Fig. 6: Endothelial YAP/TAZ is essential for regulating pathological retinal angiogenesis.

A Schematic showing the generation of EC-specific Yap/Taz knockout mice. B Intravitreal 4-OHT injection and STZ administration in EC-specific Yap/Taz knockout (Yap/Taz^iΔEC) and littermate control (Yap/Taz^WT) mice. C Desmin (Cyan) and CD31 (magenta) staining in retinas of Yap/Taz^WT and Yap/Taz^iΔEC mice, 9 weeks post-STZ onset. Arrowheads indicate vessels lacking mural cell coverage. D Quantification of mural cell coverage (%) within CD31⁺ vessel areas from (C) (n = 6/6 mice). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0484 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). E Retinal trypsin digestion showing acellular capillaries in Yap/Taz^WT and Yap/Taz^iΔEC STZ mice. Black arrowheads indicating acellular capillaries. F Acellular capillaries (Ac-Cap) in (E), based on 3 random fields per retina (n = 6/6 retinas). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0484 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). G Collagen lV (green) and CD31 (red) staining in retinas, 9 weeks post-STZ-induced diabetes. Arrowheads indicate Ac-Caps. H Quantification of CollV⁺CD31^- sleeves in (G) (15 random fields per retina, n = 3/3 mice). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0479 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). I Schematic of Tamoxifen injection in the OIR model. J IsoB4 staining of retinal vasculature in P17 OIR retinas from Yap/Taz^WT and Yap/Taz^iΔEC pups. K, L Quantification of neovascularization and avascular areas in Yap/Taz^WT and Yap/Taz^iΔEC OIR retinas (n = 7/8 pups). Mean ± SEM, p < 0.0001 in (K), p = 0.9361 in (L) (two-tailed Student’s t-test). M, N Images and quantification of blood island areas in P17 OIR retinas (n = 10/14 pups). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0013 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). O, P Images and quantification of TER119⁺ red blood cell (RBC) (Cyan) leakage in flat-mounted retinas of OIR pups (n = 8/9 pups). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.0003 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). Q, R Images and quantification of extravasated FITC-dextran (70 kDa) (green) in IsoB4-stained (red) flat-mounted retinas (n = 5/8 pups). Mean ± SEM, p = 0.001 (two-tailed Student’s t-test). *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. Scale bars: 100 µm in (C), 50 µm in (G), 500 µm in (J, O, Q), and 1 mm in (M). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.