title: Nonvascular VEGF receptor 3 expression by corneal epithelium maintains avascularity and vision.
abstract: Transparency of the cornea, the window of the eye, is a prerequisite for vision. Angiogenesis into the normally avascular cornea is incompatible with good vision and, therefore, the cornea is one of the few tissues in the human body where avascularity is actively maintained. Here, we provide evidence for a critical mechanism contributing to corneal avascularity. VEGF receptor 3, normally present on lymphatic and proliferating blood vascular endothelium, is strongly constitutively expressed by corneal epithelium and is mechanistically responsible for suppressing inflammatory corneal angiogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cursiefen
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saint-Geniez
authors.forename: Pedram
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hamrah
authors.forename: Yiping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Saadia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.forename: Bronislaw
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pytowski
authors.forename: Kris
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Persaud
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: J Wayne
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Streilein
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dana
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000378:metabolism*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C / Q000378:metabolism; D042643:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D / Q000378:metabolism; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D014785:Vision, Ocular
chemical_list: D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C; D042643:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3