Corneal model of initial inflammation, wound recovery, and recurrent inflammation.

<p><i>A</i>. Schematic depicts timing of corneal suture placement and removal to induce four distinct tissue microenvironmental conditions: healthy unmanipulated, initial inflammation, wound recovery, and recurrent inflammation. <i>B.</i> Schematics illustrate two corneal mounting styles: hemisected whole mount and whole mount. Images are 100x epifluorescence photomicrographs of corneas immunostained for Lyve-1 (orange) and β-III tubulin (green) and harvested at the indicated time points. <i>Top</i> panel shows Lyve-1⁺ lymphatic vessels. <i>Bottom</i> panel shows β-III tubulin⁺ corneal nerves. Scale bars are 100 µm. <i>C.</i> Lymphatic vessel density was quantified from images like those shown in (<i>B</i>). <i>D.</i> Nerve density was quantified from images like those shown in (<i>B</i>). <i>E.</i> Corneal nerve clusters were quantified in wound-recovered tissue. <i>F.</i> A Cochet-Bonnet corneal aesthesiometer was used to measure corneal sensitivity.