Fig. 1

Progenitor characteristics of mouse eye-wall c-kit⁺/SSEA1⁻ cells. (A) Representative flow cytometry plots showing the percentage of c-kit-positive SSEA1-negative cells. Gating was established based on cells stained with isotype-matched APC and FITC antibodies (ISO; left panel). Representative flow cytometry plots showed that c-kit⁺/SSEA1⁻ cells represented approximately 0.82% of the total population (right panel). (B) Phase-contrast image of representative c-kit⁺/SSEA1⁻ cells in culture. (C) Representative image of immunofluorescence staining for c-kit⁺ (green) with 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI; blue). (D–H) Representative images of immunofluorescence for RPC markers (red) and DAPI (blue), showing that cells express Nestin (D), retina homeobox protein Rx (Rax; E), SRY-box 2 (Sox2; F), Orthodenticle Homeobox 2 (Otx2; G), and paired box protein 6 (Pax6; H). (D′–H′) Representative flow cytometry plots showing expression in the FITC channel for Nestin (74%; D′), Rax (98.8%; E′), Sox2 (97.7%; F′), Otx2 (99.8%; G′), and Pax6 (95.7%; H′). Scale bars represent 50 μm (Color figure online)