Figure 1. Expression of stromal cell markers under different culture conditions. Cells were cultured in the presence or absence of serum, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, as described. SF is serum-free. A: Keratocan and lumican mRNA was highly expressed in cells grown in SF medium whereas α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) mRNA was highly expressed only in cells grown in the presence of TGF-β1 (n=3; ***, p<0.001; **, p<0.01). B: Western blot analysis of keratocan and α-SMA protein expression. As expected, the keratocytes produced keratocan protein, and the myofibroblasts produced α-SMA. The corneal fibroblasts did not produce either marker protein.