[Expression of thrombospondin 2 during the repair process after alkali burn injury of cornea in mice].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the expression of thrombospondin 2 (TSP2) during the repair process after alkali burn injury to cornea in mice.


METHODS
Forty mice were employed in the study. The murine corneal alkali burn model was reproduced (n = 35) as experimental group (E), and the mice were randomly divided into control (C, n = 5) and experimental (E, n = 35) groups. The mice in E group were again divided into 7 sub-groups according to different time points [3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 and 192 postburn hours (PBHs)] with 5 mice in each sub-group. HE staining, immunocytochemistry (ICC) and RT-PCR were employed to observe the expression of TSP2 in the corneal tissue of mice in both control and all animals in experimental sub-groups at all above mentioned time points (PBHs).


RESULTS
TSP2 was expressed in corneal tissue in both C and E groups, especially in the basal layer of epithelial layer, and also a weak expression in substantia propria layer. Compared with that in C group (0.48 +/- 0.15), the expression of TSP2 in E group enhanced at 3 PBH, peaked at 6 PBH, (1.54 +/- 0.45, P < 0.05), dropped to the nadir at 24 PBH (0.73 +/- 0.19), and bounded back afterwards. It peaked again at 96 PBH (1.79 +/- 0.63, P < 0.05), then decreased thereafter, and approached the control level at 192 PBH (P > 0.05). There was remarkable angiogenesis in the cornea at 24 PBH in the mice in E group.


CONCLUSIONS
The expressions of TSP2 exhibits fluctuating changes along with the course of repair. This might be related to the compensatory process under stress condition.
Yan
Jun
J
State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burns and Combined Injury, Research Institute for Traffic Medicine, Daping Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, P.R. China.
Wang
Zheng-guo
ZG
Zhu
Pei-fang
PF
D000818:Animals; D002057:Burns, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D003315:Cornea / Q000378:metabolism*; D065306:Corneal Injuries; D005126:Eye Burns / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015870:Gene Expression; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D019699:Thrombospondins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014945:Wound Healing; D000099262:Thrombospondin 2
D019699:Thrombospondins; D000099262:Thrombospondin 2