The effects of connective tissue growth factor on bovine lens epithelial cells in vitro

Objective: This study was to observe the effects of connective tissue growth factor(CTGF) on migration and transdifferentiation of bovine lens epithelial cells (BLECs). Methods: The culture and identification of BLECs adopted the method of Hu ( reference 1 ). The 2-3 passages of BLECs were collected and used in this experiment at the concentration of 1×10 ⁶ cells/hole. The free-serum DMEM containing 0.1 g/L, 0.5 ng/L, 1.0 ng/L of CTGF was added into medium for 24 hours in different experimental group respectively, and only equal volume of free-serum DMEM was added in control group. Expression of α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA) mRNA and protein in the BLECs were examined by semiquantitative RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. The transwell inserts were used to evaluate the migration ability of BLECs. Results: The expression of α-SMA mRNA in cultrued BLECs was gradually increased in different concentrations of CTGF groups. Compared with control group, the expression of α-SMA mRNA in experimental group was significantly enhanced ( F = 66.56, P < 0.01 ). The expression of α-SMA protein followed the same pattern (F = 65.43, P < 0.01). The migration ability of BLECs was obviously elevated after CTGF stimulation under the light microscope. The migration rate of BLECs was considerably increased in experimental group compared with blank control group (t = 51.7, P < 0.01). Conclusion: CTGF promotes the migration and transdifferentiation of BLECs at a dose-dependent manner in vitro. CTGF plays an important role in the formation of posterior capsule opacification.