Figure 8.

Analyses of Apoptotic Cells via TUNEL Assay

(A–I) TUNEL-positive cells were found in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) and around the CNV lesions of the control (A–C), rAAV-scrambled shRNA-treated (D–F), and rAAV-mTOR shRNA-treated groups (G–I), with the latter containing noticeably fewer apoptotic cells. (J) As seen in the summarized data, significantly fewer TUNEL-positive cells were detected in the ONL of rAAV-mTOR shRNA-treated retinas when compared with the control and rAAV-scrambled shRNA-treated groups (p = 0.038 and p = 0.024, respectively). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Asterisk indicates statistically significant differences versus the control (*p < 0.05). Cross (†) indicates statistically significant differences versus the rAAV-scrambled shRNA-treated group. Scale bars, 100 μm. ONL, outer nuclear layer; RPE, retinal pigment epithelium.