Time-lapse imaging of stretched follicle cells invading between NCs. (A) Stage 12 egg chambers stained with F-actin in green, and DAPI marks the nuclei in white. Stretched follicle cell nuclei are marked with puc-lacz in magenta. (A¹–A³) 3D rendered image of stretched follicle cell nuclei (puc-lacz in magenta) and NC nuclei. Stretched cells surround an NC. DAPI is in white, and phalloidin is in green. Yellow arrowheads marked stretched follicle cell nuclei. Yellow (in A¹) and black (in A² and A³) dotted lines encircle the same NC nuclei across the panel. White (in A¹), magenta (in A²), and blue (in A³) dotted lines encircle the same stretched follicle cell nuclei across the panel. (A⁴) Quantification of the number of stretched follicle cells surrounding one NC nuclei. (B^1_1–B^5_2) Montage of control egg chambers of genotype Dicer2; GR1-Gal4, UAS mCD8GFP captured in real time. AFCs marked in white extend fingerlike projections between two adjacent NCs. DAPI marks the nuclei in cyan. Yellow arrowheads mark the follicle cell membrane (in white) interdigitating between the NCs. (C^1_1–C^5_2) Montage of EcR-depleted egg chambers. AFCs exhibit reduced fingerlike projections in between NCs. AFCs are marked in white. A magenta arrowhead marks very small fingerlike projections. DAPI labels the nuclei in cyan.