In Vitro and In Vivo Models to Study Corneal Endothelial-mesenchymal Transition

Summary

A primary culture of bovine corneal endothelial cells was used to investigate the mechanism of corneal endothelial-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, a rat corneal endothelium cryoinjury model was used to demonstrate corneal endothelial-mesenchymal transition in vivo.

Abstract

Corneal endothelial cells (CECs) play a crucial role in maintaining corneal clarity through active pumping. A reduced CEC count may lead to corneal edema and diminished visual acuity. However, human CECs are prone to compromised proliferative potential. Furthermore, stimulation of cell growth is often complicated by gradual endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EnMT). Therefore, understanding the mechanism of EnMT is necessary for facilitating the regeneration of CECs with competent function. In this study, we prepared a primary culture of bovine CECs by peeling the CECs with Descemet's membrane from the corneal button and demonstrated that bovine CECs exhibited the EnMT process, including phenotypic change, nuclear translocation of β-catenin, and EMT regulators snail and slug, in the in vitro culture. Furthermore, we used a rat corneal endothelium cryoinjury model to demonstrate the EnMT process in vivo. Collectively, the in vitro primary culture of bovine CECs and in vivo rat corneal endothelium cryoinjury models offers useful platforms for investigating the mechanism of EnMT.

Introduction

Corneal endothelial cells (CECs) play a vital role in maintaining corneal clarity and thus visual acuity by regulating the hydration status of the corneal stroma through active pumping¹. Because of the limited proliferative potential of human CECs, the cell number decreases with age, and the repair of corneal endothelial wounds following injury is usually achieved through cell enlargement and migration, rather than cell mitosis². When the CEC count decreases below a threshold of approximately 500 cells/mm², the dehydration status of the corneal stroma cannot be maintained, leading to bullous keratopathy and vision impairment^3,4

Protocol

All the procedures followed in this study accorded with the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Statement for Use of Animals in Ophthalmic and Vision Research and were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of National Taiwan University Hospital.

1. Isolation, Primary Culture Preparation, and Immunostaining of Bovine CECs

1. Acquire fresh bovine eyes from a local abattoir.
2. Disinfect the eyes in a 10% w/v povidone-iodine solution for 3 min. Wash them with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution.
3. Harvest the corneal button with a scalpel and scissors under sterile conditions. Peel the Descemet....

Results

After the isolation of bovine CECs, the cells were cultured in vitro. Figure 1 presents the phase contrast images of the bovine CECs. The hexagonal shape of the cells at confluence indicated that the cells were not contaminated by corneal stromal fibroblast during cell isolation. Figure 2 depicts the immunostaining that was performed using antibodies against ABC, snail, and slug at an indicated time point. Apart from phenotypic changes in the

Discussion

CECs are known for their propensity to undergo EnMT during cell proliferation. To develop strategies for suppressing the EnMT process for therapeutic purposes, a thorough understanding of the EnMT mechanism is necessary. We described 2 models to investigate EnMT, namely the bovine CEC in vitro culture model and rat corneal endothelium cryoinjury model. Our results demonstrated the EnMT process in both models. Furthermore, the EnMT-suppressing effect of marimastat was reproduced in both models, suggesting that th.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
trypsin	ThermoFisher Scientific	12604-013
Dulbecco’s modified Eagle medium and Ham's F12 medium	ThermoFisher Scientific	11330
fetal bovine serum	ThermoFisher Scientific	26140-079
dimethyl sulfoxide	Sigma	D2650
human epidermal growth factor	ThermoFisher Scientific	PHG0311
insulin, transferrin, selenium	ThermoFisher Scientific	41400-045
cholera toxin	Sigma	C8052-1MG
gentamicin	ThermoFisher Scientific	15750-060
amphotericin B	ThermoFisher Scientific	15290-026
paraformaldehyde	Electron Microscopy Sciences	111219
Triton X-100	Sigma	T8787
bovine serum albumin	Sigma	A7906
marimastat	Sigma	M2699-25MG
anti-active beta-catenin antibody	Millpore	05-665
anti-snail antibody	Santa cruz	sc28199
anti-slug antibody	Santa cruz	sc15391
goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) secondary antibody	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11001	for staining of ABC of bovine CECs
goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) secondary antibody	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11003	for staining of ABC of rat corneal endothelium
goat anti-rabbit IgG (H+L) secondary antibody	ThermoFisher Scientific	A-11008	for staining of snail and slug of bovine CECs
antibody diluent	Genemed Biotechnologies	10-0001
4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole	ThermoFisher Scientific	D1306
mounting medium	Vector Laboratories	H-1000
laser scanning confocal microscope	ZEISS	LSM510
xylazine	Bayer	N/A
tiletamine plus zolazepam	Virbac	N/A	veterinary drug
proparacaine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution	Alcon	N/A	veterinary drug
0.1% atropine	Wu-Fu Laboratories Co., Ltd	N/A	clinical drug
0.3% gentamicin sulfate	Sinphar Group	N/A	clinical drug
basic fibroblast growth factor	ThermoFisher Scientific	PHG0024	clinical drug