Fig. 5

Topical treatment on the corneal surface with siRel-loaded exosomes displays superior efficacy in accelerating diabetic corneal wound healing. A corneal epithelial wound healing model was established in diabetic mice. A–C Exosomes were isolated from the supernatant of siNC (n=6) or siRel-transfected (n=6) hMSCs and topically applied to the corneal surface immediately after corneal epithelial scraping and at 12 h, 24 h, and 36 h hereafter. PBS-treated mice (n=6) were used as control. Corneal epithelial wounds were stained with fluorescein sodium and examined under a slit lamp microscope at the indicated time points (A). Statistical analysis was performed on the corneal epithelial defect area using Image J software (B). Corneal tissue extracts were prepared at 24 h after corneal epithelial scraping and the production of inflammatory cytokines as indicated in the figure was determined by ELISA (C). D–F hMSC-derived exosomes were transfected with either siNC (n=6) or siRel (n=6) and topically applied to the corneal surface as described in A–C. PBS-treated mice (n=6) were used as control. Corneal epithelial wound staining (D), statistical analysis of corneal epithelial defect area (E), and detection of inflammatory cytokine production in corneal extracts (F) were then performed also as described in A–C. For A, C, D, and F, results shown are representative of two independent experiments. For B and E, results shown are combined from two independent experiments. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001