Expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in migrating retinal pigment epithelial cells during wound healing in organ culture.

Although 12-day-old chick embryo retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in situ do not express the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) which is known to function as an auxiliary protein of DNA polymerase delta, they do so when cultured on glass. Conversely, PCNA was not expressed by RPE cells of the same age maintained in organ culture. If, however, the organ cultures were wounded, allowing the RPE cells to spread and migrate over the exposed basal lamina, the nuclei of cells along the wound edge were stained for PCNA. The time required for cells to express PCNA was longer in organ culture than in tissue culture. This time lag in the expression of PCNA was independent of the time in culture prior to wounding and occurred regardless of whether or not the continuity of the epithelial sheet was reestablished. In organ culture, the staining did not persist as long as in tissue culture. We found that only in wounds exceeding 125 +/- 48 microns did the RPE cells along the wound edge express PCNA. This suggests that a certain degree of either spreading or migration is required for PCNA expression in the wounded region.