Figure 6. Morphological changes of RGCs after co-culturing with BMSCs with the endogenous TSP-1 silenced by siRNA and rescued by infection with a recombinant adenovirus expressing TSP-1.

48 hours after the first siRNA transfection, BMSCs and RGCs were co-cultured in a transwell system. A, After 5 days, RGC survival was not diminished by co-culturing with BMSCs with TSP-1 silencing, but the degree of RGC neurite outgrowth was lessened (3). B, Bar graph shows the mean and SE of RGC neurite outgrowth in within (10×) microscopic fields after 5 days of co-culturing. RGC neurite outgrowth was enhanced by co-culturing with BMSCs (2), which was diminished with TSP-1 silencing (3) but restored in TSP-1-rescued co-cultures (4) (p = 0.038). *p-values≤0.05. (10 pictures were taken randomly under a regular microscope from culturing cells at different time points. The average relative percent of outgrowth of RGCs come from at least three separate experiments).