Bone Grafts Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bone Grafts, including details on spine fusion, surgery, procedure, risks. | ||||||||
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Keratocyte apoptosis and failure of corneal allografts.Beauregard C, Huq SO, Barabino S, Zhang Q, Kazlauskas A, Dana MR Schepens Eye Research Institute and Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA. BACKGROUND: Murine models of high-risk and low-risk corneal transplantation were used to determine the role of keratocyte apoptosis in the failure of orthotopic allogeneic corneal transplants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Normal (low-risk, low-rejecting) and inflamed/vascularized (high-risk, high-rejecting) BALB/c recipient beds received fully mismatched C57BL/6 corneal allografts. Apoptosis was detected in the corneal stroma at various time points using an in situ terminal deoxynucleotide tranferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assay, and ex vivo via Western analysis for active caspase-3. Apoptosis was also measured in a (donor-type) C57BL/6 keratocyte cell line after stimulation of Fas or via use of various pro-inflammatory cytokines. RESULTS: Significantly more apoptotic cells were present in the stroma of rapidly rejecting high-risk corneal allografts compared with low-risk grafts. Apoptotic cells were shown to be nearly uniformly CD45 and hence of a non-hematopoetic lineage. Apoptosis, however, was not present in highly inflamed but ungrafted corneas. Apoptosis was induced in keratocytes in vitro by dual stimulation with agonistic Fas mAb and either interleukin-1beta or tumor necrosis factor-alpha. CONCLUSION: Apoptosis of resident non-bone marrow-derived fibroblastic cells of the corneal stroma is strongly correlated with the failure of corneal allografts, particularly in the highly inflamed microenvironment of the high-risk allograft. Published 13 June 2006 in Transplantation, 81(11): 1577-82.
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