Human corneal endothelial cell repair in health and disease

The human corneal endothelium which is exposed to a variety of physical and chemical insults can repair itself either by mitotic division, or by simple expansion and spreading of the neighbouring cells, or through an elaborate DNA repair system. The present study suggests that the ability of the corneal endothelium to repair its damaged DNA is fundamental to its survival and that a failure to do so may underlie a variety of corneal problems in which endothelial failure is a common feature.