Dexamethasone Provides Effective Immunosuppression for Improved Survival of Retinal Organoids after Epiretinal Transplantation

Figure 2

Morphology of retinal organoids exposed to dexamethasone (DEX) and rapamycin (RAP). Three-dimensional organoids shaped like biconcave discs were derived from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). (a–c) After 4 days of adherent culture, although the organoids maintained their shapes, some cells were observed to migrate out from the organoids. Six days after culture with or without immunosuppressants, the morphologies of the retinal organoids changed. (d) Without drugs, the axons of the organoids were long, strong, and distributed radially; cells were also observed to have migrated farther away from the organoid. (e) With RAP treatment, axons were much shorter than those of cells in the control group; in addition, the axons tended to intertwine with each other at the edge of the organoid. (f) In the DEX-treatment group, long axons were very few and thin. CTRL: control group; RAP: rapamycin-treatment group; DEX: dexamethasone-treatment group.