title: Mast Cells Participate in Corneal Development in Mice.
abstract: The development of the cornea, a highly specialized transparent tissue located at the anterior of the eye, is coordinated by a variety of molecules and cells. Here, we report that mast cells (MCs), recently found to be involved in morphogenesis, played a potentially important role in corneal development in mice. We show that two different waves of MC migration occurred during corneal development. In the first wave, MCs migrated to the corneal stroma and became distributed throughout the cornea. This wave occurred by embryonic day 12.5, with MCs disappearing from the cornea at the time of eyelid opening. In the second wave, MCs migrated to the corneal limbus and became distributed around limbal blood vessels. The number of MCs in this region gradually increased after birth and peaked at the time of eyelid opening in mice, remaining stable after postnatal day 21. We also show that integrin α4β7 and CXCR2 were important for the migration of MC precursors to the corneal limbus and that c-Kit-dependent MCs appeared to be involved in the formation of limbal blood vessels and corneal nerve fibers. These data clearly revealed that MCs participate in the development of the murine cornea.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: International Collaborative Innovation Research Center of Ocular Surface Diseases and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: International Collaborative Innovation Research Center of Ocular Surface Diseases and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yunxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Department of Embryology and Histology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Chaoyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hanqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jiajun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Quanrong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: International Collaborative Innovation Research Center of Ocular Surface Diseases and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jiansu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hematology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yangqiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Dongqing
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Ministry of Education, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.|International Collaborative Innovation Research Center of Ocular Surface Diseases and Institute of Ophthalmology, Jinan University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China.|Department of Ophthalmology, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.|Section of Leukocyte Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D003315:Cornea / Q000098:blood supply / Q000196:embryology*; D008407:Mast Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000502:physiology*