Fig. 1.

Diabetes inhibits corneal epithelial cell proliferation. Mouse primary corneal epithelial cell (mCEC) and diabetic mCEC (dmCEC) proliferation was measured using an 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay after growth for 1–5 days (a). Human primary CEC (hCEC) proliferation was measured using an MTT assay after growth for 1–5 days with normal glucose or high glucose (30 mM) (b). (c, d) A colony formation assay also showed higher colony-forming ability of both mCEC and hCEC over their diabetic counterparts, dmCEC and hCEC + glucose, respectively. n = 3 independent experiments. Mean ± S.D. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01