Fig. 6

Differentiation of CD117⁺ TSCs into retinal photoreceptor cells in vitro. a Phase-contrast images showing morphologic change of cells before (Undiff, top row, left) and after differentiation (Diff, top row, right) in neuronal differentiation medium for 8 days. After differentiation, representative image of immunofluorescence staining of differentiated cells for Rho (green, middle row, left), Rec (green, middle row, right), and merged with DAPI for nuclear staining (blue). Arrestin 1 (Arr1, green, bottom row, left) and merged with DAPI for nuclear staining (blue, bottom row, right). b Bar graph showing quantitation of qRT-PCR for Rho, Rec, Arr 1 and Arrestin 4 (Arr4) comparing fold change in differentiated (Diff, black bars) versus undifferentiated cells (Undiff, open bar). *P < 0.05 compared to their undifferentiated cells, n = 4 for each group