Air/liquid corneal organ culture: a light microscopic study.
Air/liquid organ culture of tissues with stratified epithelial layers has been shown to encourage tight packing of cells and promote cellular differentiation. In this study human corneas cultured in a air/liquid environment were compared to paired, conventionally-cultured corneas to determine if the long-term morphology could be improved. Fourteen paired human corneas were cultured at 37 degrees C in covered culture dishes for 1 to 3 weeks. Air/liquid cultured corneas were placed epithelial-side up in a fixed position and culture medium was added to a level so that during rocking the corneal epithelia were intermittently exposed to air/liquid environments. Mate corneas were cultured using the conventional method. In this method corneas are fully submerged, epithelial-side down, in culture medium. After 3 weeks of culture significantly less epithelial intercellular edema was noted for the air/liquid cultures (p = 0.033), compared to conventional cultures. Significant improvements in cellular structure of the endothelial layers, after 1 and 3 weeks incubation (p = 0.029 and 0.000) and stromal layers, after 3 weeks in culture (p = 0.024), were also noted. We have shown that slight modifications of the organ culture environment lead to improvements in corneal morphology. Air/liquid corneal organ culture has promise for use in corneal wound healing studies and long-term culture.
Richard
N R
NR
Ophthalmology Research Laboratory, Sharp Cabrillo Hospital, San Diego, California.
Anderson
J A
JA
Weiss
J L
JL
Binder
P S
PS
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology; D003470:Culture Media; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods
D003470:Culture Media