Fig 1: MSC therapy restores TBI-induced neurotrophic growth factor signaling downregulation in retinal neurons. (A) Representative immunofluorescence images of retinal sections (400× magnification) from the indicated groups (Sham+Veh, Sham+MSC, TBI+Veh, TBI+MSC). Images show neuronal co-expression of growth factor ligands and receptors. Top panel: Triple staining for NeuN (neuronal marker, gray), c-Met (HGF receptor, green), and HGF (red). Second panel: NeuN, IGF-1R (IGF receptor, green), and IGFBP-4 (red). Third panel: NeuN, IGF-1R (green), and IGFBP-6 (red). Bottom panel: NeuN, VEGFR2 (VEGF receptor, green), and VEGF (red). DAPI (blue) stains nuclei. Retinal regions include ipsilesional OD-T, OS-N and contralesional OD-N, OS-T segments. (B-E) Quantification of triple-positive cells (NeuN+ growth factor receptor+ ligand) per retinal section: (B) NeuN+c-Met+HGF, (C) NeuN+IGF-1R+IGFBP-4, (D) NeuN+IGF-1R+IGFBP-6, (E) NeuN+VEGFR2+VEGFA. Data were obtained from 6 animals in each group and expressed as mean±SD.