introduction: proteolytic enzymes, specially collagenase, are used to digest extracellular matrix, cells isolation and primary culture. it is important to find new sources of plant or animal protease instead of bacterial or tissue collagenase. in the present research, actinidin, a plentiful protease in kiwifriut, was used to isolate human umbilical vein endothelial cells. materials and methods:...

Purpose The aims of this study were to identify a robust apoptosis marker suitable for both quantification and back-to-back analyses of programmed cell death and to define specific upstream targets for apoptosis in corneal cells. Methods Apoptotic cleavage of initiator caspases and their downstream targets such as lamins and poly-ADP ribose polymerase was investigated in human corneal endothe...

PURPOSE Ripasudil (Glanatec), a selective rho-associated coiled coil-containing protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, was approved as a glaucoma and ocular hypertension treatment in Japan in 2014. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using ripasudil eye drops to treat corneal endothelial injuries. METHODS Cultured human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs) were treated with...

purpose: to compare clinical and confocal scan outcomes after descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (dsaek) performed for fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy versus pseudophakic bullous keratopathy. methods: in this retrospective comparative study, 47 consecutive eyes of 39 patients with the diagnosis of fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy (n=29, group 1) or pseudophakic bullous keratopathy (...

PURPOSE To determine how stimuli that increase corneal endothelial cell proliferation of human corneas in culture relate to changes in endothelial cell density in the central and peripheral cornea. METHODS Human donor cadaver corneas not suitable for transplantation were divided into four pie-shaped wedges and incubated at 37 degrees C in medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum, epidermal...

PURPOSE To study the effects of long-term contact lens wear on morphologic and physiologic properties of corneal endothelial cells. METHODS The endothelial permeability to fluorescein and the rate of corneal deswelling from hypoxia-induced edema were measured in 20 long-term (mean, 17+/-9 years; range, 5-33 years) contact lens wearers and 20 age-matched control subjects. From these data, the ...

A heterologous corneal endothelial transplantation was attempted using human endothelial cells and a Lewis rat penetrating keratoplasty model. Cultured human endothelial cells were seeded to a Lewis rat cornea, which was denuded of its endothelium. When grafted into the syngeneic Lewis rat, the graft remained clear for at least five days, and then became opaque and edematous because of immune r...

PURPOSE Previous studies have indicated that muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR) may be present in an unexpected, unique location and play a singular role in cellular growth regulation of rabbit corneal epithelium that may be of general physiologic significance if found in other cells. The purpose of this study was to examine rabbit corneas and corneal cells in culture to determine mAChR...

Trophoblast stem cells develop from polar trophoectoderm and give rise to the cells that generate the placenta. Trophoblast cells are responsible for the uterinal invasion and vascular remodeling during the implantation of the embryo. However this knowledge is not yet to be confirmed for trophoblast progenitor cells (TPCs). In this study, we aimed to demonstrate that human TPCs (hTPCs) express ...