Nonvascular VEGF receptor 3 expression by corneal epithelium maintains avascularity and vision.
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.
Cursiefen
Claus
C
Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, 20 Staniford Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Chen
Lu
L
Saint-Geniez
Magali
M
Hamrah
Pedram
P
Jin
Yiping
Y
Rashid
Saadia
S
Pytowski
Bronislaw
B
Persaud
Kris
K
Wu
Yan
Y
Streilein
J Wayne
JW
Dana
Reza
R
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
D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C; D042643:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3