Fig. 7.

Expression of keratocan, laminin A1 and PCNA in corneal peripheral spheres implanted into corneoscleral tissue and cultured over 4, 7 and 14 days. All data are calibrated to non-implanted spheres (dotted line). Expression data (normalized to β-actin and GAPDH) are expressed as percentages of non-implanted spheres ± 1 standard error of spheres collected from three separate donors. Keratocan and laminin expression declined significantly post implantation. PCNA, however, was significantly elevated 4 days post implantation. There was a significant decrease in PCNA expression from day 4 to day 7. By days 7 and 14, PCNA expression is statistically equivalent to non-implanted sphere PCNA expression. Black square for day 4 implant indicates data available from only two donor sets due to tissue processing limitations. *p < 0.05. PCNA proliferating cell nuclear antigen