Fig. 1

Images of stratified TE-10 cells in the wound edge and cross sections. a A randomly selected area of the wound edge was observed 24 h after scrape-induced wounding. Cells in the third row and deeper were multilayered, as indicated by the presence of overlapping nuclei. The top panel shows a phase-contrast image, while a nuclear-stained fluorescent image is presented in the middle panel. A merged image is shown in the lower panel. Each inset is the magnified image of the portion indicated in the merged image. The scale bar indicates 100 µm. b Transmission electron micrographs of the cross sections of stratified TE-10 cells plated in a hole of a silicone stencil at high density for 24 h. The cells were stratified into 5–7 layers from the apical to the basal side (the upper region of the image), which was attached to the glass cover slip. Few morphological differences were observed between the apical and basal sides, with the exception of microvillus formation (white arrows) at the surface of most apical cells. The scale bar indicates 2 µm. c Desmosomes were found between the cells (arrowheads). Arrows show cytokeratin bundles. The scale bar indicates 200 nm