Proteoglycan alterations in the rabbit corneal stroma after a lamellar incision(1).

摘要

To investigate proteoglycans under minimally damaged epithelium after a lamellar microkeratome incision.Collaborating university departments.Anterior lamellar caps were excised from rabbit corneas and then resutured in place. Healing tissue was examined by electron microscopy with proteoglycan staining.In the weeks after surgery, regions of disorganized stromal matrix were populated by sulfated proteoglycan filaments that were much larger (up to 300 nm long) than those in quiescent stroma.Large, sulfated proteoglycans existed in rabbit corneas healing from lamellar incisions. These molecules appear to be a normal feature of corneal wound healing; because of their water-binding capacity, they might aid tissue restructuring.