Figure 1. Frequencies of exogenously-administered MSCs at the ocular surface following topical, subconjunctival, intraperitoneal and intravenous administration.

Corneal injury was performed by mechanical removal of the corneal epithelium and anterior stroma in C57BL/6 mice. In vitro cultured and characterized MSCs (0.5×10⁶ cells) that had been labeled with Qdots were subsequently administered via topical, subconjunctival (Subconj), intraperitoneal (IP), and intravenous (IV) routes. At 4 days following injury, corneas and conjunctivae were harvested, fixed, and visualized using confocal microscopy. (A) Representative immunohistochemical images of corneas and quantitative bar chart of MSCs (cell number per microscopic field) demonstrating increased frequencies of Qdot-labeled MSCs following subconjunctival and intravenous administration, relative to topical application and intraperitoneal injection. (B) Representative immunohistochemical images of conjunctivae and quantitative bar chart of MSCs (cell number per microscopic field) demonstrating increased frequencies of Qdot-labeled MSCs following subconjunctival and intravenous administration, relative to topical application and intraperitoneal injection. Untreated injured mice were used as controls. Data from two independent experiments are shown, and each experiment consisted of 4 mice/group. Scale bar: 50μm. The values are shown as mean ± SEM. *p<0.05.