Figure 6.

Functional assessment and histological analysis following transplantation. Focal electroretinogram was used to measure the visual function of RCS rats at 15 weeks after surgery. (A) Sketch depicting the assessment of the efficacy of cultured iRPE cell replacement therapy in RCS rats. (B) The iRPE-injected group achieved significantly better b-wave responses than the sham group when compared with the untreated group at 15 weeks after transplantation. (C) The iRPE-injected eyes exhibited marginally rescued visual performance, while the PBS-sham group exhibited a similar effect to the untreated group for scotopic a-wave responses. Error bars indicate s.e.m., N_ctrl=6 replicates, N_PBS=5 replicates, N_iRPE=8 replicates, *P<0.05 for unpaired Student’s t-test compared to the untreated group. (D) Representative images of immunostained retinal sections showing the locations of transplanted cell infiltration and deep ONL at 19 weeks after surgery. Human iRPE cell nuclei were stained with human nuclear-specific antibody (red). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (gray), and merged images are shown in panels. The blue dotted line is between the INL and ONL. Scale bar, 50 µm. INL, inner nuclear layer; ONL, outer nuclear layer.