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Fig. 3
PCNA and α-catenin immunofluorescence staining reveals cell proliferation during epidermal stratification in the dorsal trunk area.
Anti-PCNA labels proliferating cells, while anti-α-catenin labels both the epidermis and dermis but is concentrated in the basal membrane, which allows the discrimination of these two regions. (A-C), (D-F), (G-I), (J-L), (M-O), (P-R) and (S-U) show immunofluorescence staining from longitudinal sections of larvae with a SL of 4.8mm, 5.4mm, 6mm, 6.7mm, 7.5mm, 8mm and 8.6mm SL, respectively. PCNA labeling is observed specifically in basal layer cells from SL 4.8-5.4mm larvae (A-F), but later is observed in suprabasal layers (compare C, L and R). (V-X) are immunostained longitudinal sections from adult fish; no PCNA staining can be observed in this representative region. In some samples (like S-U) the epidermis get separated from the dermis but this is artifactual. Yellow arrows mark the epidermal basal membrane where α-catenin labeling concentrates. Bar length is 20 µm.