Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 24 pp 12497—12531

Figure 9. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of lens cross sections at various depths in 3–29-month-old lenses. Two neighboring cells in each panel are pseudo-colored green and yellow to show cell shape and size. In the 3- and 8-month-old lenses, fiber cells are hexagonal in shape and uniform in size from the periphery to the inner mature fiber cells. In the 12-month-old lens, the most peripheral fibers have lost their distinct hexagonal shape, but cells are still similarly sized between neighboring layers. In the 29-month-old lens, the cells have lost their characteristic hexagon cell shape and are highly variable in shape and size. There is also variability in electron density between neighboring cells in the 29-month-old lens with dark and light gray cells. Scale bar, 4μm.