ABSTRACT
Objective To investgate the effect of nervous growth factor(NGF) on the proliferation of the limbal stem cells(LSCs) in vitro,and the relationship bewteen expression of its receptors and cell proliferation.Methods After primary cultured,LSCs were divided into the control group and the NGF group.Selected cells cultured of 1 d,3 d and 5 d in the two groups and examined the expression of p63,TrkA,p75 with immunohistochemistry.Results The average gray scale values of expression of p63,TrkA and p75 at 1 d,3 d and 5 d in NGF group were significant decreased compared with the corresponding data in the control group(P<0.05).Pearson's correlations analysis showed that the average gray scale values of expression of TrkA and p63 were of statistically significant differences(P<0.05).Conclusion These results highlight that NGF could maintain the stem cell properties of LSCs.LSCs could exepress the NGF receptors of TrkA and p75,and the expression of TrkA showed a correlation with LSCs proliferation.