Chapter category: Tissue Engineering

An Eye on Repair: Myofibroblasts in Corneal Wounds

This chapter appears in the following book:

Tissue Repair, Contraction
and the Myofibroblast

Edited by: Christine Chaponnier, Alexis Desmouliere and Giulio Gabbiani
ISBN: 0-387-33649-4
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
James V. Jester

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Injury to the cornea often leads to corneal fibrosis and scarring resulting in loss of corneal transparency and blindness. Furthermore, current approaches to surgically correct refractive errors, including radial keratotomy (RK), and excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) cause damage to the cornea leading to corneal haze and reduced visual acuity. Past studies show that myofibroblasts play a critical role in both the development of wound fibrosis and corneal haze. Myofibroblasts migrate into corneal wounds and establish an interconnected and interwoven contractile network that is necessary for wound contraction, the principal cause of regression following RK. Failure of myofibroblasts to populate the wound results in marked wound gape, mechanical instability and progressive hyperopic refractive changes. Myofibroblasts appearing after PRK also produce marked scattering of light that contributes significantly to corneal haze. In cell culture, myofibroblast differentiate from quiescent stromal cells (keratocytes) after treatment with transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b). Furthermore, treatment of corneal wounds with neutralizing antibodies to TGF-b blocks wound fibrosis and corneal haze after PRK. Recent studies have shown that the differentiation of keratocytes to myofibroblasts involves a synergistic signalling cascade involving integrins, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and TGF-b. These new findings suggest novel therapeutic strategies to modulate myofibroblast differentiation and control corneal wound fibrosis and eliminating corneal haze.

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Additional chapters from this book:

An Eye on Repair: Myofibroblasts in Corneal Wounds

James V. Jester

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Chapter category: Tissue Engineering

An Eye on Repair: Myofibroblasts in Corneal Wounds

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