Work

Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals Effects of Long-Term Contact Lens Wearing on the Human Corneal Epithelium

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background: Corneal contact lens (CL) wear, as one of the treatments for myopia correction, is increasingly being used. Although CLs are generally well tolerated, symptoms such as ocular foreign body sensation, dry eye, visual fatigue, and infections caused by wearing corneal CLs should not be ignored.Methods: We originally performed single-cell RNA sequencing of intact corneal epithelium samples from myopic patients who wore CLs for a long period of time (over 10 years) and controls who did not wear CLs, and systematically summarized their transcriptome atlas.Findings: Our analysis revealed significant accumulation of epithelial keratinization and subclinical chronic inflammatory response in the CL group, manifested by high expression of KRT24 and GNAS genes. Then, we observed that all epithelial cell types exhibited elevated senescence scores after CL wearing, for instance, the typical cellular senescence markers CDKN1A (P21) and CDKN2A (P16) were up-regulated in the CL group. Additionally, a significant upregulation of hypoxia genes was detected in corneal epithelium of the CL group, concomitant with corneal epithelial metabolic impairment and dysfunction. Moreover, the majority of typical angiogenesis- and neurodegeneration- associated genes demonstrated higher expression levels in the corneal epithelium after prolonged wear of CLs.Interpretation: This study presented a comprehensive analysis of the dynamic expression of single-cell genes in the human corneal epithelium following prolonged wear of CLs. It not only established a theoretical foundation for investigating chronic damage to the ocular surface associated with CLs but also identified novel targets and strategies for clinical prevention and treatment of complications related to CL usage.Funding: This work was supported by Qingdao Natural Science Foundation (23-2-1-195-zyyyd-jch), Shinan District Science and Technology Plan Program (2023-2-003-yy), Medical and HealthDevelopment Grant of Shandong Province, China (Grant No. 202107020236), and NationalNatural Science Foundation of China (82101092).Declaration of Interest: The authors declare no competing interests.Ethical Approval: Human tissue collection was approved by the ethical committee of the Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, and written informed consent was obtained before sample collection

Source: Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science

DOI: 10.1167/iovs.66.11.59