Abstract
Purpose :
To develop a technique that is capable of easily measuring corneal transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and changes in the corneal barrier function in mice.
Methods :
Previously we developed a method of measuring the TER of rabbit and human cornea. In that method, the cornea is not damaged by the experimental procedure and the TER is stable before drug administration. To measure corneal TER, we used a volt-ohm meter which generates ±20 µA AC square wave current at 12.5 Hz. Therefore, it was able to measure TER every 0.08 s. In addition, TER was monitored with a recorder, which shows TER changes continuously. In rabbits, we used intraocular electrode to measure TER which is nearly impossible to use in mice because of small globe. In this study, we developed an innovative technique using 12 well tissue culture and its insert to mount the mice globe and separates between the cornea and rest of globe to allow corneal TER measurements. In addition, we tried to evaluate acute corneal permeability change after exposure of mice cornea to 0.1% benzalkonium chloride (BAC) using our newly developed technique.
Results :
The mean corneal TER for the mice used in this study was 1219 ± 640 Ω cm2. After exposure to 0.1% BAC, TER significantly decreased (p<0.01, T-test) to 45.3 ± 13.4% and 21.7 ± 4.5% of the pre-exposure value after 1 and 3 minutes consequently.
Conclusions :
To our best of knowledge, we succeeded to develop an innovative technique for corneal TER measurement in mice. This technique can be applicable in the future for experimental research in mice.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.