A sight threatening, pterygium is a common ocular surface disorders identified by fibrovascular growth of the cornea and induced by variety of stress factors, like ultraviolet (UV) exposure. However, the genes involved in the etiopathogenesis of this disease is not well studied. Herein, we identified the gene expression pattern of pterygium and examined the expression of pterygium-related genes in UV-B-induced human primary cultured corneal epithelial cells (HCEpCs), telomerase immortalized human corneal epithelial (hTCEpi), primary conjunctival fibroblast (HConFs) and primary pterygium fibroblast cells (HPFCs). A careful analysis revealed that the expression of 10 genes was significantly modulated (by > 10-fold). Keratin 24 (KRT24) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) were dramatically upregulated by 49.446- and 24.214-fold, respectively. Intriguingly, UV-B exposure (50 J/m²) induced the upregulation of the expressions of MMP-9 in corneal epithelial cells such as HCEpCs and hTCEpi. Furthermore, UV-B exposure (100 and/or 200 J/m²) induced the upregulation of the expressions of MMP-9 in fibroblast such as HConFs and HPFCs. The exposure of HCEpCs to 100 and 200 J/m² UV-B induced significant expressions of KRT24 mRNA. Nevertheless, no expression of KRT24 mRNA was detected in HConFs and HPFCs. The findings provide evidence that the progression of pterygium may involve the modulation of extracellular matrix-related genes and vasculature development and the up-regulation of KRT24 and MMP-9 by UV stress. UV radiation may promote the modulation of these pterygium-related genes and induce the initiation and progression of human pterygium.

威胁视力的翼状胬肉是一种常见的眼表疾病，由角膜的纤维血管生长确定，并由各种压力因素（如紫外线 (UV) 暴露）诱发。然而，与这种疾病的发病机制有关的基因尚未得到很好的研究。在此，我们确定了翼状胬肉的基因表达模式，并检测了 UV-B 诱导的人原代培养角膜上皮细胞 (HCEpCs)、端粒酶永生化人角膜上皮细胞 (hTCEpi)、原代结膜成纤维细胞 (HConFs) 中翼状胬肉相关基因的表达和原代翼状胬肉成纤维细胞 (HPFC)。仔细分析表明，10 个基因的表达受到显着调节（> 10 倍）。角蛋白 24 ( KRT24 ) 和基质金属蛋白酶 9 ( MMP-9) 分别显着上调了 49.446 倍和 24.214 倍。有趣的是，UV-B 暴露（50 J/m ²）诱导角膜上皮细胞（如 HCEpCs 和 hTCEpi）中MMP-9的表达上调。此外，UV-B 暴露（100 和/或 200 J/m ²）诱导成纤维细胞（如 HConFs 和 HPFCs）中MMP-9的表达上调。HCEpCs 暴露于 100 和 200 J/m ² UV-B 诱导KRT2 4 mRNA 的显着表达。然而，没有表达KRT2在 HConFs 和 HPFCs 中检测到 4 mRNA。这些发现提供证据表明翼状胬肉的进展可能涉及细胞外基质相关基因和脉管系统发育的调节以及紫外线应激对KRT24和MMP- 9的上调。紫外线辐射可能会促进这些翼状胬肉相关基因的调节，并诱导人类翼状胬肉的发生和发展。