In vivo CM is a powerful tool in the study of rare corneal dystrophies and degenerations and nonprogressive or slowly progressive corneal disorders where there is a limited availability of corneal tissue for examination and when the final diagnosis is difficult to obtain with conventional methods.

Silver nanoparticles (Ag‐np) are currently emerging as one of the fastest growing product categories in the nanotechnology industry with focus on antimicrobial activity. In recent studies, in addition to the antimicrobial activity, it had been proved that silver nanoparticles has cytotoxicity in primary liver cells and increase both superoxide dismutase and glutathione. Silver nanoparticles have also been found to cause mitochondrial damage and induced ROS, oxidative stress, apoptosis and the expression of heat shock protein70 (Hsp70). In this study, we aimed to explore the potential role of Ag‐np‐induced Hsp70 in protecting the cell death damaged by TNF‐alpha. The results showed that clone 9 cells, a hepatic epithelial cell line, have an optimal over‐expression of Hsp70.upon exposure to 100 μM of Ag‐np for 8 hours, without evidence of changes in the survival rate by MTT assay. After Ag‐np pretreatment, TNF‐α was added as a cell death inducer to observe the protection of Hsp70. The protective effect was confirmed by the significantly increased survival rate in Ag‐np pretreated clone 9 cells. It was concluded that optimal dose of Ag‐np induced Hsp70 over‐expression and exerted its protective function against proinflammatory cytokine‐induced cell death. These results highlight the therapeutic potential of Ag‐np in inflammatory diseases.

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