purpose: to report the clinico-pathological and ultrastructural features of a case of meesmann corneal dystrophy (mcd). case report: a 10-year-old boy presented with decreased vision in both eyes since early childhood. slitlamp biomicroscopy disclosed diffuse intraepithelial microcystic changes in the cornea but other layers appeared unremarkable. high pathologic myopia and amblyopia were other...

CDK5 and its activator, p35, are expressed in mouse corneal epithelium and can be coimmunoprecipited from corneal epithelial cell lysates. Immunostaining shows CDK5 and p35 in all layers of the corneal epithelium, especially along the basal side of the basal cells. Stable transfection of corneal epithelial cells with CDK5, which increases CDK5 kinase activity by approximately 33%, also increase...

Key issues in corneal epithelium biology are the mechanism for corneal epithelium stem cells to maintain the corneal epithelial homeostasis and wound healing responses, and what are the regulatory molecular pathways involved. There are apparent discrepancies about the locations of the progenitor populations responsible for corneal epithelial self-renewal. We have developed a genetic mouse model...

Substance P (SP) is a neuropeptide, predominantly released from sensory nerve fibers, with a potentially protective role in diabetic corneal epithelial wound healing. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. We investigated the protective mechanism of SP against hyperglycemia-induced corneal epithelial wound healing defects, using type 1 diabetic mice and high glucose-treated corneal e...

Substance P (SP) is a neuropeptide, predominantly released from sensory nerve fibers, with a potentially protective role in diabetic corneal epithelial wound healing. However, the molecular mechanism remains unclear. We investigated the protective mechanism of SP against hyperglycemia-induced corneal epithelial wound healing defects, using type 1 diabetic mice and high glucose-treated corneal e...

We investigated the incidence of circulating corneal epithelium antibodies in patients with uveitis. A high percentage of the patients (42%) were positive, whereas only 4% of controls had these antibodies in their serum. Significantly more patients with anterior and diffuse uveitis had corneal epithelium antibodies than did those with posterior uveitis. Subdivision of anterior uveitis into HLA-...

PURPOSE To investigate the roles of intracellular signaling elicited by Hedgehog (Hh) ligands in corneal maintenance and wound healing. METHODS The expression of Hedgehog pathway components in the cornea was assayed by immunohistochemistry, western blot and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in wild-type mice and mice that were heterozygous null for the gene encoding th...

Using an in vitro autoradiography, beta-adrenergic receptors were localized in the rabbit eye. Autoradiograms were generated by apposition of isotope-sensitive film to slide-mounted eye sections, labelled with [125I](-)Iodocyanopindolol. A high density of silver grains was obtained in conjunctival, corneal and ciliary process epithelium. Binding sites were also present in corneal endothelium, i...

PURPOSE Identifying the mechanism(s) that regulate gene expression during the transition of the limbal stem cell to a differentiated superficial cell is an important area of interest in the corneal epithelium. METHODS However, the factors that regulate gene expression during this process are not well understood. In the present study, the human involucrin (hINV) gene was used as a model to stu...

PURPOSE The Pbx TALE (three-amino-acid loop extension) homeodomain proteins interact with class 1 Hox proteins, which are master regulators of cell fate decisions. This study was performed to elucidate the role of the Pbx1 TALE protein in the corneal epithelium of mice. METHODS Pbx1(f/f) mice were crossed with mice containing Cre recombinase under the control of the K14 promoter. Subsequently...