Fig. 5: Endothelial YAP/TAZ expression is elevated in DR and plays a critical role in pathological angiogenesis.

A Proximity ligation assay (PLA) of YAP/TAZ and OGT interaction in frozen eyeball sections from control and STZ-induced diabetic mice. CD31 was stained for blood vessels. B Quantification of PLA counts (red) in CD31⁺ areas (green) (n = 3/3 mice). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.016 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). C PLA of YAP/TAZ and OGT interaction in frozen eyeball sections from control and OIR model pups. CD31 was stained for blood vessels. D Quantification of PLA counts in CD31⁺ areas (n = 3/3 mice). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0033 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). E Immunostaining of YAP/TAZ (green), UEA1 (red), and DAPI (blue) in paraffin-embedded eyeball sections from non-diabetic control and PDR patients. Arrowheads indicate YAP/TAZ localization in EC nuclei. F Quantification of YAP/TAZ fluorescence intensity within vessels (UEA1⁺ areas) from non-diabetic controls and PDR patients (n = 4/4 individuals). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.008 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). G Relative expression of CTGF and CYR61 in retinal microvascular ECs from PDR patients compared to non-diabetic controls, analyzed from the Omnibus Database (GSE94019) (n = 4/9 individuals). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0268 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). H Immunostaining of YAP/TAZ (green) and CD31 (red) in sagittal retinal sections from STZ-induced diabetic mice at different stages and age-matched controls. I Quantification of YAP/TAZ fluorescence intensity in CD31⁺ areas (n = 3/3 mice per time point). Mean ± SEM, p-values = 0.0175, 0.0008, 0.0007 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). J Immunostaining of YAP/TAZ (green) and IsoB4 (red) in sagittal retinal sections from OIR model mice and age-matched controls. K Quantification of YAP/TAZ fluorescence intensity in IsoB4⁺ areas (n = 6/6 mice). Mean ± SEM, p < 0.0001 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. Scale bars: 5 µm in (A, C); 30 µm in (E, H, J). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.