Contact Lens Wear Alters Transcriptional Responses to in Both the Corneal Epithelium and the Bacteria.

PURPOSE

Healthy corneas resist colonization by virtually all microbes yet contact lens wear can predispose the cornea to sight-threatening infection with . Here, we explored how lens wear changes corneal epithelium transcriptional responses to and its impact on bacterial gene expression.

METHODS

Male and female C57BL/6J mice were fitted with a contact lens on one eye for 24 h. After lens removal, corneas were immediately challenged for 4 h with . A separate group of naïve mice were similarly challenged with bacteria. Bacteria-challenged eyes were compared to uninoculated naive controls as was lens wear alone. Total RNA-sequencing determined corneal epithelium and bacterial gene expression.

RESULTS

Prior lens wear profoundly altered the corneal response to , including: upregulated pattern-recognition receptors (), downregulated lectin pathway of complement activation (), amplified upregulation of , (immune defense) and further suppression of (corneal stromal integrity). Without lens wear, upregulated mitochondrial and ubiquinone metabolism genes. Lens wear alone upregulated (immune defense) and downregulated Ca2-dependent genes . exposure to prior lens wearing vs. naïve corneas upregulated bacterial genes of virulence (), its regulation (, PA1226) and antimicrobial resistance (, ).

CONCLUSION

Prior lens wear impacts corneal epithelium gene expression altering its responses to and how responds to it favoring virulence, survival and adaptation. Impacted genes and associated networks provide avenues for research to better understand infection pathogenesis.