Fig. 5

Microglial cells migrate to the vitreous and surround BM-MSC transplants. A In intact albino and pigmented mice, microglial cells (red) were restricted to the retina, while the vitreous (asterisks) was cell free, as there was neither DAPI-stained nuclei nor Iba1 signal. B At 5 and 21 days after the transplant, BM-MSCs were found in the vitreous forming a meshwork (green, GFP signal in mouse to mouse and human mitochondrial (h-mito) immunodetection in human to mouse). In all transplantation settings, microglial cells (red) migrated to the vitreous and surrounded the transplanted cells. C Column graphs showing the mean number per section and animal ± SD of transplanted cells (top) or microglial cells (bottom) quantified in the vitreous of intact animals and at 5 and 21 days after each transplant (*p < 0.05 comparing 21 and 5 days, nonparametric Mann–Whitney t test). n = 4 retinas/group/timepoint, 3 sections/retina