Y-27632, a ROCK Inhibitor, Promoted Limbal Epithelial Cell Proliferation and Corneal Wound Healing
Fig 5
Y-27632 increased expression of p63, a presumed limbal stem cell marker, in human limbal epithelial cells.
Human limbal epithelial cells were expanded on cover slides in plastic dishes with or without various concentrations of Y-27632 in culture medium for 30 hours. (A) After fixation, immunofluorescent staining was performed with anti-p63 antibody. The nuclei were counterstained by DAPI (blue). Scale bar, 50 μm. Magnification: 630×. (B) The percentage of p63-positive limbal epithelial cells (pink fluorescence in nuclei) under at least 5 high power fields in each slide was counted and statistical analyses were performed using a paired test, and *p<0.05 was considered significant. There was a dose-dependent correlation between the concentrations of Y-27632 and percentage of p63-positive limbal epithelial cells. (C) Nuclear protein extracts were analyzed by western blot using anti-p63 antibody with lamin B as an internal control.