Spatial and Temporal Variations in Extracellular Matrix of Periocular and Corneal Regions During Corneal Stromal Development

Corneal Sulfated Glycosaminoglycans and Their Effects on Trigeminal Nerve Growth Cone Behavior In Vitro: Roles for ECM in Cornea Innervation

“…In support of this, Macé et al 46 reported that the branching effect of CSA, but not that of KS, on DA neurons grown on poly-L-ornithine was significantly reduced when neurons were grown instead on laminin, thus making their experimental protocol and data similar to those in the current study, in both of which GAGs were presented to growth cones in combination with laminin. Many lines of evidence in addition to this investigation support the notion that CS-and KS-GAGs are colocalized with laminin in vivo in the developing cornea 97,111 and other tissues, 112,113 supporting the biological relevance of the substrate molecules chosen in this study.…”

Fine Structure of the Developing Avian Corneal Stroma as Revealed by Quick-freeze, Deep-etch Electron Microscopy

“…Correspondingly, our images of deep-etched embryonic stromal matrix revealed more or less extensive structural assemblies that disappear during development ; in particular the sheets of straight or sinuous rough 6-12 nm strands made of sequences of rounded or rectangular modules, mainly observed at early developmental stages and often located close to cells. These structures show morphological similarities to fibronectin, which may form bundles of flexible filaments (Peters and Mosher, 1994), and which has been demonstrated in developing chicken stromal matrix to disappear during corneal compaction (Kurkinen et al, 1979 ;Doane and Birk, 1994 ;Doane et al, 1996). It should be noted that similar structural assemblies forming large sheets were located in some areas of the Descemet's membrane-stroma interface in the present study at all stages studied, a corneal region known to express fibronectin until adulthood (Cintron et al, 1984 ;Tervo et al, 1986).…”

The Cloning of Mouse Keratocan cDNA and Genomic DNA and the Characterization of Its Expression during Eye Development

“…Subsequently, the second wave of neural crest cells invade the primary stroma and differentiate into corneal keratocytes that synthesize the specialized extracellular matrix (ECM) of the secondary stroma. Studies have demonstrated that the distribution of ECMs showed spatial and temporal variations during corneal development (21). Migration and differentiation of neural crest cells could be regulated by the interactions between cells and ECM components, e.g.…”