Fig. 5

Intravitreal dexamethasone injection induces ciliary epithelium proliferation but does not expand the retinal stem cell population in vivo. a Schematic of the intravitreal injection paradigm followed by endpoint IHC. b Quantification of Pax6+EdU co-labeled cells relative to the total CE area in the eyes treated with 0.5% DMSO vehicle or indicated Dex concentrations (one-way ANOVA F (_{3, 15}) = 6.21, p = 0.006; Holm-Sidak post hoc test, *p < 0.05; N = 3–6 eyes per condition). *Significantly different between indicated conditions. c The proportion of ERG + EdU-co-labeled endothelial cells relative to the total number of EdU-labeled cells in the ciliary body for each indicated condition. N = 3–6 eyes per condition. d The proportion of CD68 + EdU-co-labeled microglia/macrophages relative to the total number of EdU-labeled cells in the ciliary body for each indicated condition (one-way ANOVA F (_{3, 14}) = 6.89, p = 0.004; Fisher Holm-Sidak post hoc test, *p < 0.05; N = 3–6 eyes per condition). *Significantly different between indicated conditions. e, f Representative images of Pax6 IHC and EdU labeling in the ciliary body and peripheral retina of mouse eyes exposed to 0.5% DMSO vehicle or indicated Dex concentrations. The nuclei labeled with Hoechst stain. White arrows indicate Pax6 + EdU co-labeled cells; 10-μm-thick sections; 50-μm scale bars. g Schematic of intravitreal injection paradigm followed by endpoint primary sphere-forming assay. h Quantification of RSC sphere frequency relative to naive un-injected control after a 7-day clonal sphere growth assay following intravitreal injection of indicated conditions. N = 6 eyes per group. Data are mean ± SEM