The Role of Sensory Innervation in Homeostatic and Injury-Induced Corneal Epithelial Renewal

The cornea is the window through which we see the world. Corneal clarity is required for vision, and blindness occurs when the cornea becomes opaque. The cornea is covered by unique transparent epithelial cells that serve as an outermost cellular barrier bordering between the cornea and the external...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2023-08, Vol.24 (16), p.12615
Main Authors: Feinberg, Konstantin, Tajdaran, Kiana, Mirmoeini, Kaveh, Daeschler, Simeon C, Henriquez, Mario A, Stevens, Katelyn E, Mulenga, Chilando M, Hussain, Arif, Hamrah, Pedram, Ali, Asim, Gordon, Tessa, Borschel, Gregory H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Afferent Pathways
Blindness
Cell division
Cornea
Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary
corneal innervation
Cytokines
Denervation
Growth factors
Health aspects
Humans
limbal niche
limbal stem cells
limbus
Nervous System Physiological Phenomena
Neurophysiology
Regulation
Review
Schwann cells
Skin
Stem cells
Tissue engineering
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Summary:The cornea is the window through which we see the world. Corneal clarity is required for vision, and blindness occurs when the cornea becomes opaque. The cornea is covered by unique transparent epithelial cells that serve as an outermost cellular barrier bordering between the cornea and the external environment. Corneal sensory nerves protect the cornea from injury by triggering tearing and blink reflexes, and are also thought to regulate corneal epithelial renewal via unknown mechanism(s). When protective corneal sensory innervation is absent due to infection, trauma, intracranial tumors, surgery, or congenital causes, permanent blindness results from repetitive epithelial microtraumas and failure to heal. The condition is termed neurotrophic keratopathy (NK), with an incidence of 5:10,000 people worldwide. In this report, we review the currently available therapeutic solutions for NK and discuss the progress in our understanding of how the sensory nerves induce corneal epithelial renewal.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms241612615