Transplantation of cultured bovine corneal endothelial cells to species with nonregenerative endothelium. The cat as an experimental model
D. Gospodarowicz, G. Greenburg and J. Alvarado
The in vivo transplantation of cultured bovine corneal endothelial cells
has been attempted in the cat. Cat corneas denuded of their endothelium
were coated with bovine corneal endothelial cells previously maintained in
tissue culture. When grafted back into cat recipients, the corneal buttons
remained clear with no edema. Alizarin red staining of the endothelial side
of the corneal transplant demonstrated that the coated bovine corneal
endothelial cells reorganized themselves into a highly organized cell
monolayer within eight days in vivo. In contrast, corneas denuded of their
endothelium became opaque and edematous within seven days and remained so
thereafter. These results demonstrate that cultured corneal endothelial
cells remain functional in vitro and can replace a damaged or nonfunctional
endothelium i
