Can Corneal Endothelial Cells Divide?
The Joyce laboratory is one of the few, worldwide, that studies human corneal endothelial cells and their ability to divide (their proliferative capacity). Studies from this lab clearly indicate that endothelial cells retain the ability to divide, even though they do not normally proliferate in vivo (in the living eye). If a wound is made in the endothelium of a donor cornea (from a cadaver) and this cornea is placed in culture medium containing factors known to stimulate cell division, the cells at the wound edge will migrate into the wound bed and divide, eventually “healing” the wound. Endothelial cells can also be gently removed from the cornea and placed in culture medium containing growth factor. These cells will divide, filling the culture dish. So, yes, corneal endothelial cells are intrinsically capable of dividing and proliferating.
