Figure 1
From: A Rabbit Corneal Endothelial Dysfunction Model Using Endothelial-Mesenchymal Transformed Cells
Endothelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) of RCECs using specific endothelial-mesenchymal transformation medium (SEMTM). (A) Immunohistochemistry of the fibroblastic markers α-SMA and vimentin were characteristic of fibroblasts in EMT-RCECs compared to the hexogonal morphology of Fresh RCECs (Scale bar upper panel = 100 µm, Scale bar middle and bottom panel = 50 µm). (B) RT-PCR showed that both Fresh RCECs and EMT-RCECs expressed α-Sma. Original gel is shown in Supplemental Fig. S2. However, qRT-PCR in the lower panel shows α-Sma was significantly upregulated in EMT-RCECs. (C) Western blots showed that Fresh RCECs and EMT-RCECs expressed Vimentin, Atp1a1, a marker of differentiated endothelial cells, and b-actin. Original gel and blots are shown in Supplemental Figs S3, 4. Semiquantitative analysis shows significant upregulation of the protein levels of Vimentin (p = 0.048) and downregulation of the protein level of Atp1a1 (p = 0.0043). Data expressed as mean ± SD of three replicate experiments. Student’s t test (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01). (n = 3). RCECs: rabbit corneal endothelial cells, α-SMA: smooth muscle α-actin. Atp1a1: Na,K‐ATPase α‐subunit.
