Cytokeratin patterns in corneal, limbal, and conjunctival epithelium. An immunofluorescence study with PKK-1, 8.12, 8.60, and 4.62 anticytokeratin antibodies

Abstract

The authors examined immunofluorescently the specific cytokeratin staining patterns of corneal, limbal, and conjunctival epithelium with PKK-1, 8.12, 4.62, and 8.60 monoclonal anticytokeratin antibodies. Observations were made on unfixed frozen postmortem human tissue. The PKK-1 antibody stain was observed in all layers of corneal epithelium but only in suprabasal layers of limbal and conjunctival epithelium. By contrast, the 8.12 antibody stain was observed only in the superficial layer of corneal epithelium but through all layers of limbal and conjunctival epithelium. The 4.60 antibody stain was seen in focal areas of corneal and limbal epithelium and through all layers of conjunctival epithelium. The 8.60 antibody stain was not present in the three epithelia. These immunofluorescence studies showed unique cytokeratin patterns among layers in corneal, limbal, and conjunctival epithelium.