Ll. Ross et al., COORDINATED ACTIVATION OF CORNEAL WOUND RESPONSE GENES IN-VIVO AS OBSERVED BY IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION, Experimental Eye Research, 61(4), 1995, pp. 435-450
We used subtractive screening of a cDNA library prepared from corneosc
leral rims after cauterizing rat corneas. We identified 76 clones whos
e corresponding mRNA increased during the wound healing process in an
in vivo model of injury which damages the corneal epithelium, stroma,
and endothelium. Of these clones, 31 sequences encode known proteins.
Another 45 clones are novel sequences based on comparison with the Gen
Bank/EMBL databases. Changes in the level of expression of the novel g
enes, and a selected number of the known genes, were examined by in si
tu hybridization 22 and 72 hr after corneal injury. The majority produ
ced a 'wound pattern' of expression such that the mRNAs were highly in
duced in all cell types adjacent to the wound site at 22 hr post injur
y. This signal decreased in intensity with distance from the wound sit
e. In a subset of corneoscleral rims examined by in situ hybridization
, the mRNAs for these genes were also highly induced in the limbal epi
thelium, where the progenitor corneal epithelial stem cells reside. By
72 hr, when acute tissue damage had been repaired, the induced mRNA w
as only faintly present in the thickened epithelium. Our results provi
de a useful framework for further studies defining the pathophysiologi
cal roles of the known and novel proteins encoded by the isolated cDNA
clones. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited