Fig. 4

Change in photoreceptor integrity following injection of NR58-3.14.3 and light damage. a At 0 day post-LD, animals injected with NR58-3.14.3 had approximately half the number of TUNEL+ cells per retina compared to PBS-injected controls (P < 0.05). After 7 days post-LD, where chronic retinal degeneration is most apparent, the number of TUNEL+ photoreceptors was roughly three times lower in animals injected with NR58-3.14.3 than in the PBS controls (P < 0.05). b–e Representative TUNEL images showcase the reduction in TUNEL+ photoreceptors in NR58-3.14.3-injected retinas at both 0 (c) and 7 (e) days post-LD, compared to PBS controls (b, d). f At 0 day post-LD, there was no change in the number of rows of photoreceptor nuclei in NR58-3.14.3-injected retinas compared to PBS controls (P > 0.05). However, at 7 days post-LD, animals injected with NR58-3.14.3 had a larger number of remaining photoreceptor rows than PBS controls (P < 0.05). g, h Representative ONL images demonstrate this reduction of photoreceptor loss in NR58-3.14.3-injected retinas compared to PBS controls at 7 days post-LD. INL inner nuclear layer, ONL outer nuclear layer. b–e Scale bars represent 100 μm and g–j 50 μm. N = 10–11 per group at 0 day, N = 12 per group at 7 days