Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate the effect of recombinant human heat shock protein 27 (rhHSP27) on the differentiation of human pterygial fibroblast
Methods :
Human conjunctival and pterygial fibroblasts were isolated and cultured from specimens of normal conjunctiva and pterygium head, which were collected during pterygium excision. Cultured conjunctival and pterygial fibroblasts were exposed to 20 mJ/cm2 of UVB irradiation with and without 4 ug/mL rhHSP27 pre-treatment. Western blot analyses of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a marker for myofibroblast, were performed in each group and quantified using Image Gauge 4.0 software. The ratio of α-SMA / GAPDH was compared
Results :
Pterygial fibroblasts showed 2.85 ± 0.11 fold greater α-SMA level than normal conjunctival fibroblasts (P<0.001). When normal conjunctival fibroblasts were exposed to UVB irradiation without rhHSP27 pre-treatment, the level of α-SMA was increased by 1.92 ± 0.02 times (P<0.001). However, when normal conjunctival fibroblasts were exposed to UVB irradiation with rhHSP27 treatment, the fibroblasts demonstrated 0.82 ± 0.04 fold smaller α-SMA level than control (P=0.04)
Conclusions :
The rhHSP27 had inhibitory effects on UVB irradiation-induced differentiation from normal conjunctival fibroblasts to pterygial myofibroblast. The rhHSP27 might be used as a preventive treatment for pterygium
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.