Fig. 3: Elevated CCL2 expression increases infiltration of blood-derived monocytes/macrophages into the eyes and brains of highly myopic mice.

a Flow-cytometric quantification showed higher ratios of monocytes (CD11b⁺/CD45⁺), CD11b⁺/Ly6C⁺ monocytes, and macrophages (CD11b⁺/F4/80⁺) in the uvea of highly myopic mice than in the controls. b Flow-cytometric gating strategy showed exclusion of CD45-PE labeled cells and microglia (TMEM119⁺) before quantification of infiltrated monocytes. A significantly higher ratio of CD11b⁺/Ly6C⁺ monocytes was identified in the brain of highly myopic mice than in the controls. c Immunofluorescent images showed increased Ly6C⁺ monocyte infiltration (arrows) into the BLA and ventral hippocampus of highly myopic mice. Enlarged images in white squares are shown on the top right. Scale bars: 100 μm. d Schematic representation of the establishment of a model of GFP-positive bone marrow chimeric mice. e Flow-cytometric quantification showed higher ratios of GFP⁺CD45⁺ cells in both the uvea and brain of GFP-positive bone marrow chimeric mice with high myopia than in the chimeric mice without high myopia. f Schematic representation of the establishment of the parabiotic model. g Immunofluorescent images showed increased GFP⁺ cell infiltration (circles) into the BLA and ventral hippocampus of parabiotic wild-type mice with high myopia than in the controls. Scale bars: 100 μm. Data are mean ± SD. n = 6 in each group (a, b, e); n = 3 in each group (c, g). The level of significance was detected using Student’s t-test. ****P < 0.0001, **P < 0.01 and *P < 0.05.