ECM Stiffness Controls the Activation and Contractility of Corneal Keratocytes in Response to TGF-β1.

ABSTRACT: After surgery or traumatic injury, corneal wound healing can cause a scarring response that stiffens the tissue and impairs ocular function. This fibrosis is caused in part by the activation of corneal keratocytes from a native mechanically quiescent state to an activated myofibroblastic state. This transformation is tied to signaling downstream of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). Here, to better understand how biochemical and biophysical cues interact to regulate keratocyte activation and contractility, we cultured primary rabbit corneal keratocytes on flexible substrata of varying stiffness in the presence (or absence) of TGF-β1. Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy was used to assess changes in keratocyte morphology, as well as to quantify the dynamic traction stresses exerted by c

SUBMITTER: Maruri DP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7677126 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature