title: The effect of retinoic acid on thymidine incorporation and morphology of corneal stromal fibroblasts.
abstract: The effect of retinoic acid on DNA synthesis and cell morphology was studied using corneal stromal fibroblasts in culture. All-trans retinoic acid induces an increase in DNA synthesis after 24 hours of exposure. Autoradiographic studies of 3H-thymidine incorporation into corneal stromal cells exposed to 10(-6) M retinoic acid for 24 hours showed an increase in labeling which ranged from 19.2% to 67.6% over control cultures. Scintillation analysis of labeled cultures also showed an increase in incorporation of 3H-thymidine into cells treated with 10(-6) M retinoic acid, with increases ranging from 21.8% to 114.7% above control cultures. Exposure of cultured corneal stromal cells to 10(-6) M retinoic acid resulted in a dramatic change in cell morphology such that they changed from spindle-shaped to round, flattened cells which were epithelioid in appearance. These data demonstrate that biological activity of retinoic acid in stromal fibroblasts and imply a role for vitamin A in maintenance of stroma structure and function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciaccia
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ubels
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000502:physiology*; D011817:Rabbits; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism; D014212:Tretinoin
chemical_list: D014212:Tretinoin; D004247:DNA; D013936:Thymidine