2026-10-10T08:11:22Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34013547 2026-09-28T12:02:56Z category_12 portal_316 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Table 2_Retinal organoid–based evaluation of icariin-loaded extracellular vesicles for hypoxia-induced retinal injury via mitochondrial modulation.docx Mira Park (212785) Hyeoun Ji Kim (25122231) Yoon-Ha Go (25122234) Hey Jin Lee (10895992) Young Il Yang (10330761) Dong Hyuck Bae (19480891) Jong man Yoo (25122237) Helen Lew (9608661) Cell Biology extracellular vesicles (EVs) hypoxia icariin mitochondria retinal organoid Background<p>Hypoxic injury is a critical pathological factor in various retinal degenerative diseases, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and irreversible loss of retinal neurons. This study investigated the neuroprotective potential of Icariin-loaded extracellular vesicles (EV_ICA) using both R28 retinal progenitor cells and human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived retinal organoids.</p>Methods<p>EV_ICA were isolated and characterized by morphology, EV marker expression, and zeta potential analysis. A CoCl₂-induced hypoxic injury model was established in R28 cells and hESC-derived retinal organoids to evaluate the therapeutic effects of EV_ICA. Gene and protein expression analyses, bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), mitochondrial ROS measurements, and intracellular ATP assays were performed to assess neuroprotective efficacy and mitochondrial function.</p>Results<p>EV_ICA exhibited typical spherical morphology, expressed standard EV markers, and showed a shift toward a less negative zeta potential compared to Naïve EV. In hypoxia-injured retinal models, EV_ICA significantly restored the expression of key retinal and neuroprotective markers, including Syntaxin12, NeuN, Vegf, Rbpms, Brn-3a, and Bdnf, while suppressing Hif-1α accumulation. Transcriptomic and GSEA analyses revealed that EV_ICA reactivated biological pathways associated with phototransduction, visual perception, and retinal development that were impaired under hypoxic conditions. Furthermore, EV_ICA improved mitochondrial homeostasis by up-regulating mitochondrial-related genes, reducing mitochondrial ROS accumulation, and recovering intracellular ATP production.</p>Conclusion<p>These findings demonstrate that EV_ICA exerts neuroprotective effects by preserving mitochondrial quality control and restoring functional retinal gene programs under hypoxic stress. EV_ICA may therefore serve as a promising therapeutic candidate for hypoxia-related retinal degeneration and provide potential applications for cell-free regenerative medicine.</p> 2026-09-28T12:02:56Z Dataset Dataset 10.3389/fcell.2026.1891491.s001 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Table_2_Retinal_organoid_based_evaluation_of_icariin-loaded_extracellular_vesicles_for_hypoxia-induced_retinal_injury_via_mitochondrial_modulation_docx/34013547 CC BY 4.0