The aim of this study was to examine whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and/or corneal limbal epithelial stem cells (LSCs) influence restoration of an antioxidant protective mechanism in the corneal epithelium and renewal of corneal optical properties changed after alkali burns. The injured rabbit corneas (with 0.25 N NaOH) were untreated or treated with nanofiber scaffolds free of stem cell...

PURPOSE To examine whether trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons in tissue culture influence expression of Type VII collagen (a major component of the anchoring fibrils involved in the attachment of the epithelium to the underlying stroma) by cultured corneal epithelial cells. METHODS A two-chambered coculture system was used. Fetal rabbit TG neurons were cultured into a central chamber on collage...

Involvement of an epithelium-specific transcription factor ESE-1/ESX/ELF3/jen (ESE-1) in corneal epithelial cell differentiation was investigated. ESE-1 was reported to be induced during terminal differentiation of the epidermis and primary keratinocytes and to transactivate target genes through ets binding sites. However, its expression and function in corneal epithelium have not been examined...

The effects of fibronectin and epidermal growth factor (EGF) on the migration of corneal epithelial cells in situ were investigated. When rabbit corneal blocks were cultured in serum-free medium with fibronectin or EGF, corneal epithelial cells migrated on the cut surface of the stroma. Histological and electron microscopic studies revealed that the leading edge of the fibronectin-treated corne...

PURPOSE Efficacy of cultivated oral mucosa epithelial transplantation (COMET) procedure in corneal epithelium restoration of aniridia patients. METHODS Study subjects were aniridia patients (13 patients; 17 eyes) with irregular, vascular conjunctival pannus involving visual axis who underwent autologous transplantation of cultivated epithelium. For the procedure oral mucosa epithelial cells w...

Patients suffering from various corneal diseases and waiting for keratoplasty have been immunologically investigated in order to establish sensitisation to corneal antigens. The presence of lymphocytes sensitised to the soluble from human corneas, bovine corneal epithelium, and bovine corneal stroma, which all possess common antigenicity, could be demonstrated in 30%, 50%, and 23%, respectively...

This study presents the development of the corneal epithelium of the mouse in chronological sequence covering the early prenatal, late prenatal, and postnatal periods, until the time of the disappearance of lid adhesion. The work is based on electron microscopic study of the corneal epithelium at daily intervals from the eleventh day of gestation to the seventh postnatal day, as well as the ten...

Topical prednisolone and cortexolone, a known glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, differentially affected the synthesis of proteins in normal corneal epithelium and migrating conjunctival epithelium after complete corneal deepithelialization, as measured by 35S-methionine incorporation and SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel) electrophoresis. Application of either prednisolone o...

Several biochemical parameters, including glycogen levels, and the activities of hexokinase, phosphorylase, and lactate dehydrogenase have been compared in regenerating epithelium of conjunctival and corneal origin in rabbits. The study was designed to determine the extent of biochemical transformation of conjunctival into corneal epithelium completed within 6 weeks. Although histological trans...

The condition of the corneal epithelium is a critical determinant of corneal transparency and clear vision. The corneal epithelium serves as a barrier to protect the eye from external insults, with its smooth surface being essential for its optical properties. Disorders of the corneal epithelium include superficial punctate keratopathy, corneal erosion, and persistent epithelial defects (PEDs)....