Localizations of epidermal growth factor receptor and proliferating cell nuclear antigen during corneal wound healing.

The localization of epidermal growth factor receptor and proliferating cell nuclear antigen was demonstrated immunohistochemical to be similar in the corneal, limbal, and bulbar conjunctival epithelium, i.e., located adjacent to the artificially made corneal epithelial defect. In the course of regeneration of the corneal epithelium soon after the wounding, both epidermal growth factor receptor and proliferating cell nuclear antigen were expressed in the epithelial cells in the limbal area adjacent to the epithelial defect. After the defect was covered with several layers of regenerated epithelium, the main site of the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor and proliferating cell nuclear antigen moved to the basal layer of regenerated epithelium. The present study indicated that epidermal growth factor receptor, as expressed on the epithelial cell surface, can be considered to play an important role in epithelial cell proliferation, which is an indispensable process in corneal wound healing.