Fig. 1

Experimental workflow. Diagnosis was based on a thorough funduscopic exam documented by fundus photography (CF, color fundus, A.), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescence angiography (FA, A’.), for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients (black areas are not sufficiently supplied with blood and therefore ischemic). B. Vitreous samples were obtained by vitrectomy from PDR and control patients. The black rectangle is to illustrate the part of the bulb imaged by CF in A. and FA in A’. Hyalocytes were isolated from vitreous tissue by flow cytometry (fluorescence-activated cell sorting, FACS) as CD45⁺CD11b⁺CX3CR1⁺MatMac⁺ cells and were further processed for C. RNA extraction and library preparation. RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) data were analyzed bioinformatically. D. For visualization of hyalocytes, porcine vitreous tissue was cultured and stained by immunohistochemistry (IHC). ONH. Optic nerve head. RNV, retinal neovascularization