Fig. 1

mNRPCs demonstrated typical characteristics of RPCs. a–h Immunofluorescence assays showed that mNRPCs expressed PAX6 (a), CHX10 (b), NESTIN (c), GFAP (d), SOX2 (e), RCVRN (f), GS (g), and NEUN (h). Magnification, × 200, scale bar, 100 μm. i RT-PCR results showed mNRPCs expressed RAX, NESTIN, SIX3, PAX6, and GFAP, but were negative for MITF and RPE65 at P23, P26, and P29 by mNRPCs. j Representative flow cytometry plots showed the expression of CD24 (97.5%), CD47 (80.2%), and CD73 (95.4%), while negative for CD15 and CD133. k–m Heatmap of the RNA-seq data showed the retinal cell-type specific gene expression profiles of mNRPCs. Black indicates no significant change in expression. Shades of red indicate a significant increase (P < 0.05) and green indicates a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in mNRPC expression. n Western blot confirmed the expression of PAX6, HES1, CCND1, GLI1, PKC-α, RHODOPSIN, β-TUBULIN3, and GAP43. The results are representative of at least three independent experiments, and representative blots are shown