OCs revealing absence of a basement membrane in fibroblast OCs, sporadic initiation of hemi-desmosomes in fibroblast and pericyte-combined OCs, and complete basement membrane assembly with a continuous lamina lucida (LL) and lamina densa (LD) (enlarged boxed area) and regular hemi-desmosomes (white arrows) in pericyte OCs. The higher magnification pericyte OC transmission electron micrograph illustrates the inner plaque (ip) and outer plaque (op) of the hemi-desmosomes. Data representative of 18 random fields from two independent OCs. epi, epidermis; der, dermis. Scale bar = 0.5 μm.
Lizhe Zhuang et al. LSA 2018;1:e
© 2018 Zhuang et al.