ArticleCells2023
FGF-2 Differentially Regulates Lens Epithelial Cell Behaviour during TGF-β-Induced EMT.
Article in Cells, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systems View of Posterior Capsule Opacification: TGF-β/ROS Signaling, Mitochondrial Homeostasis, and Injury/Aging Cues-Therapeutic Opportunities.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Review
- Aqueous Humor Cytokine Profiles in Congenital Cataracts With Posterior Polar Abnormality and Associations With Postoperative Complications.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2026Article
- Global challenges for lens and cataract research.Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2026Article
- The 3D Genome Structure of a Blcap-Linked Silencer Loop Regulates Terminal Differentiation During Lens Fiber Cell Denucleation.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Lens Epithelium Tissue With and Without Cataract Surgery: Uncovering Novel Pathways of Post-Surgical Lens Epithelium Remodeling.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- RNA-Seq Study of Human Lens Epithelial Cells: Differentially Expressed Genes and Pathways in Steroid, Uveitic, Post-Vitrectomy, and Senile Cataracts.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- Oxidative Stress, Glutaredoxins, and Their Therapeutic Potential in Posterior Capsular Opacification.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Deciphering the fibrotic process: mechanism of chronic radiation skin injury fibrosis.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Biomarker Signature in Aqueous Humor Mirrors Lens Epithelial Cell Activation: New Biomolecular Aspects from Cataractogenic Myopia.Biomolecules · 2023Article
- Review
- Role of reactive oxygen species in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and apoptosis of human lens epithelial cells.International journal of ophthalmology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) can regulate and/or dysregulate lens epithelial cell (LEC) behaviour, including proliferation, fibre differentiation, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Earlier studies have investigated the crosstalk between FGF and TGF-β in dictating lens cell fate, that appears to be dose dependent. Here, we tested the hypothesis that a fibre-differentiating dose of FGF differentially regulates the behaviour of lens epithelial cells undergoing TGF-β-induced EMT. Postnatal 21-day-old rat lens epithelial explants were treated with a fibre-differentiating dose of FGF-2 (200 ng/mL) and/or TGF-β2 (50 pg/mL) over a 7-day culture period. We compared central LECs (CLECs) and peripheral LECs (PLECs) using immunolabelling for changes in markers for EMT (α-SMA), lens fibre differentiation (β-crystallin), epithelial cell adhesion (β-catenin), and the cytoskeleton (alpha-tropomyosin), as well as Smad2/3- and MAPK/ERK1/2-signalling. Lens epithelial explants cotreated with FGF-2 and TGF-β2 exhibited a differential response, with CLECs undergoing EMT while PLECs favoured more of a lens fibre differentiation response, compared to the TGF-β-only-treated explants where all cells in the explants underwent EMT. The CLECs cotreated with FGF and TGF-β immunolabelled for α-SMA, with minimal β-crystallin, whereas the PLECs demonstrated strong β-crystallin reactivity and little α-SMA. Interestingly, compared to the TGF-β-only-treated explants, α-SMA was significantly decreased in the CLECs cotreated with FGF/TGF-β. Smad-dependent and independent signalling was increased in the FGF-2/TGF-β2 co-treated CLECs, that had a heightened number of cells with nuclear localisation of Smad2/3 compared to the PLECs, that in contrast had more pronounced ERK1/2-signalling over Smad2/3 activation. The current study has confirmed that FGF-2 is influential in differentially regulating the behaviour of LECs during TGF-β-induced EMT, leading to a heterogenous cell population, typical of that observed in the development of post-surgical, posterior capsular opacification (PCO). This highlights the cooperative relationship between FGF and TGF-β leading to lens pathology, providing a different perspective when considering preventative measures for controlling PCO.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.