Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:Eosinophils have been reported to be important effector cells in allergic corneal damage. Chemokines produced from corneal tissue are thought to recruit eosinophils to such lesions. In order to clarify the chemokine expression profile in corneal epithelial and keratocytes, we investigated chemokine gene expression by using GeneChip analysis. Methods:Primary cultures of corneal epithelial (n=2) and keratocytes (n=2) were established from donor corneas. These cells were cultured with/without IL-4 (30 ng/ml) and TNF-alpha (30 ng/ml) for 24 hrs. After total RNA extracted from 106 cells was processed as described in the manufacturer's protocol, mRNA expression in each sample was analyzed using GeneChip (Human Genome U95A Array, Affymetrix). Results:In the array used in this study, 14 CXC-chemokines and 18 CC-chemokines were coded. 5 CXC-chemokine mRNA were upregulated more than 3 folds in epithelial cells and 7 in keratocytes after stimulation with IL-4 and TNF-alpha . In contrast, only one CC-chemokine in epithelial cells and 6 in keratocytes were upregulated. 3 CXC- and 5 CC-chemokines were increased only in keratocytes. No chemokine was increased only in epithelial cells. Conclusion: CC-chemokines produced from keratocytes may play a central role in eosinophil recruitment, and thus, damage of corneal epithelial barrier function may be a key event in the formation of severe allergic corneal damage.
Keywords: 372 cornea: epithelium • 374 cornea: stroma and keratocytes • 380 cytokines/chemokines