Initiation of fibrosis in the integrin Αvβ6 knockout mice

Abstract We previously demonstrated that β6 knockout mice showed impaired wound repair in corneal debridement and keratectomy wounds. In the current investigation, we continued our examination of integrin αvβ6 in order to determine if it was required for the initiation of wound healing in a corneal wound model that normally heals in a fibrotic manner. A full-thickness corneal incision was made in C57BL/6 J wild type (WT) and C57BL/6-Itgb6 KO (β6 −/− ) mice. The mice were observed at 3, 7, 14, and 28 days post-incision. The morphology of corneal restoration was observed in tissue sections stained with hemotoxilin and eosin (HE however, there appeared to be an alternate mechanism that initiated fibrosis 7–14 days later. Localization of TSP-1 correlated with expression of SMA whether wound healing was delayed or initiated immediately after wounding.