Document is current

Article History

Received: 12 August 2025

Accepted: 6 November 2025

First Online: 15 December 2025

Declarations

:

: All animal experiments for this study complied with the Animal Research: Reporting of In-vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines 2.0 and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s standards for the ethical use of animals in ophthalmic and vision research. Animal procedures adhered to the established guidelines and regulations set by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at UTHSC, Memphis, as well as the USAMRMC Animal Care and Use Review Office. All cell culture experiments were conducted in accordance with NIH guidelines and approved by the institute’s biosafety committee. Human ASC culture studies were approved for research per the University of Tennessee Institutional Biosafety and Institutional Review Board as exempt study.

: Not applicable.

: The authors confirm that no AI-generated content was used in this manuscript. While AI tools were used solely for copyediting (such as fixing grammatical errors, punctuation, spelling, and improving wording), all content was independently created by the research team, with no AI involvement in developing ideas or original material. No AI-generated images were included in the manuscript. Authors verify that all figures and illustrations in the manuscript were created by the authors, fully adhering to the AI policies outlined in the journal guidelines.

: RG serves on the editorial board of SCRT. None of the other authors declare any competing interests.