TGFβ overcomes FGF-induced transinhibition of EGFR in lens cells to enable fibrotic secondary cataract.

ABSTRACT: To cause vision-disrupting fibrotic secondary cataract (PCO), lens epithelial cells that survive cataract surgery must migrate to the posterior of the lens capsule and differentiate into myofibroblasts. During this process, the cells become exposed to the FGF that diffuses out of the vitreous body. In normal development, such relatively high levels of FGF induce lens epithelial cells to differentiate into lens fiber cells. It has been a mystery as to how lens cells could instead undergo a mutually exclusive cell fate, namely epithelial to myofibroblast transition, in the FGF-rich environment of the posterior capsule. We and others have reported that the ability of TGFβ to induce lens cell fibrosis requires the activity of endogenous ErbBs. We show here that lens fiber-promoting levels of F

SUBMITTER: VanSlyke JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11238076 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature