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. 2024 Jun 11;15:4959. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-49008-3

Fig. 3. Immunofluorescence staining of corneal fibrosis-associated proteins and keratan sulfate proteoglycans in laser-injured corneas undergoing cell therapies.

Fig. 3

The corneas were harvested 21 days after cell injections. The quiescent corneal stromal keratocytes (qCSKs)-treated corneas exhibited little to no expression of Thy-1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), fibronectin, and collagen 3A1. The corneas that received activated CSKs (aCSKs) injections expressed Thy-1, α-SMA, fibronectin, and collagen 3A1 in the anterior stroma but at an attenuated level compared to the stromal fibroblasts (SFs)-injected corneas. The keratan sulfate (KS) and KS proteoglycans, keratocan and lumican, were largely absent in non-treated corneas but were re-expressed in the qCSK-treated corneal stroma close to the naïve corneal state. The aCSK- and SF-injected corneas also re-expressed the KS, keratocan, and lumican but their expression levels were lower than the naïve corneas and qCSK-treated corneas. Staining was repeated on 3 independent samples. Scale bars = 100 µm.