Role of lumican in the corneal epithelium during wound healing.
Lumican regulates collagenous matrix assembly as a keratan sulfate proteoglycan in the cornea and is also present in the connective tissues of other organs and embryonic corneal stroma as a glycoprotein. In normal unwounded cornea, lumican is expressed by stromal keratocytes. Our data show that injured mouse corneal epithelium ectopically and transiently expresses lumican during the early phase of wound healing, suggesting a potential lumican functionality unrelated to regulation of collagen fibrillogenesis, e. g. modulation of epithelial cell adhesion or migration. An anti-lumican antibody was found to retard corneal epithelial wound healing in cultured mouse eyes. Healing of a corneal epithelial injury in Lum(-/-) mice was significantly delayed compared with Lum(+/-) mice. These observations indicate that lumican expressed in injured epithelium may modulate cell behavior such as adhesion or migration, thus contributing to corneal epithelial wound healing.
Saika
S
S
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0527, USA.
Shiraishi
A
A
Liu
C Y
CY
Funderburgh
J L
JL
Kao
C W
CW
Converse
R L
RL
Kao
W W
WW
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007632:Keratan Sulfate / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D000071234:Lumican; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D014945:Wound Healing
D000906:Antibodies; D011508:Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycans; C000604307:Lum protein, mouse; D000071234:Lumican; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D007632:Keratan Sulfate