Abstract
Purpose: :
Ocular immune privilege is a multifactorial mechanism designed evolutionary to prevent immunogenic inflammation from disrupting the visual axis and causing blindness. Here, we study the role of Stat–3 and IDO on ocular immune privilege in corneal stromal cells
Methods: :
Human keratocytes were purely cultured in vitro. Stat–3 and IDO expression on keratocytes was investigated by RT–PCR. The active form of Stat–3 was detected by flow–cytometry. IDO enzyme activity following IFN–gamma stimulation of keratocytes was measured by tryptophan–to kynurenine conversion with photometric determination of kynurenine concentration in the supernatant.
Results: :
Stat–3 was constitutively expressed in the cultured keratocytes and up regulated following IFN–gamma stimulation. The active form of Stat–3 was also up regulated following IFN–gamma stimulation. IDO enzyme activity was markedly induced by IFN–gamma stimulation as well as IDO expression.
Conclusions: :
These results demonstrate that Stat–3 and IDO are may a critical factors in the ocular immune privilege. Ultimately, it may possible to develope an agent for treatment of ocular inflammatory diseases in clinical setting
Keywords: immune tolerance/privilege • cornea: stroma and keratocytes • cornea: basic science