rss
Br J Ophthalmol 2001;85:444-449 doi:10.1136/bjo.85.4.444
  • Original Article
    • Laboratory science

Suppression of interleukin 1α and interleukin 1β in human limbal epithelial cells cultured on the amniotic membrane stromal matrix

  1. Abraham Solomona,
  2. Mark Rosenblatta,
  3. Dagoberto Monroya,
  4. Zhonghua Jia,
  5. Stephen C Pflugfeldera,
  6. Scheffer C G Tsenga,b
  1. aOcular Surface and Tear Center, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA, bDepartment of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA
  1. Scheffer C G Tseng, MD, PhD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, William L McKnight Vision Research Center, 1638 NW 10th Avenue Miami, FL 33136, USAstseng{at}bpei.med.miami.edu
  • Accepted 1 November 2000

Abstract

AIMS Amniotic membrane (AM) transplantation reduces inflammation in a variety of ocular surface disorders. The aim of this study was to determine if AM stroma suppresses the expression of the IL-1 gene family in cultured human corneal limbal epithelial cells.

METHODS Human corneal limbal epithelial cells were cultured from limbocorneal explants of donor eyes on plastic or on the AM stroma. Transcript expression of IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist (RA), and GAPDH was compared with or without addition of lipopolysaccharide to their serum-free media for 24 hours using RNAse protection assay (RPA). Their protein production in the supernatant was analysed by ELISA.

RESULTS Expression of IL-1α and IL-1β transcripts and proteins was significantly reduced by cells cultured on the AM stromal matrix compared with plastic cultures whether lipopolysaccharide was added or not. Moreover, expression of IL-1 RA by cells cultured in the lipopolysaccharide-free medium was upregulated by AM stromal matrix. The ratio between IL-1 RA and IL-1α protein levels in AM cultures was higher than in plastic cultures.

CONCLUSIONS AM stromal matrix markedly suppresses lipopolysaccharide induced upregulation of both IL-1α and IL-1β. These data may explain in part the effect of AM transplantation in reducing ocular surface inflammation, underscoring the unique feature of the AM as a substrate for tissue engineering.

Footnotes

    This Article

    1. Abstract
    2. Full text
    3. PDF

    Responses

    1. Submit a response
    2. No responses published

    Register for free content

    The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

    Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.