Fig. 4

Effects of desiccating stress on meibomian gland cell proliferation (a and b) and lipid quality (c-h). Cryosections stained for the cell cycling marker, Ki67 (green) of eyelids from normal mice (a) and mice exposed to 10 days of desiccating stress (b). SRS microscopy of lipid within cryosections from eyelids of normal mice (c) and the overlay (d) with immunostaining for nuclei (DAPI, red), and actin (Phalloidin, blue) to identify acini (ac, arrows) and ductules (dt). e, Graph of protein to lipid ratio from different regions of the gland (numbered 1–10), including acini (ac), ductule (dt) central duct (cd), and extracellular matrix (e). f-h, graph of protein to lipid ratio for control mice (f) and mice exposed to 5 days (g) and 10 days (h) desiccating stress (different colors represent different mice. Note that in the normal gland there is low glandular proliferation (a) and a gradual decreasing protein to lipid ratio moving from the acini to the central duct (e and f). By comparison meibomian glands from mice exposed to desiccating stress show up-regulation of cell cycling (b) and no change in the protein to lipid ratio (g and h)