MORPHOLOGIC CHANGES IN CELLS OF CORNEAL EPITHELIUM IN WOUND HEALING

Abstract

THE IMPORTANCE of epithelial cell movements as a primary phenomenon in epithelial wound repair may be considered as well established by the work of Peters, Arey and others.¹ In regard to the mechanism of these movements, it is of interest to know whether the epithelial cells move individually or en masse, i. e., as a continuous epithelial sheet. Observations on healing phenomena in amphibian embryos suggested that in the healing process of epithelial injuries the continuity of surface coats of tissue plays an important role.² Movement of epithelium en masse as a possible mode of epithelial wound repair seems to be illustrated by observations on the displacement of the limbal pigment line and of conjunctival goblet cells onto the cornea in the epithelial repair of burns of the cornea due to mustard gas (2-chloroethyl sulfide).³ Observations on the healing of mechanically produced epithelial defects in the rat