Shhedding New Light on the Role of Hedgehog Signaling in Corneal Wound Healing

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 7; p. 3630
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xin, Mélik-Parsadaniantz, Stéphane, Baudouin, Christophe, Réaux-Le Goazigo, Annabelle, Moreau, Nathan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 26-03-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Apoptosis; Cell adhesion & migration; Cell cycle; Cell growth; Cell proliferation; Chemokines; Collagen; Cornea; corneal homeostasis; corneal neovascularization; corneal wound healing; Cytokines; Endothelium; Epithelial cells; Epithelium; Extracellular matrix; Fibroblasts; Growth factors; Hedgehog protein; Homeostasis; Inflammation; Life Sciences; nerve injury; Ophthalmology; Oxidative stress; Peptides; Physiology; Review; Signal transduction; sonic hedgehog; Stem cells; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Vascularization; Wound healing; corneal wound healing; corneal neovascularization; nerve injury; sonic hedgehog; corneal wound healing corneal homeostasis corneal neovascularization sonic hedgehog nerve injury oxidative stress; corneal homeostasis; oxidative stress
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms23073630

The cornea, an anterior ocular tissue that notably serves to protect the eye from external insults and refract light, requires constant epithelium renewal and efficient healing following injury to maintain ocular homeostasis. Although several key cell populations and molecular pathways implicated in corneal wound healing have already been thoroughly investigated, insufficient/impaired or excessive corneal wound healing remains a major clinical issue in ophthalmology, and new avenues of research are still needed to further improve corneal wound healing. Because of its implication in numerous cellular/tissular homeostatic processes and oxidative stress, there is growing evidence of the role of Hedgehog signaling pathway in physiological and pathological corneal wound healing. Reviewing current scientific evidence, Hedgehog signaling and its effectors participate in corneal wound healing mainly at the level of the corneal and limbal epithelium, where Sonic Hedgehog-mediated signaling promotes limbal stem cell proliferation and corneal epithelial cell proliferation and migration following corneal injury. Hedgehog signaling could also participate in corneal epithelial barrier homeostasis and in pathological corneal healing such as corneal injury-related neovascularization. By gaining a better understanding of the role of this double-edged sword in physiological and pathological corneal wound healing, fascinating new research avenues and therapeutic strategies will undoubtedly emerge.