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S100 expression in normal and pathological sclerocorneal limbus
Author(s) -
CALIENNO R,
CURCIO C,
LANZINI M,
NUBILE M,
COLASANTE M,
MASTROPASQUA L
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2011.4371.x
Subject(s) - pathological , s100 protein , immunohistochemistry , keratoconus , pathology , biology , corneal epithelium , cornea , epithelium , medicine , ophthalmology
Purpose Several molecules have been proposed as corneal epithelial stem cell (SC) markers but none of them is able to identify SC in normal or pathological conditions.S100 proteins make up the largest subfamily of the EFhand Ca+binding protein family. The function of S100 is unknown but its expression was already known in pterigium and corneal epithelium in keratoconus.The aim of this study was to evaluate expression of S100 proteins as an early marker of SC deficiency. Methods The expression of S100 proteins was evaluated in four healthy sclerocorneal limbus and in five cases of pathological limbus due to severe inflammation: a case of corneal melting and perforation in advanced herpes simplex (HSV) disease, three cases of endophthalmitis and a case of fungal infection were analyzed. All samples were fixed in formalin,embedded in paraffin and stained by immunohistochemistry Results In normal limbus, S100 proteins were positive and in particular we observed no difference between different dimension crypts. No expression of S100 was detected in almost all pathological cases. Conclusion This result suggest that S100 proteins can be useful as marker of early pathological changes in SC niches.