GROWTH-FACTORS AND OCULAR WOUND-HEALING

Protein growth factors regulate many of the processes in vitro that ar e essential for the process of normal ocular wound healing, including migration, mitosis and differentiation of cells. This has led to the h ypothesis that peptide growth factors play key roles in regulating nor mal ocular wound healing in vivo. A corollary to this concept is that insufficient action of growth factors causes impaired healing, and pro longed action of growth factors produces excessive scarring. If both o f these concepts are correct, then the addition of exogenous protein g rowth factors should enhance healing of chronic ocular wounds and redu cing prolonged actions of growth factors should limit excessive scarri ng. Although much remains to be understood about the role of growth fa ctors in ocular development and wound healing, results of a substantia l number of laboratory and clinical experiments indicate that these hy potheses are generally correct. This article reviews the results of pr e-clinical experiments and clinical trials investigating the roles of protein growth factors in ocular development and wound healing.