LymphaticvesselsgrowingapartfrombloodvesselsintransplantedcorneasaftertheblockadeofvascularendothelialgrowthfactorCYeHui1,YanHao2,ZhongLei1,WangTao\DengJuan\LingShi-qi11DepartmentofOphthalmology,TheThirdAffiliatedHospital,SunYat-senUniversity,Guangzhou510630,GuangdongProvince,China2DepartmentofOphthalmology,NanshanHospitalofGuangdongMedicalCollege,Shenzhen510080,GuangdongProvince,ChinaCitethisarticle:YeHrYanHtZhongLfWangT,DengJtLingSQ.LymphaticvesselsgrowingapartfrombloodvesselsintransplantedcorneasaftertheblockadeofvascularendothelialgrowthfactorC.ZhongguoZuzhiGongchengYanjiu.2016;20(33):4940-4948.DOI:10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2016.33.011ORCID:0000-0002-4948-9236(LingShi-qi)AbstractBACKGROUND:Corneallymphangiogenesisisbeneficialtothetransportofcornealantigenicmaterials,andacceleratestheprocessofantigenpresentation,therebyplayinganimportantroleincornealimmunity.However,duetotheparalleloutgrowthofcornealbloodandlymphaticvesselsintransplantedcorneas,itisoftendifficulttoaccuratelyevaluatetheroleofcorneallymphaticvesselsinallograftrejection.OBJECTIVE:ToexplorethedevelopmentofcomeallymphangiogenesisandangiogenesisintransplantedratcorneasaftertheblockadeofvascularendothelialgrowthfactorC(VEGF-C).METHODS:130ratsusedtoestablishcornealallogenictransplantationmodelswereequallyrandomizedintotwogroups:theanti-VEGF-Cgroupandthecontrolgroup・VEGF・Cwasblockedintheanti-VEGF-Cgroupbyintraperitonealinjectionofneutralizingmonoclonalanti-VEGF-Cantibodyeveryotherdayfor2consecutiveweeks・Meanwhile,ratsincontrolgroupsreceivedintraperitonealinjectionsofsaline.Cornealangiogenesisandlymphangiogenesiswerecharacterizedusingwholemountimmunofluorescenee,andtheimmunerejectionofthegraftswasevaluatedbyscoringtherejectionindex(Rl).Inaddition,theexpressionofVEGF・Cwasexaminedbyreal-timePCR.TherelationshipofcorneallymphangiogenesisandangiogenesistoRlintransplantedcorneaswasalsocharacterized・RESULTSANDCONCLUSION:VEGF-CexpressionwasmarkedlydownregulatedafterVEGF-Cblockade.Corneallymphangiogenesisdevelopedinparallelwithcornealangiogenesisinthecontrolgroup・Whiletherewasamildreductioninbloodvesselarea(BVA)andasignificantdecreaseinlymphaticvesselarea(LVA)intheanti-VEGF-Cgroup(P<0.05).Inaddition,RlwaspositivelycorrelatedwithBVA(P<0.05)andLVA(P<0.05)inthecontrolgroup.However,althoughRlwassignificantlycorrelatedwithBVA(P<0.05)intheanti-VEGF-Cgroup,thecorrelationbetweenRlandLVAwasnotstatisticallysignificant(P>0.05).thegraftsurvivaltimeintheanti-VEGF-Cgroupwassignificantlyincreasedcomparedwiththatinthecontrolgroup(P<0.05).OurresultsshowthattheoutgrowthoflymphaticvesselsisseparatedfromthatofbloodvesselsintransplantedcorneasbyblockingVEGF-C・TheblockadeofVEGF-Chasasignificantroleinpreventingcomeallymphangiogenesisincornealbeds,whichresultsinhigherallograftsurvivalrates・Subjectheadings:Cornea;VascularEndothelialGrowthFactorC;TissueEngineeringFunding:theNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina,No.81070711;theNaturalScienceFoundationofGuangdong,China,No.S2013010016324;theScienceandTechnologyProjectofGuangdong,China,No.2014A020212393;andtheScienceandTechnologyProjectofShenzhen,China,No.JCYJ20150402152130186INTRODUCTIONThecorneaisnormallydevoidofbloodvesselsandlymphaticvessels,implyingthatitisarelativelyimmuneprivilegedsitethatislikelytohaveamorefavorableprognosisaftercornealtransplantationYeHui,Master,Attendingphysician...