Alterations in the Corneal Nerve and Stem/Progenitor Cells in Diabetes: Preventive Effects of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Treatment
Figure 2
Diminished mRNA expression levels of stem cell markers in diabetic cornea. The transcript levels of p75, hairy enhancer of split 1 (Hes1), Abcg2, and Keratin15 in the cornea are shown. The mRNA expression levels of p75, Hes1, and Keratin15 significantly decreased in diabetic corneas. A reduction of Abcg2 was also observed, although this was not statistically significant. 18S ribosomal RNA expression showed no significant difference between diabetic corneas and normal corneas. Statistical significance for mRNA levels is calculated on fold-change values over those of diabetic corneas. The dotted line represents the mRNA expression levels in normal corneas (normal expression of mRNA: 1.0). Statistical evaluation of data was performed with the unpaired t-test. The bars represent the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) (*).
