Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.

We sought to determine if connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is necessary for the formation of corneal haze after corneal injury. Mice with post-natal, tamoxifen-induced, knockout of CTGF were subjected to excimer laser phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and the corneas were allowed to heal. The...

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Main Authors: Xiaodi Feng, Liya Pi, Sriniwas Sriram, Gregory S Schultz, Daniel J Gibson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5313228?pdf=render
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author Xiaodi Feng
Liya Pi
Sriniwas Sriram
Gregory S Schultz
Daniel J Gibson
author_facet Xiaodi Feng
Liya Pi
Sriniwas Sriram
Gregory S Schultz
Daniel J Gibson
author_sort Xiaodi Feng
collection DOAJ
description We sought to determine if connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is necessary for the formation of corneal haze after corneal injury. Mice with post-natal, tamoxifen-induced, knockout of CTGF were subjected to excimer laser phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and the corneas were allowed to heal. The extent of scaring was observed in non-induced mice, heterozygotes, and full homozygous knockout mice and quantified by macrophotography. The eyes from these mice were collected after euthanization for re-genotyping to control for possible Cre-mosaicism. Primary corneal fibroblasts from CTGF knockout corneas were established in a gel plug assay. The plug was removed, simulating an injury, and the rate of hole closure and the capacity for these cells to form light reflecting cells in response to CTGF and platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGF-B) were tested and compared to wild-type cells. We found that independent of genotype, each group of mice was still capable of forming light reflecting haze in the cornea after laser ablation (p = 0.40). Results from the gel plug closure rate in primary cell cultures of knockout cells were not statistically different from serum starved wild-type cells, independent of treatment. Compared to the serum starved wild-type cells, stimulation with PDGF-BB significantly increased the KO cell culture's light reflection (p = 0.03). Most interestingly, both reflective cultures were positive for α-SMA, but the cellular morphology and levels of α-SMA were distinct and not in proportion to the light reflection seen. This new work demonstrates that corneas without CTGF can still form sub-epithelial haze, and that the light reflecting phenotype can be reproduced in culture. These data support the possibilities of growth factor redundancy and that multiple pro-haze pathways exist.
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spelling doaj.art-7288135d85014b07963dfc13b1cc34c62022-12-22T02:28:20ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01122e017230410.1371/journal.pone.0172304Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.Xiaodi FengLiya PiSriniwas SriramGregory S SchultzDaniel J GibsonWe sought to determine if connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is necessary for the formation of corneal haze after corneal injury. Mice with post-natal, tamoxifen-induced, knockout of CTGF were subjected to excimer laser phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) and the corneas were allowed to heal. The extent of scaring was observed in non-induced mice, heterozygotes, and full homozygous knockout mice and quantified by macrophotography. The eyes from these mice were collected after euthanization for re-genotyping to control for possible Cre-mosaicism. Primary corneal fibroblasts from CTGF knockout corneas were established in a gel plug assay. The plug was removed, simulating an injury, and the rate of hole closure and the capacity for these cells to form light reflecting cells in response to CTGF and platelet-derived growth factor B (PDGF-B) were tested and compared to wild-type cells. We found that independent of genotype, each group of mice was still capable of forming light reflecting haze in the cornea after laser ablation (p = 0.40). Results from the gel plug closure rate in primary cell cultures of knockout cells were not statistically different from serum starved wild-type cells, independent of treatment. Compared to the serum starved wild-type cells, stimulation with PDGF-BB significantly increased the KO cell culture's light reflection (p = 0.03). Most interestingly, both reflective cultures were positive for α-SMA, but the cellular morphology and levels of α-SMA were distinct and not in proportion to the light reflection seen. This new work demonstrates that corneas without CTGF can still form sub-epithelial haze, and that the light reflecting phenotype can be reproduced in culture. These data support the possibilities of growth factor redundancy and that multiple pro-haze pathways exist.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5313228?pdf=render
spellingShingle Xiaodi Feng
Liya Pi
Sriniwas Sriram
Gregory S Schultz
Daniel J Gibson
Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.
PLoS ONE
title Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.
title_full Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.
title_fullStr Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.
title_full_unstemmed Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.
title_short Connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas.
title_sort connective tissue growth factor is not necessary for haze formation in excimer laser wounded mouse corneas
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5313228?pdf=render
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