[The effect of fibronectin on re-epithelialization of rabbit cornea after alkali burn]

The authors found experimentally that (1) fibronectin enhanced the healing of rabbit corneal epithelium after alkali burn and prevented the secondary breakdown; (2) it rapidly deposited on the denuded basement membrane to disappear as epithelial cells slided over, and (3) ultrastructurally, the neighbouring epithelial cells became flattened, with filopodia at the advancing edge, and extended to the wound area 24 hours after the burn. However, the epithelial defect recurred 72 hours after the burn when the basement membrane vanished till after the 8th week, indicating that the latter was associated with the secondary epithelial breakdown.