Investigation of the onset mechanism of pterygium and the development of its preventive medicine

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25861658
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Ophthalmology
• Research Institution: Kanazawa Medical University
• Principal Investigator: SHIBATA Naoko 金沢医科大学, 医学部, 助教 (20534647)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 翼状片 / DNAマイクロアレイ / ＭＭＰ９ / ＫＲＴ２４

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Pterygium is a wing shaped fibrovascular growth on the ocular surface causing visual loss and effective medication has not been found yet.
Pterygium formation is induced by various chronic inflammatory conditions, such as ultraviolet radiation (UV) exposure. In this study, we found that Keratin 24 (KRT24) and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) were highly upregulated in pterygium tissues using DNA microarray analysis. UV-B treatment induced the upregulation of the expression of KRT24 and MMP9 in human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) and human conjunctival fibroblast (HCF). In conclusion, UV radiation may promote the modulation of these pterygium related genes such as KRT234 and MMP9, and may induce the initiation and progression of human pterygium. Suppression of these genes may protect the development of pterygium.

Free Research Field

眼科学、角結膜疾患