Longitudinal changes to tight junction expression and endothelial cell integrity in a mouse model of sterile corneal inflammation

Abstract

PURPOSE. We previously reported that applying toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands to an injured cornea induces corneal edema at 24 hours, which subsides by 1 week. We tested the hypotheses that endothelial expression of the tight-junction protein, zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), would be altered during experimental sterile corneal inflammation and that endothelial cell density (ECD) would remain unaffected. METHODS. Anesthetized C57BL/6J mice received central 1-mm corneal abrasions followed by topical application of saline or cytosine-phosphate-guanosine oligodeoxynucleotide (CpGODN, TLR-9 agonist). At 24 hours, 1 week and 4 weeks post treatment, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images w..