Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C in human pterygium.
Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and its receptor VEGFR-3 mediate lymphangiogenesis. In this study, we analyzed the expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 as well as lymphatic vessels in the pterygium and normal conjunctiva of humans. Fifteen primary nasal pterygia and three normal bulbar conjunctivas, surgically removed, were examined in this study. The lymphatic vessel density (LVD) and blood vessel density were determined by the immunolabeling of D2-40 and CD31, markers for lymphatic and blood vessels, respectively. VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 expression in pterygial and conjunctival tissue proteins was detected by Western blotting and were evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The LVD was significantly higher in the pterygium than normal conjunctiva (p < 0.05). Western blot demonstrated high-level expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in the pterygium compared with normal conjunctiva. VEGF-C immunoreactivity was detected in the cytoplasm of pterygial and normal conjunctival epithelial cells. The number of VEGF-C-immunopositive cells in pterygial epithelial cells was significantly higher than in normal conjunctival cells (p < 0.05). VEGFR-3 immunoreactivity was localized in the D2-40-positive lymphatic endothelial cells. The present findings suggest the potential role of VEGF-C in the pathogenesis and development of a pterygium through lymphangiogenesis and the VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 pathway as a novel therapeutic target for the human pterygium.
Laboratory of Ocular Cell Biology and Visual Science, Department of Ophthalmology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Nishi 7, Kita 15, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.
Junichi
J
Fukuhara
Satoru
S
Kase
Tsutomu
T
Ohashi
Ryo
R
Ando
Zhenyu
Z
Dong
Kousuke
K
Noda
Takeshi
T
Ohguchi
Atsuhiro
A
Kanda
Susumu
S
Ishida
D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D011625:Pterygium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000601:surgery; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism
C467486:VEGFC protein, human; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C; C581309:FLT4 protein, human; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3