Inhibitory Effects of Imatinib Mesylate on Transdifferentiation of Lens Epithelial Cells into Fibroblast

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To investigate whether Imatinib mesylate (IM) could inhibit the transdifferentiation of the lens epithelial cells (LECs) into fibroblasts using the capsular bag model. METHODS: In the capsular bag model, LECs were cultured by exposure to IM at various concentrations for 3 min. The effect of IM was analysed by observing the covering area, numbers of alpha-SMA positive cell, and BrdU incorporated proliferating cells. The same analysis was performed in the culture of LECs with TGF-beta. RESULTS: The covering area was significantly decreased by the treatment of 30 micro M IM, and the positive cells for alpha-SMA and BrdU were also decreased by IM treatment in a dose dependent manner. In addition, increasing TGF-beta concentration accelerated transdifferentiation, but suppressed the acceleration of the transdifferentiation induced by TGF-beta. CONCLUSIONS: In the capsular bag model, IM effectively inhibited not only the transdifferentiation of LECs into fibroblasts but also the TGF-beta induced acceleration of the transdifferentiation.