Properties of Retinal Precursor Cells Grown on Vertically Aligned Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes Generated for the Modification of Retinal Implant-Embedded Microelectrode Arrays

Figure 5

Evaluation of relative gene expression patterns in R28 cells. Cells were plated on a glass substrate and on the blank, MWCNT-Fe, and MWCNT-Fe-Pt wafer slices ( individual experiments). Cultivation was terminated 72 hours after seeding. (a) Fluorescence micrographs showed that R28 cells grown on the MWCNT-Fe and the MWCNT-Fe-Pt wafer slices did not exhibit the characteristic cluster formation as seen on the glass and the blank substrata but showed a lot of separated cells (scale bar: 500 μm). ((b)–(d)) qRT-PCR was performed to analyze the expression of different genes representing neuronal/glial and retinal markers or involved in the cell cycle. Using the comparative CT () method, the relative gene expression ratio of cells cultivated on glass was set to 1. Regarding cultivation on the different wafer slices, values >1 denote upregulation and values <1 denote downregulation of gene expression. Each column represents the median, maximum, minimum, and the 50th percentile of the data. Data were analyzed using one sample two-tailed test. (b) , VIM, NRP1, and CDH2; , MYC; , TP53. (c) , VIM; , NRP1, CDH2, and CCNC; , MYC; , TP53. (d) , VIM; , NRP1, CDH2, CCNC, and TP53.

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