Abstract
Observing cells in their original niche is a key link between the information gleaned from planar culture and in vivo physiology and pathology. A new approach combining the transparency of the cornea, Hoffman modulation optics, and digital imaging allowed movements of individual corneal cells to be viewed directly in situ. 3-Dimensional time-lapse movies imaging unstained cells within the stratified corneal epithelium during wound healing were made. Tracking cell movements dynamically provided a definitive answer to the long-standing question: does a stratified epithelium heal by "sliding" of cell sheets as a coherent unit or do individual cells "leap frog" each other at the wound margin? A wound in the corneal epithelium healed primarily by sliding of the whole epithelium, with ∼5% of cells moving with similar speed and trajectories and with little change in their relative position. Only 5% of cells changed layers, with equal proportions moving up or down. Epithelial healing in situ occurred in three phases: a latency, migration, and reconstruction phase. This model provides a unique system to study the behaviors of individual cells in their original niche. It shows that cells slide into a wound as a unified unit to heal a stratified epithelium.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 397-406 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | FASEB Journal |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cell migration
- Corneal epithelium
- Corneal organ culture
- Stratified epithelium
- Wound healing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Biochemistry
- Cell Biology