Fig. 6. Structural changes of gap junctions occur in PKC knockout lens. The plasma membrane of fiber cells exhibited similar structural features in 6-week-old control and PKC knockout mice. The density of intra-membrane particles was approximately the same in both the protoplasmic (P) face of the membrane and the gap junctions. The principal difference was that the lenses of KO animals exhibited an abundance of small gap junction plaques (red areas; B). Scale bar, 120 nm. (C,D) Higher magnification views of gap junction plaques. The regions representing the gap junctions were identified by the small fracture step separating the protoplasmic (P) from the external (E) fracture faces. The density of channels in the plaques was similar in both control and knockout mice (4500 µm^-2). Scale bar, 60 nm.