The Effect of the Corneal Epithelium on the Keratocyte Apoptosis.

Lee, Tae Soo; Hong, Jong Woog; Ahn, Joong Bin

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2003;44(10):2342-2352.
Published online October 1, 2003.

The Effect of the Corneal Epithelium on the Keratocyte Apoptosis.

Tae Soo Lee, Jong Woog Hong, Joong Bin Ahn

¹Department of Ophthalmology Korea University College of Medicine, Korea.
²Dream Kim's eye clinic, Korea. opheahn@hananet.net

각막상피가 각막간질세포고사에 미치는 영향

이태수 ( Lee Tae Su ) , 홍종욱 ( Hong Jong Ug ) , 안중빈 ( An Jung Bin )

Abstract

PURPOSE
Keratomileusis was performed in rabbits to investigate the effects of corneal epithelium on the corneal stromal keratocyte apoptosis and the effect of human IL-1alpha and TNFalpha on apoptotic genes in human corneal stromal cells was evaluated. METHODS: Fifty six New Zealand white rabbits underwent corneal flap procedure and corneal epithelium was inserted between the corneal flap and underlying stroma. Keratocyte apoptosis was detected with the TUNEL assay. Gene array technique was used to evaluate changes in apoptosis gene in human stromal fibroblasts in response to human recombinant IL-1alpha and TNFalpha in vitro. RESULTS: Keratocyte apoptosis was significantly greater in group for flap with insertion of peripheral epithelium at 4 hours after surgery(p=0.0249). IL-1alpha or TNFalpha regulated the expression of several genes (insulin like growth factor, stress activated protein kinase, GTP binding protein, IGFBP4) up and down in human stromal fibroblasts in culture. CONCLUSIONS: We think that the differences in the stromal cell apoptosis after keratomileusis were due to stromal cell response to various factors of inserted corneal epithelium. We found various new apoptosis gene expression in cultured human keratocytes mediated by IL-1alpha and TNFalpha that were secreted in corneal epithelium. These genes likely trigger the apoptosis of keratocyte following epithelial insertion associated with corneal surgery.

Key Words: Apoptosis;Atlas array;LASIK