PURPOSE Corneal endothelial cells in humans do not replicate to any meaningful extent. Diminishing density of the cell monolayer with age and in the disease states is a major cause of loss of corneal transparency. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that overexpression of the transcription factor E2F2 results in replication in nonproliferating human corneal endothelial cells. METH...

PURPOSE To report in vivo confocal microscopic (IVCM) features in corneal edema supported by histopathologic correlation. METHODS This was an observational study with evaluation of diagnostic technology. Twenty patients with clinically diagnosed corneal edema were involved, including 11 with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy (FED). All cases, in addition to a control group of six normal eyes, were...

The cornea remains in a state of deturgescence, maintained by endothelial cell Na+/K+ ATPase and by tight junctions between endothelial cells that limit entrance of fluid into the stroma. Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) was initially described by Fuchs in 1910 as a combination of epithelial and stromal edema in older patients. It manifests as bilateral, albeit asymmetric, central co...

PURPOSE To determine the relative expression of cell cycle-association proteins in human corneal and limbal epithelium and corneal endothelium in situ, to correlate staining patterns of cell cycle-associated proteins with known proliferative status of corneal and limbal epithelial cells, and to determine the relative proliferative status of corneal endothelial cells in situ by comparing their s...

PURPOSE To establish and characterize a novel untransfected corneal endothelial cell line from New Zealand white rabbits (NRCE cell line) for studies on corneal endothelial cells. METHODS Primary culture was initiated with a pure population of NRCE cells from corneal endothelia by successive detachment and reattachment procedure of different durations, and cultured in 20% fetal bovine serum-c...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in corneal endothelial cell proliferation. METHODS Immunocytochemistry and Western blotting were used to define the PKC isoforms expressed in primary cultures of rat corneal endothelial cells. For proliferation studies, primary cultures of rat corneal endothelial cells were serum-starved for 48 hours and inc...

PURPOSE Corneal endothelium in vivo is arrested in G1, the phase of the cell cycle that prepares cells for DNA synthesis. In many cell types, transforming factor (TGF)-beta inhibits proliferation by inducing G1-phase arrest. Evidence indicates that corneal endothelial cells synthesize mRNA for TGF-beta1 and are also bathed in aqueous humor that contains TGF-beta2 (mainly in a latent form). As s...

Purpose To identify RNA missplicing events in human corneal endothelial tissue isolated from Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD). Methods Total RNA was isolated and sequenced from corneal endothelial tissue obtained during keratoplasty from 12 patients with FECD and 4 patients undergoing keratoplasty or enucleation for other indications. The length of the trinucleotide repeat (TNR) CT...

Corneal oedema and stromal disease, induced in rabbits by intrastromal injection of herpes simplex virus, type 1, strain RE (HSV-1, RE), reached a peak of 12-15 days after infection. Corneal oedema as measured by ultrasonic pachymetry, and stromal disease as measured by a subjective scoring system, were closely related for 30 days after infection. Morphometric analysis of wide field specular mi...