Inhibitory effects of salmosin, a disintegrin, on posterior capsular opacification in vitro and in vivo.

The proliferation, migration and transdifferentiation of the remaining lens epithelial cells (LECs) after cataract surgery are a major cause of posterior capsular opacification (PCO). It has previously been reported that salmosin, a novel disintegrin, significantly inhibits solid tumor growth in mice by perturbation of tumor-specific angiogenesis via blocking alpha v beta 3 integrin expressed on vascular endothelial cells. In this study, the inhibitory function of salmosin in PCO was investigated and was found that salmosin inhibits the attachment of bovine LECs and rabbit lens cells (N/N1003A) to extracellular matrix-coated plates. The anti-adhesive activity of salmosin was approximately 1000 times higher than that of synthetic Arg-Gly-Asp peptide. In addition, the cell proliferation and migration of bovine LECs and N/N1003A were strongly inhibited by salmosin, whereas the proliferation of corneal endothelial cells was less affected. LEC migration and proliferation were also decreased by salmosin treatment in rabbit eyes without any toxic effect in the cornea, iris and retina. In this study, salmosin was shown to specifically inhibit LEC migration and proliferation in an animal model. Therefore, the authors suggest that further investigation may show salmosin to be a good candidate for inhibiting PCO development. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.