Fig. 7

a Bright field images of prMC from WT and CR−/− mice taken during the rapid (logarithmic) proliferation phase. Cells are characterized by their flat morphology yielding rather low-contrast images. For better visualization, the boundaries of selected cells are marked by red (WT) or green (CR−/−) lines. The surface area of individual randomly selected cells was quantified (b). The surface area of CR−/− cells is clearly larger (also shown in Fig. 1j). Overexpression of CR (LV-CR) or nuclear-targeted CR (LV NLS-CR) changes the morphology to cobblestone-like cuboid cells in prMC of both genotypes (a). Areas containing mostly polygonal cuboid cells or rounded mitotic cells are marked by yellow lines. Surface areas covered by those cells are significantly smaller than by the parental cells (*p < 0.05). No differences exist between prMC expressing either CR variant (n.s.). Scale bar: 100 μm