Figure 5. Effect of Cx43 downregulation on retinal vascular permeability. Representative images of the retinal capillary networks show increased permeability in the diabetic and Cx43 siRNA-injected eyes compared to those of the normal rats and the scrambled siRNA-injected rats. Retinal whole mounts show the capillary networks of the (A) normal rats, (B) diabetic rats, (C) rats intravitreally injected with Cx43 siRNA, and (D) rats intravitreally injected with scrambled siRNA. Arrows indicate areas of extravasation of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran in the diabetic rat retinas and those injected with Cx43 siRNA. E: Graphical representation of cumulative data showing a significant increase in FITC-dextran extravasation in the diabetic rats and the rats injected with Cx43 siRNA. Data are presented as mean ± SD (*p<0.05, n=4).