Innate immunity in th e cornea: a putative role for keratocytes in the chemokine response to viral infection of the human corneal stroma.

Existing evidence suggests that chemokine expression by virus-infected cells is a common response to viral infection. By such a mechanism, non-immunologic cells may participate in the generation of an early innate immune response to infection. In the absence of classic immunologic cells in the corneal stroma, keratocytes may play a similar role in the corneal responses to viral infection.