Fig. 2.

Transmission electron microscopy of the corneal epithelium and stroma after surgical injury in rabbits. A. A clear cornea at 1-month after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for low-nearsightedness showing the epithelium (e) and regenerated epithelial basement membrane with normal lamina lucida (arrows) and lamina densa (arrowheads). S is the stroma of the cornea. B. Fibrotic scarred cornea at 1-month after PRK for high-nearsightedness with no detectible lamina lucida or lamina densa. Stacked myofibroblasts (arrows), that correspond to α-SMA+ cells in Fig. 1B, and the disordered extracellular matrix they produced (*) fill the anterior stroma (s) beneath the epithelium (e). C. Cornea at three months after PRK for high-nearsightedness in which clear spaces (lacunae) developed in the fibrosis. These clear areas of stroma correlated with islands of fully-regenerated epithelial basement membrane (arrows) with apoptosis of underlying myofibroblasts, whereas adjacent areas (X) had no detectible epithelial basement membrane. Myofibroblasts were no longer present in the stroma (s) but high density extracellular matrix produced by keratocytes (arrowheads) in the subepithelial stroma is likely contributing to regeneration of the EBM.