Fig. 4

Histological and immunohistochemical evaluation of the graft and retina integrity. A H&E stains of the normal retina in naive eyes (n=5). B,C H&E stains show good retinal preservation in animals from the favorable surgical outcome group (n = 4, cases 8 and 11 shown, respectively). D, E Histology reveals a more disrupted retinal morphology in the animals from the unfavorable surgical outcome group (n = 3, cases 6 and 13 shown, respectively). The arrowhead in D indicates a foveal microtear. F–I Epifluorescent and brightfield micrograph overlays of human-specific TRA-1-85 and STEM121 immunolabelings show human cells on the PET carrier (case 9 shown), migration of human cells away from the carrier (H, higher magnification from F marked by white box), and the presence of non-human cells on the carrier (I, higher magnification from G marked by white box). The nuclei were counterstained with DAPI. Scale bars, A–G 200 μm and H, I 100 μm. J Quantification of the nuclei number over the graft. The nuclei were counted manually from 3 to 9 H&E-stained macular sections per animal (3 corresponding measurement points 100 μm in length). The scatter dot plot shows a slightly (P < 0.05*, Mann-Whitney U) decreased number of nuclei (55 ± 10; mean ± SD) in the maculae above the graft in the favorable surgical outcome group compared to naive eyes (61 ± 15). The reduction in the number of nuclei (51 ± 12) was somewhat greater (P < 0.001***) in the animals from the unfavorable surgical outcome group compared to naive eyes