PURPOSE To understand whether the epithelial phenotype in total sclerocornea is corneal or conjunctival in origin. METHODS Four cases of total sclerocornea (male:female = 1:3; mean age = 5.4 ± 4.3; 1-11 years old) who received penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) at our hospital between 2008 and 2011 were included. Corneal buttons obtained during PKP were used for transmission electron microscopy (...

PURPOSE To investigate the expression and function of toll-like receptor (TLR)-3 and -9 in corneal myofibroblasts. METHODS Two types of human keratocytes were used, which were freshly isolated keratocytes from donor corneas and cultured keratocytes. Expression of the mRNAs for various molecular markers was analyzed in these cells by RT-PCR, and TLR-2, -3, -4, and -9 mRNAs were also analyzed b...

Rabbit corneal epithelial cells cultured in the presence of 3T3 feeder cells undergo biochemical differentiation, as evidenced by their initial expression of K5 and K14 keratins characteristic of basal keratinocytes, followed by the subsequent expression of K3 and K12 keratin markers of corneal epithelial differentiation. Previous data established that mutations of an Sp1 site in a DNA element,...

PURPOSE The anterior surface of the eye is covered by several physically contiguous but histologically distinguishable epithelial overlying the cornea, limbus, bulbar conjunctiva, fornix conjunctiva, and palpebral conjunctiva. It is important to determine whether the different phenotypes of these epithelia are the result of intrinsic divergence, extrinsic modulation, or a combination of both. B...

Objective- To compare the effects of topical eye-drop and subconjunctival administration of diclofenac on improvement of experimental corneal alkali wound in rabbits eyes. Design- Experimental study. Animal- fifteen rabbits. Procedures- Alkali wounds were inflicted on the central corneas of 15 rabbits which we...

Acetylcholine (ACh), a classical neurotransmitter, has been shown to be present in various non-neuronal cells, including cells of the eye, such as corneal epithelium and endothelium, and to have widespread physiological effects such as cytoskeleton reorganization, cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ACh on corneal kerato...

The avascular cornea is a uniquely-isolated organ, with its stroma constituting a nutrient-poor environment. Consequently, the availability of metabolites such as glucose to corneal stromal cells is considerably reduced compared with other tissues, or indeed with media commonly used to culture these cells in vitro. However, the role of glucose in the behaviour of human corneal keratocytes has b...

Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is the most common late-onset, vision-threatening corneal dystrophy in the United States, affecting about 4% of the population. Advanced FECD involves a thickening of the cornea from stromal edema and changes in Descemet membrane. To understand the relationship between FECD and central corneal thickness (CCT), we characterized common genetic variation ...

PURPOSE The goal of this study was to determine whether a synthetic peptide, NC-1059, can modulate the corneal epithelium to increase the permeation of therapeutic agents across this barrier. METHODS An in vitro system employing transformed human corneal epithelial (THCE) cells was optimized for this study. Culture conditions were identified to promote formation of a confluent monolayer that ...

PURPOSE Acanthamoeba keratitis usually presents as a necrotizing stromal inflammation. We report a rare presentation of granulomatous inflammation in Acanthamoeba keratitis METHODS Retrospective clinico-pathologic case series. RESULTS Five corneal tissues (3 corneal buttons, 2-eviscerated contents) from patients suffering from severe Acanthamoeba keratitis not responding to anti-Acanthamoeb...