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

Figure 4

Comparisons of different marker expression profiles among the control, rapamycin- (RAP-) treated, and dexamethasone- (DEX-) treated groups. Two weeks after immunosuppressant treatment, (a) cells in the retinal organoids treated with RAP expressed higher levels of the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) markers Atoh7, Islet1, and Brn3b, the dendrite marker MAP2, the retinal progenitor marker PAX6 and CHX10, and photoreceptor marker CRX, compared to levels in the control group. These cells also expressed lower levels of the axon markers TUBB3 and NEFL than cells in the control group. In DEX-treatment group cells, dendrite, retinal progenitor, and photoreceptor markers (MAP2, CHX10, and CRX) were upregulated compared to levels in the control group. (b) However, 4 weeks after immunosuppressant treatment, both RAP- and DEX-treated cells showed higher expression levels of only PAX6 and CRX as compared to those in the control group. (c) Representative histogram of flow cytometry results. Each wave represented one group; the proportion of each group was calculated by the Blk group. There were of the RGCs in the control group, in the RAP group, and in the DEX group. CTRL: control group; RAP: rapamycin-treatment group; DEX: dexamethasone-treatment group; iPSCs: negative control group in RT-PCR; Blk: blank control group in flow cytometry.

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