Fibrosis in the Anterior Segments of the Eye

Osamu      Yamanaka; Chia-Yang      Liu; Winston      W.-Y. Kao

Abstract

The anterior segment of the eye ball, i. e., cornea and conjunctiva, serves as the barrier to the external stimuli. Cornea is transparent and is a “window” of the light sense, while conjunctiva covers the sclera, the main part of the eyeshell. Fibrosis/scarring in cornea potentially impairs vision by the reduction of its transparency and the alteration of the regular curvature. Fibrotic reaction in conjunctiva is also of clinical importance because inflammatory fibrosis in this tissue affects the physiology of the cornea and also a problem of post-eye surgery. In this review, we discuss the topic that is quite critical in vision. Although, various growth factors have been considered to be involved in, focus was put on the roles of transforming growth factor β (TGFβ).

Keywords: Fibrosis, Cornea, Conjunctiva, TGF, retina, glycosaminoglycans, GAGs, Myofibroblasts, subconjunctivalfibroblasts, Glaucoma, surgical fistula, mesenchymal cells, bleb tissue, mitogen-activated kinase, MAPK, CJun-N-terminal kinase, epithelium homeostasis, Smad7, interleukin-7, interferon-gamma andgene therapy, Connective tissue growth factor, CTGF, vernal conjunctivitis, ocular surfacescarring diseases, Stevens, –, Johnsons syndrome, TNF/JNK signal pathways