Fig. 2: Loss of MOF compromises basal cell adhesion, epidermal differentiation, and hair follicle morphogenesis.

a HE staining at E15.5 and E16.5 showing thinner epidermis in MOF cKO. Representative images from five pairs of samples. b Progression of compromised basement membrane in MOF cKO as shown by β4 integrin staining at E15.5 and E16.5, respectively. Representative images from five pairs of samples. c Loss of hemi-desmosome and basement membrane shown by electronic microscopy. Red arrowheads in Ctrl indicate hemi-desmosome, and red dashed line in MOF cKO indicates missing basement membrane. Representative images from two pairs of samples. d Disorientation of basal cells indicated by pericentrin staining. Representative images from three pairs of samples. n indicates the number of counted cells. e Loss of polarity in basal cells as shown by the distribution of adheres junction markers E-Cadherin (E-Cad) and α-Catenin (α-Cat). Note the lack of E-Cad signals in the basal side of the basal cells in Ctrl but not in MOF cKO (white arrowheads). Representative images from three pairs of samples. f Thinner epidermis in MOF cKO. Arrows indicate Krt1⁺ cells came in contact with the basement membrane, arrowheads point to suprabasal Krt5⁺ cells that did not express Krt1. n = 8 measurements. Data are represented as mean value ± SEM. g Defect in terminal differentiation indicated by granular layer marker Loricin (Lor) staining. Representative images from five pairs of samples. Ctrl, control. Black (a) and white (d, e, f, and g) dashed lines mark the epidermal-dermal boundary. P values were calculated by unpaired two-sided Student’s t-test (f), *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001. The exact P values are shown in Supplementary Data 4. Scale bar, 50 μm (a), 20 μm (b, d, e, f, and g), 200 nm (c). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.