Nonvascular VEGF receptor 3 expression by corneal epithelium maintains avascularity and vision

作者：Claus Cursiefen, Lu Chen, Magali Saint‐Geniez, Pedram Hamrah, Yiping Jin, Saadia Rashid, Bronislaw Pytowski, Kris Persaud, Yan Ling Wu, J. Wayne Streilein, Reza Dana · 发表于：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 年份：2006 · DOI：10.1073/pnas.0506112103 · 被引用次数：261 · 研究领域：Corneal surgery and disorders、Corneal Surgery and Treatments、Lymphatic System and Diseases

Transparency of the cornea, the window of the eye, is a prerequisite for vision. Angiogenesis into the normally avascular cornea is incompatible with good vision and, therefore, the cornea is one of the few tissues in the human body where avascularity is actively maintained. Here, we provide evidence for a critical mechanism contributing to corneal avascularity. VEGF receptor 3, normally present on lymphatic and proliferating blood vascular endothelium, is strongly constitutively expressed by corneal epithelium and is mechanistically responsible for suppressing inflammatory corneal angiogenesis.