Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To investigate the role of FGF (fibroblast growth factor) in the development of transparency in vitro. Method: Two different rat lens epithelial explant culture systems were used to study the effect of FGF-2 and bovine vitreous on the differentiation of lens epithelial cells (LEC) in vitro. Analysis of treated explants was undertaken via immunoflourescence as well as confocal and transmission electron microscopy. Results: In both culture systems, FGF-2 was shown to stimulate differentiation of LEC as seen by the accumulation of molecular and ultrastructural markers. In one of the systems, differentiation resulted in tightly packed, parallel aligned fibres. However, neither explant system resulted in the development of transparency when treated with FGF-2. In contrast, replacement of FGF-2 with bovine vitreous resulted not only in the accumulation of differentiation markers and the parallel alignment of elongating fibres but also resulted in the development of transparency in vitro. Conclusion: In vitro techniques, namely the use of LEC explants, have been extremely useful in investigating the role of growth factors in the process of LEC differentiation. Until now, the criteria for assessing the response of LEC to growth factors has relied upon the accumulation of molecular or ultrastructural markers of differentiation. These results show that it is now possible to assess the role of growth factors in LEC biology via an additional criteria, the development of transparency in vitro.
Keywords: 423 growth factors/growth factor receptors • 622 visual development • 629 vitreous