Cellular migration and morphology in corneal endothelial wound repair

After a mechanical denudation of rabbit corneal endothelial cells, the healing process was followed with wide-field specular microscopy. Individual cell migration and morphologic changes were analyzed by computer-assisted morphometry. The cells surrounding the wound migrated to cover the defect without producing intercellular gaps. The greatest cellular migration and morphologic alterations occurred close to the wound edge. As the cells migrated toward the wound, they elongated and increased their surface area in the direction of the migration. As the healing proceeded, the cells lost their original hexagonal pattern, which returned after coverage was complete. The wound was covered completely by large, irregularly shaped cells showing mitotic figures between 24 and 48 hr. During this period, cellular migration decreased and normal cellular morphology began to recover. When mitosis decreased, the normal cellular pattern rearranged towards a more hexagonal shape. During the healing process, the degree and direction of cellular migration varied from cell to cell. Additionally, changes in cell-to-cell contact (positional changes of neighboring cells) occurred in one-third of migrating cells. Such cellular migration can account for monolayered cells sliding without producing gaps between individual cells.