Inhibition of Corneal Angiogenesis by a Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor.

Chung, Sung Kun; Lee, Ja Young; Joo, Choun Ki; Kim, Jae Ho

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 1999;40(3):662-666.
Published online March 1, 1999.

Inhibition of Corneal Angiogenesis by a Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor.

Sung Kun Chung, Ja Young Lee, Choun Ki Joo, Jae Ho Kim

Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, The Cathoilc University of Korea.

각막 혈관생성에 있어서 Farnesyl Transferase Inhibitor의 억제효과

김재호(Jae Ho Kim),이자영(Ja Young Lee),정성근(Sung Kun Chung),주천기(Choun Ki Joo)

Abstract

Farnesyl transferase inhibitor(FTI) disrupt farnesylation of ras protein and thus, suppress tumor growth in vivo. The ras oncogene is thought to contribute to tumor development directly by promoting tumor cell proliferation and indirectly by stimulating vascular endothelial growth from Cinnamomum Cassia Blume(CB2`-ph) interferes with angiogenesis, we studied the effect of CB2`-ph on rabbit corneal angiogenesis induced by VEGF. A hygrogel disk containing 250ng of VEGF was implated intrastromally in the superior cornea of 16 NZW rabbit eyes. All eyes received a second intrastromal disk, randomized to contain either 40 micro gram of CB2`-ph(n=8) or phosphate-buffered saline(PBS)(n=8). Both disks were positioned side-by-side, 1.2mm from the superior limbus. Each eye was examined daily by two masked observers and assigned an angiogenesis score based on number and length of new blood vessels. At 3, 5 and 7 days postimplantation of VEGF disks, eyes treated with CB2`=ph showed mean angiogenesis score of 2.0 +/- 1.7, 13.4 +/- 6.6 and 23.8 +/- 11.3, respectively, while PBS=treated controls scored 8.6 +/- 4.4, 30.3 +/- 20.8 and 52.2 +/- 26.9, respectively(p<0.05, Wilcoxon signed rank test). In a rabbit corneal pocket assay, CB2`-ph appears to be effective on VEGF-induced corneal angiogenesusis in the model.

Key Words: Corneal angiogenesis;Corneal pocket assay;Farnesyl transferase inhibitor;Vascular endothelial growth factor