Figure 5.

AN7 treatment stabilizes the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) monolayer during hypoxia. RPE cells were grown in normoxic or hypoxic conditions for 24 h, in the presence or absence of AN7 in the media. (A–D) Representative images of RPE cells stained for acetylated histone H3 (AC-H3; red) and cells nuclei, DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 20µm. (E) Quantification of the percentage of AC-H3 stained cells of total cells, comparing normoxic and hypoxic conditions in the presence or absence of AN7 in the cell media. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test was used for statistical analysis. (F–M) Representative images of RPE cells stained for the tight junctions associated protein, Zonula Occludens-1 (ZO-1; red) and cells nuclei, DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 5µm. (E–H) Z-axis images are showing the distribution pattern of ZO-1 through the borders of the cells. (N) Quantification of FITC-dextran leakage through the RPE cell layer grown on Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) membranes, comparing normoxic and hypoxic conditions in the presence or absence of AN7 in the cell media. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test was used for statistical analysis.