Figure 2

The number of ON axons and RBPMS⁺ RGC after b-ITON and “pre-blast” siCASP2 injection. (A) There were no differences in total intact ON axon counts between any groups (P = 0.156, ANOVA). (B) The total number of degenerating ON axons in the whole ON increased after b-ITON compared to sham (P = 0.0124, ANOVA; P = 0.0317, post-hoc Tukey) and remained higher than sham in b-ITON eyes injected with siCASP2 or siEGFP injections (P = 0.5112, post-hoc Tukey (siEGFP vs siCASP2)). (C) There were differences in ON axonal density (P = 0.0241, ANOVA), with a decreased axonal density in b-ITON eyes treated with siCASP2 compared to siEGFP control (P = 0.0097, Tukey). (D) Representative PPD and toluidine blue stained resin semi-thin ON sections, with degenerating axons (arrowheads). (E) The ON area was significantly different between groups, with eyes injected with siCASP2 displaying smaller ON area compared to sham and b-ITON alone (P = 0.0125, ANOVA; P = 0.0182 (siCASP2 vs sham) and P = 0.0263 (siCASP2 vs b-ITON), post-hoc Tukey). (F) Representative RBPMS⁺ immunostained RGC on retinal wholemounts. (G) There were no differences in RBPMS⁺ RGC counts across all groups (P = 0.505, ANOVA). Scale bars in (D) = 20 μm and (E) = 100 μm. Error bars represent mean ± SEM.