Fig. 1

AQP1 is low expressed in retina samples from diabetic patients. A, Representative fundus images (upper) and fluorescein angiography (lower) of normal retinas and retinas with diabetic retinopathy (DR) at different stages (from mild to severe). Scale bars, 1 mm. B, Representative sketch of human retinal vessels. C, Representative images of the reconstructed normal and diabetic retinal vessels. D and E, Diameters of the central retinal vessels (central retinal artery and vein) and the branching retinal vessels (retinal arterioles and venules). Each data point in D represent the mean diameter of central retinal vessels of an individual human sample, and each data point in E represent the mean diameter of the branching retinal vessels of an individual human sample. Data are shown as mean ± s.e.m. A two-tailed, unpaired Student's t-test is applied. ns, not significant. ****P < 0.0001. F, Quantification of AQP1 expression in healthy (n = 49) and diabetic (n = 54) retina samples. Each data point represents the AQP1 expression in an individual sample. Data are shown as mean ± s.e.m. A two-tailed, unpaired Student's t-test is applied. ***P < 0.001. G, Schematic representation of cell experiment. HRMECs were cultured in normal and high glucose mediums, respectively. The RNAs of each group were separately isolated and quantified for AQP1 expression. H, Quantification of AQP1 expression in HRMECs cultured in normal and high glucose medium. One-way ANOVA analysis is applied. ****P < 0.0001.