Transcriptomic signatures associated with regenerative wound vs. fibrotic repair outcomes to lens post-cataract surgery wounding

RNAseq analysis was used to determine the transcriptomic changes associated with regenerative vs. fibrotic repair to lens injury. Using an ex vivo post-cataract surgery model, we can follow two distinct outcomes to lens injury: 1) A regenerative wound healing response that ensues across the cell-denuded lens capsule basement membrane (BM), culminating in wound closure on Day 3 (D3) post-injury. 2) Induction of fibrosis, which occurs when a wound healing response occurs off the lens capsule, termed the extracapsular zone (ECZ), where transition to a fibrotic phenotype occurs on day 3 post-injury. Here, we report the changes in the transcriptome that occur on D1, D2, and D3 post-injury, a period that covers wound healing across the BM and time points prior to (D1, D2) and after induction of the fibrotic phenotype (D3). Our data provides a molecular map for understanding the gene changes associated with navigating normal and pathological outcomes to lens injury. RNA-seq analysis of regenerative wound vs. fibrotic repair at Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 post-injury within an ex vivo post-cataract surgery model.