Silicone Oil Injection into Murine Anterior Chamber

The detailed procedure has been published before^{20 (link),21 (link)}. In brief, mice were anesthetized by an intraperitoneal injection of Avertin (0.3mg/g) and received the SO (Alcon Laboratories, 1000 mPa.s) injection at 9–10 weeks of age. Prior to injection, one drop of 0.5% proparacaine hydrochloride (Akorn, Somerset, New Jersey) was applied to the cornea to reduce its sensitivity during the procedure. A 32G needle was tunneled through the layers of the cornea at the superotemporal side close to the limbus to reach the anterior chamber without injuring lens or iris. Following this entry, ~ 2µl silicone oil (1000 mPa s, Silikon, Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, Texas) was injected slowly into the anterior chamber using a homemade sterile glass micropipette, until the oil droplet expanded to cover most areas of the iris (diameter ~ 1.8–2.2mm). After the injection, veterinary antibiotic ointment (BNP ophthalmic ointment, Vetropolycin, Dechra, Overland Park, Kansas) was applied to the surface of the injected eye. The contralateral control eyes received 2 µl normal saline to the anterior chamber. During the whole procedure, artificial tears (Systane Ultra Lubricant Eye Drops, Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, Texas) were applied to keep the cornea moist.