Corneal neovascularization induced by stimulated lymphocytes in inbred mice.

The intrastromal implantation of Concanavalin A-stimulated allogeneic lymphocytes induced corneal neovascularization (CNV) in inbred C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice. Control syngeneic stimulated, allogeneic non-stimulated, and allogeneic stimulated irradiated lymphocytes were not angiogenic. CNV induced by allogeneic stimulated lymphocytes in BALB/c recipients was significantly greater than in C57BL/6 recipients. This response reflected host-versus-graft reactivity, since parental recipients responded to F1 hybrid donors, while F1 hybrids did not respond to parental donors. The ability of stimulated lymphocytes to induce CNV may be important in allograft rejection, herpes simplex keratitis, and other corneal immune reactions. The mouse cornea is an excellent model for studying immunologically mediated neovascularization under genetically controlled conditions.