Fig. 5

rCXCL2 protects RGCs against retinal NMDA damage. a RBPMS staining images of whole-mount retinas (scale bar: 200 μm) and representative images of middle regions in the retina (scale bar: 50 μm) for different groups. The whole retina was photomerged by several images at low magnification with Adobe Photoshop software. b Percentage of surviving RBPMS⁺ RGCs normalized to normal control retinas (100%). Five to seven biological replicates were used for three groups. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, *p < 0.05. c Timeline of the injection process of an rCXCL2-treated group over seven days. d Immunofluorescence staining images showing Thy1⁺ RGCs in the whole-mount retinas (scale bar: 200 μm) and their representative images of middle regions in the retina (Scale bar: 50 μm) 7 days after NMDA injury with vehicle (PBS) or rCXCL2 injection. The whole-mount images of retinas were photomerged from several images at low magnification using Adobe Photoshop software. e Percentage of surviving Thy1⁺ RGCs normalized to normal control retinas (100%). Six biological replicates were used for three groups. Data are shown as mean ± SEM, *p < 0.05. f Representative images of TUNEL staining in retinal sections. Scale bar, 20 μm. g The quantified number of TUNEL.⁺ RGCs in each group. Results are presented as mean ± SEM, n = 6 samples per group, *p < 0.05