Abstract
Growth factors have diverse functions and are distributed throughout the body. A number have been detected in the lacrimal gland, eg, EGF,1,2 FGF-2,3 TGF-α,4 TGF-β,5 and HGF.6 In many tissues, FGF-2 and TGF-β have an inverse functional relationship. FGF-2, released in response to tissue damage, activates proteases that function in degradation of extracellular matrix molecules. TGF-β, released during later stages of tissue repair, inhibits proteases, thereby stabilizing extracellular matrix molecules. Although both FGF-2 and TGF-β are present within the lacrimal gland, their sites of synthesis and localization have not been documented. FGF-2 and TGF-β also have been shown to exert inverse functional effects on the synthesis and release of PRL, an immunomodulating hormone that we have localized within the lacrimal gland.7 The present study was undertaken to determine the sites of localization of FGF-2 and TGF-β within the lacrimal gland, as a basis for elucidating their functional roles in the lacrimal gland’s response to corneal injury or other initiators of lacrimal gland inflammation.
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