fig6

Figure 6. OEC-sEVs promote phagocytic function in RPE cells. (A) Schematic of POS phagocytosis by RPE cells. Inspired by Yang et al. (2021)^[61]; (B) qRT-PCR analysis of MerTK, Gas6, Pros1, FAK, Rab5a, and Rab7a at week 2; (C) qRT-PCR analysis of MerTK, Gas6, Pros1, FAK, Rab5a, and Rab7a at week 4; (D and E) Western blot analysis of MerTK, Rab5a, Rab7a, and β-actin protein levels at week 2; (F and G) Western blot analysis of MerTK, Rab5a, Rab7a, and β-actin protein levels at week 4; (H-K) Western blot analysis of p-PI3K, PI3K, and β-actin protein levels at week 2 and week 4. n = 3 biologically independent rats per group. For each biological replicate, three technical replicates were performed. Data are represented as mean ± SD. ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001, ns, no statistical difference. Student’s t-test was applied. β-actin: Beta-actin; FAK: focal adhesion kinase; Gas6: growth arrest-specific protein 6; GAPDH: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; MerTK: MER proto-oncogene, tyrosine kinase; OEC-sEVs: olfactory ensheathing cell-derived small extracellular vesicles; PI3K: phosphoinositide 3-kinase; p-PI3K: phosphorylated phosphoinositide 3-kinase; POS: photoreceptor outer segments; Pros1: protein S1; qRT-PCR: quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; Rab5a: Ras-related protein Rab-5A; Rab7a: Ras-related protein Rab-7A; RPE: retinal pigment epithelium; SD: standard deviation.