Growth, morphology, morphometry and keratin patterns of bovine corneal epithelial cells cultured in vitro.

In this study, the effects of different culture systems on bovine corneal epithelial cells were analysed in order to better understand the influence of bovine keratocytes on epithelial cells. Growth, morphological, morphometrical analyses of cells and keratin patterns were evaluated. The aim was to improve the culture technique in order to obtain a good in vitro proliferation of these cells for their employment in clinical and toxicological situations. The bovine corneal epithelial cells were cultured under different conditions: on keratocyte or 3T3-J2 fibroblast feeder layers, with media conditioned either by the two feeder layers or with a basal medium. The epithelial cells cultured on a keratocyte feeder layer as compared to those grown under the other conditions, proved to have a higher growth rate as well as to be smaller in the cytoplasmic and nuclear area; moreover, after 21 days of culture they expressed 64-kDa keratin, designed as a marker for corneal epithelial cell differentiation. To sum up, the keratocyte feeder layer is the most effective for stimulating the growth and differentiation of corneal epithelial cells, resembling the in vivo situation. It might also be successfully employed for clinical and toxicological purposes.