Mahelkova et al. recently published an interesting study evaluating the corneal structures in buphthalmic eyes and healthy eyes in patients with unilateral congenital glaucoma by using confocal microscopy. The authors reported statistically significant increase of the basal epithelial cell density and significant reduction of the endothelial cell density in the buphthalmic eyes, whereas the dif...

A model is proposed for shape evolution and locomotion of fish epidermal keratocytes on elastic substrates. The model is based on mechanosensing concepts: cells apply contractile forces onto the elastic substrate, while cell shape evolution depends locally on the substrate stress generated by themselves or external mechanical stimuli acting on the substrate. We use the level set method to study...

PURPOSE To investigate whether an initial keratocyte loss intensifies central corneal wound repair after LASIK in rabbits. METHODS New Zealand White rabbits received either conventional LASIK (-8 D, 6-mm diameter) or LASIK combined with a 7-mm diameter, epithelial denudation (LASIK-scrape). Animals were examined during 4 months by slit lamp and in vivo confocal microscopy to monitor changes i...

Fish keratocytes can generate rearward directed traction forces within front portions of the lamellipodium, suggesting that a retrograde flow of actin may also occur here but this was not detected by previous photoactivation experiments. To investigate the relationship between retrograde flow and traction force generation, we have transfected keratocytes with GFP-actin and used fluorescent spec...

BACKGROUND Keratocyte loss by apoptosis following epithelial debridement is a well-recognized entity. In a study of corneal buttons obtained from patients of corneal ulcer undergoing therapeutic keratoplasty, we observed loss of keratocytes in the normal appearing corneal stroma, surrounding the zone of inflammation. Based on these observations, we hypothesized that the cell loss in the inflamm...

Eukariotic cell motility is a complex phenomenon, in which the cytoskeleton and its major constituent, actin, play an essential role. Actin forms polymers of long, stiff filaments that are cross-linked into an anisotropic network inside a thin sheet-like cellular protrusion, the lamellipod. At the leading edge of this structure, polymerization of actin filaments creates the force that pushes ou...