Figure 3. Transcription factor Brn3b promoted an increase in the levels of p-AKT in retinas of rats injected with rAAV-hSyn-Brn3b. A: Immunostaining for p-AKT (pseudogreen), βIII-tubulin (pseudored) expression in retinal sections from Brown Norway rats intravitreally injected with either the recombinant adenoassociated virus–hSyn–green fluorescent protein (rAAV-hSyn-GFP; vector control) or rAAV-hSyn-Brn3b virus. The immunostaining was detected using corresponding Alexa 546 (pseudogreen) or Alexa 647 (pseudored) conjugated secondary antibody. Scale bar indicates 20 µm. B: A magnified view of the retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layers of retinas transduced with either rAAV-hSyn-GFP or rAAV-hSyn-Brn3b. C: A significant 2.4-fold increase in p-AKT expression was observed in the RGCs of rats injected with rAAV-hSyn-Brn3b. Ratios of fluorescence intensity values are shown in mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM), n = 6. The Mann–Whitney rank-sum test was used for statistical analysis (*p<0.002).