Fig. 2. ß-Galactosidase staining of Cx31^–/– (A) and Cx30^–/– (B) tail epidermis. In Cx31^–/– mice (no nuclear localisation signal in the lacZ gene) granulous and upper spinous layers were strongly stained. The innermost spinous layers were labelled more weakly and the basal layer showed punctuate staining. Cx30-deficient mice (B) showed ß-galactosidase staining in all epidermal layers. The basal lamina is marked by white dots. Bars, 25 µm. Epidermal layers: bs, basal; co, cornified; gr, granulous; sp, spinous.