Subretinal Injection-Induced Retinal Detachment

C57BL/6J mice were purchased from Shanghai Silaike Experimental Animal LLC (Shanghai, China) and were maintained and bred at the Wenzhou Medical University animal facilities under a 12-hour light / 12-hour dark illumination cycle with free access to food and water. All experiments were conducted in accordance with the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Statement for the Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research and approved by the Wenzhou Medical University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Experimental mice were divided into four groups: in group 1, subretinally injected solution covered approximately 80–100% of the retina; in group 2, approximately 50–70% of the retina was covered; in group 3, the procedures were stopped before solution injection (pseudo-injection group) and only those eyes with entire automatic RD were used for further evaluation [19 (link)]. Age-matched non-injected eyes were used as the negative control (group 4). To differentiate the blebs filled and unfilled with injected solution, 0.1% sodium fluorescein was added to the normal saline as a green dye. Only those blebs with green color underneath were counted as RD filled with injected solution. The subretinal injection method has been briefly described in our previous studies [3 (link)–7 (link)]. The detailed protocol is stated below, including the pre-surgical preparations, post-injection care and injection procedures.