Suppressed Secretion of The Extracellular Matrix of The Cultured Corneal Epithelial Cell following Inoculation of HSV-1

ABSTRACT

In order to assess the extracellular matrix(ECM) secretion of corneal epithelial cells inoculated with herpes simplex virus-1 in vitro the indirect immunofluorescent technique was used. In this study, ECM such as fibronectin, type IV collagen and laminin were rich in cultured rabbit corneal epithelial cells under the normal condition, while those became poor after inoculation with herpes simplex virus-1. This result suggested that herpes simplex virus-1 inhibit ECM secretion of the corneal epithelial cells. These findings mean that delayed epithelial wound healing after herpes simplex virus-1 infection is due to suppressed secretion of ECM which is the principal component of corneal epithelial wound healing.