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Immunofluorescence Study of Ocular Mucin 5AC Expression 28 Days Post Sulfur Mustard Exposure
Author(s) -
Gordon Marion K.,
Zhou Peihong,
Hahn Rita A.,
Schaefer Jennifer,
Gerecke Donald R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2018.32.1_supplement.513.19
Subject(s) - sulfur mustard , sloughing , medicine , ophthalmology , corneal epithelium , cornea , immunofluorescence , andrology , pathology , surgery , toxicity , antibody , immunology
Ocular sulfur mustard (SM) injuries can lead to the sloughing off of corneal epithelial cells by the formation and fusion of microbullae. Previous ex vivo work has shown that activation of MMP9 and ADAM17 lead to this sloughing. This type of injury also occurs in Dry Eye Syndrome (DES). By treating vesicant exposed eyes with a FDA approved drug for DES (Restasis) the integrity of the corneal epithelium to the underlying stroma can be salvaged/rescued. This study looks further to examine the expression pattern of Mucin5AC (a goblet cell marker) upon 28d post Sulfur Mustard (SM) exposed rabbit eyes. Fifteen rabbits were incorporated into the study at MRIGlobal. Three rabbits were used as Restasis controls, receiving one drop of Restasis (right eye) every 12 hours for 28 days. Twelve rabbits were exposed to 0.4ul of neat SM (right eye). After 2hours of SM exposure, 6 of these 12 rabbits received Restasis treatment (right eye) every 12 hours for 28 days; the other 6 SM exposed rabbits received no Restasis treatment. (Note: all left eyes served as unexposed controls.) Eyes were photographed at days 1, 3, 7, 14, 16, 21, and 28. At 28 days, rabbits were euthanized, eyes were enucleated, corneas isolated, placed in OCT medium, and frozen for further analysis. Unexposed and SM exposed +/− Restasis treated corneas were sectioned (~10μm) and Mucin5AC antibody applied for evaluation. In unexposed and Restasis only corneas, Mucin5AC is present only at the most distal ends of the corneal tissue. However, for SM exposed corneas, mucin5AC signal was present at intervals across the cornea proper. This suggests conjunctivalization of the cornea. Li, Wang and Li (Mol Vis 2010) demonstrated that corneas exposed to nerve growth factor can promote differentiation of limbal stem cell into conjunctival goblet cells. Our ocular SM exposures may create a similar or related phenomenon. This corneal conjunctivalization may explain some of the delayed adverse phenotypes seen after ocular mustard exposures. Support or Funding Information NIH U54 AR055073 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .