Abstract
Purpose :
Purpose: Histatins are histidine-rich peptides that are present in human saliva and in human lacrimal epithelium. Previous experiments have shown that Histatin-1 can promote epithelialization in multiple tissue types. We investigated the effects of applying histatin-1 to a human corneal epithelial wound model in vitro.
Methods :
Methods: Human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells were utilized to perform a standard scratch based wound healing assay. A confluent monolayer of HCE cells were wounded manually by scraping with a 200ul pipette tip. Cells were then exposed to different concentrations of Histatin-1 in a medium essential media containing 2% serum. Cell migration was followed for 24 hours after scraping and imaged using time-lapse microscopy. Images were analyzed using Neuro Image-J. Effects of Histatin-1 on cell proliferation and cell death were assessed using colorimetric assays-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and an MTT assay.
Results :
Results: Our findings demonstrate that cell migration rates were increased with increasing Histatin-1 concentration. We also noted no significant change in LDH levels or MTT levels at tested levels, suggesting a non-proliferative, non-toxic mechanism for wound healing enhancement.
Conclusions :
Conclusion: Histatin-1 peptides promote human corneal epithelial migration and wound healing in vitro. Future studies to investigate these findings in vivo will be necessary to develop therapeutic applications for Histatin peptides.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.