Purpose: To investigate proteoglycans under minimally damaged epithelium after a lamellar microkeratome incision.
Setting: Collaborating university departments.
Methods: Anterior lamellar caps were excised from rabbit corneas and then resutured in place. Healing tissue was examined by electron microscopy with proteoglycan staining.
Results: In the weeks after surgery, regions of disorganized stromal matrix were populated by sulfated proteoglycan filaments that were much larger (up to 300 nm long) than those in quiescent stroma.
Conclusions: Large, sulfated proteoglycans existed in rabbit corneas healing from lamellar incisions. These molecules appear to be a normal feature of corneal wound healing; because of their water-binding capacity, they might aid tissue restructuring.