Figure 4.

Resident central corneal DCs remained sessile during the immediate 6 hours after various stimuli. Serial photographs of the same corneal location were taken hourly from 1 hour to 6 hours. Here select images at 1, 3, or 6 hours after silver nitrate injury (A–C) or after intrastromal injection with red fluorescent LPS (D–F), red fluorescent microspheres (G, H), or unlabeled TNF-α (I–K) are shown. The faint outline of the pupil can be seen in the background of some photographs, indicating the central corneal location of the stimuli and imaged DCs. For each case, arrows highlight several cells proximal to injury or injection sites that remained stationary over time. The boundary of the burn injury can be seen in the upper right (A–C). (D–F, I–K) Injection entry sites of the LPS or unlabeled TNF-α are indicated by asterisks. In the case of microsphere-injected corneas (seen as red fluorescence in the upper right corners of images), microspheres present in the tear film obscured visualization of the corneal cells at 1 hour, but by 3 and 6 hours they were almost completely cleared from the ocular surface, allowing improved visualization of DCs. Scale bar, 100 μm.