Increased Corneal Endothelial Cell Migration in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy
Stephan Ong Tone, Adam Wylęgała, Myriam Böhm, Geetha Melangath, Neha Deshpande, Ula V. Jurkunas
Abstract
Purpose: To investigate if corneal endothelial cells (CECs) in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) have altered cellular migration compared with normal controls. Design: Comparative analysis. Materials: Descemet's membrane and CECs derived from patients with FECD undergoing endothelial keratoplasty or normal cadaveric donors. Methods: gene. Main Outcome Measures: Mean cell migration speed. Results: < 0.001). Morphologic analysis showed that FECD CECs displayed an increased fibroblastic phenotype as detected by filamentous-actin labeling. Conclusions: Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy CECs demonstrated increased migration speed compared with normal CECs. Further investigation into the mechanisms of heightened cell migration in FECD is needed and may provide insight into its pathogenesis, as well as having implications on descemetorhexis without endothelial keratoplasty.