In vivo efficacies of KUSs on an acute retinal ganglion cell injury model induced by NMDA. (A) Representative images of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) taken before (Day 0) or 7 days after NMDA (2 nmol) injection (Day 7) in Thy1-CFP mice that were administered phosphate buffered saline (PBS, control), KUS187, or KUS121. (B) Time-dependent changes of the thickness of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) related inner retinal layers (ganglion cell complex (GCC)), measured by SD-OCT in the mice administered PBS (control, n = 15), KUS187 (K187, n = 17), or KUS121 (K121, n = 26). (C) Representative short-wave-length confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (scSLO) images taken before (Day 0) or 4 days after NMDA injection (Day 4). (D) Time-dependent changes in the number of Thy1-CFP-positive RGCs counted in scSLO images. (E, F, G) Analyses on retinal flatmounts from the eyes in Thy1-CFP mice administered PBS (control, n = 5), KUS187 (K187, n = 5), or KUS121 (K121, n = 4) 1 day after NMDA injection. (E) Representative retinal flatmount images. (F) Magnifications of the images in (E). (G) Numbers of RGCs in retinal flatmounts. (H) Hematoxylin and eosin (HE)-stained retinal sections of mice administered PBS (control), KUS187, or KUS121, 1 days after NMDA injection. (I) Numbers of RGCs counted in the HE-stained sections (n = 3). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.005 vs. control (Dunnett’s test) in B, D, G, and I. Scale bars: 40 μm in (A); 100 μm in (C) and (F); 1000 μm in (E) and 50 μm in (H).