Table 3. The combination of insulin and FGF2 stimulates Müller glial expression of filamentous proteins

Similar to acute retinal damage induced by NMDA, the combination of insulin and FGF2 stimulates glial expression of neurofilament, β3 tubulin, and RA4. In contrast, glial expression of neurofilament, β3 tubulin, and RA4 is not induced by insulin or FGF2 alone. Although CNTF induced glial expression of GFAP, this factor has no effect on the expression levels of other filamentous proteins. In the table, treatments are rated as strongly (+++), moderately (++), weakly (+), or not (-) inducing a marker.

                                Treatment
                -----------------------------------------
                Acute                     Insulin
   Marker       damage   Insulin   FGF2    +FGF     CNTF
-------------   ------   -------   ----   -------   -----
Neurofilament    +++        +       +       +++       -
β3 tubulin       +++        -       -       +++       -
RA4              +++        -       -       +++       -
GFAP             +++        +       -        -       +++
Vimentin          +         -       -       ++        -