Fig. 5

In vivo differentiation of GFP-labeled mNRPCs 12 weeks after transplantation into the SRS of RD1 mice. (a) Location of transplanted cells in the recipient retina tissue after 12-week transplantation. A composite image of one retinal cryosection under a × 40 objective lens showing the location of GFP positive transplanted cells in the recipient retina (a), highlighted image with phase contrast (a′), and highlighted merged image of a′ (a″). The cells were transplanted on the right side. b The age-matched RD1 mice retina without cell transplantation. c, d The TUNEL staining results showed that some GFP-positive cells still exist in the recipient retina after 12-week transplantation (d, d1–d4) compared with 4-week old RD1 mice retina without treatment (c). e–h Representative immunohistochemical staining results of the recipient retina after 12-week transplantation. In recipient retina, positive expression of rhodopsin (red) can be detected (e, highlighted in e1–4). GFP-positive cells also coexpressed GFAP (red) (f, highlighted in f1–4), PAX6 (red) (g, highlighted in g1–4) and GLYT-1 (red) (h, highlighted in h1–4). Magnification, × 200 (b), × 400 (a′, a″, c–i); scale bars, 50 μm