Differential responses of the Prox-1⁺ structures during corneal inflammatory lymphangiogenesis.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Epifluorescent micrograph showing sprouting lymphatic vessels into the inflamed cornea 2 weeks after suture placement. White dashed line: the limbus. Yellow arrowheads: newly formed lymphatics emanating from the limbus and growing into central cornea. (<b>B</b>) Confocal micrographs of boxed region in (A) showing differential sprouting reaction of the two Prox-1⁺ structures located at the limbus and the angle, respectively. Left panel: anterior projection of the confocal z-stack showing Prox-1⁺LYVE-1⁺ limbal (white arrowhead) and newly formed corneal lymphatic vessels (yellow arrowheads). Dashed white line: the limbus. Right panel: posterior projection of the confocal z-stack where Prox-1⁺ LYVE-1⁻Schlemm's canal was located. No apparent sprouting reaction, or newly formed vessels were detected. (<b>C</b>) Images captured from 3-dimensional rendering of (B) with 0°, 45°, 90°, and 175° rotation around the central vertical axis. Green: Prox-1; Red: LYVE-1. Scale bar: 100 µm (A–C).