Fig. 3.

FGF-2 induces corneal VEGF-A, -C, and -D expression. (A, C, and E) In corneas containing FGF-2 (12.5 ng), in situ hybridization revealed prominent VEGF-D expression in anterior and posterior epithelial cells and stromal cells (A), VEGF-C expression was weak (C), and VEGF-A expression was prominent in the stromal layer (E). (B, D, and F) Corneas containing control pellets had minimal signal for all probes. (Scale bars, 100 μm in A–F.) Tissue separation (asterisk) was due to artifact. E, anterior epithelial layer; S, stromal layer; DM, Descemet's membrane and posterior epithelial layer. (G) Control pellets or pellets with varying amounts of FGF-2 (12.5, 50, and 100 ng) were implanted into corneas of mice. After 3 days, corneal stromas were harvested. The stroma from normal, unmanipulated corneas (0) was also included. Total RNA was transcribed to cDNA, and real-time RT-PCR was performed to quantitate expression levels for VEGF-A, -C, and -D. Arbitrary units represent normalization to β₂-macroglobulin mRNA levels.