Fig. 2

Transcriptome analysis of pMSCs and RPCs. A Hierarchical clustering analysis was performed using DESeq2, and the data were plotted as a sample-to-sample heatmap. The colored indicator represents sample distances (blue signifies a high correlation). B Heatmap showing raw z-scores of RNA-seq log2 transformed values of the top 100 DEGs and C volcano plot to visualize DEGs. D Heatmap showing raw z-scores of RNA-seq log2 transformed values of expression of retinal markers in pMSCs and RPCs. Venn diagrams depict the total number of genes upregulated in pMSCs (blue) and RPCs (green). In the heatmap, upregulated and downregulated genes are shown in red and blue, respectively. E Validation of selected retinal DEGs in pMSCs and RPCs by qRT-PCR. Gene expression was normalized to GAPDH and β-ACTIN, and error bars represent the SEM (**p ≤ 0.01). All experiments were performed in triplicate