An Ultrastructral changes of the new-born rats and adult rat's cornea

신생 흰쥐와 성숙 흰쥐 각막의 미세구조 변화에 관한 연구

The present study was conducted to investigate the structural changes in rat cornes. Sixty eyes from one-day-old uneyed rats, fourty eyes from 10-weeks-old adult rats were used. With the increase of age, the epithelial layer was thickened by the addition of new successive cellular layers. Then, the new-born rat's epithelial cells formed a pentagonal shape, and the quality of decidual cells showed a high electron-density, although the boundary between cells was distinctive. The newly produced cells showed a low electron-density so that there was the distinctive difference between light and darkness. In Bowman's layer, collagen fibrils demonstrate a regularly arranged structure along with the age. In stroma's layer, the density of keratocytes was decreased and thereby progressively flattened during the development. The collagenous layer of the adult rats was more distinctive than that of the new-born rats in a form of vertical and horizontal parallel alignment running vertically and horizontally. Descemet's membrane changed its structure significantly along with the age. It changed the shape from "banded-layer" to "non-banded layer" gradually. The thickness was also increased along with the age. Regardless of developmental stages, the endothelium is usually monolayer. During the developmental process, endothelial cells disappeared, so the density of endothelium was also decreased. The empty spaces were replaced by the expansion of adjacent cells.

본 연구는 발생과정에 따른 흰쥐 각막의 변화를 주사 및 투과형 전자현미경으로 관찰하였다. 생후 1일된 안검이 개검되지 않은 흰쥐의 각막 60안, 생후 10주된 성체 흰쥐의 각막 40안을 적출하여 각막의 변화를 비교 연구 하였다. 연령증가에 따라 각막의 미세구조의 변화가 나타났으며 각막의 상피는 오각형의 모양이며, 세포간 경계는 분명하였으나 성장할수록 탈락세포는 짙은 전자밀도를 나타냈으며, 새로 생성된 세포는 밝은 전자밀도를 나타내어 명암의 차이가 뚜렷하였다. 보우만층은 연령의 증가에 따라 콜라겐섬유가 불균질한 구조에서 균질한 구조로 변화하였다. 실질층의 각막세포는 세포 소기관의 밀도가 성체로 갈수록 감소하였고, 콜라겐층은 연령증가에 따라 종횡으로 평행배열을 나타내었다. 데스멧층은 성체로 갈수록 "banded layer"에서 "non-banded layer"의 형태로 변화하였으며 층의 두께가 현저히 두꺼워진것이 관찰되었다. 내피층은 단층으로 구성되어 있으며, 성체로 갈수록 내피 세포수는 감소하는 반면 감소된 세포수의 자리는 세포 크기가 확대됨으로써 보상되었다.