Contact Lens Wear Impact on Transcriptional Responses to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Both the Murine Corneal Epithelium and the Bacteria

Previously we reported the development of a novel murine model of contact lens-associated corneal infection https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30439473/. Using this model we have published several studies of the impact of lens wear on corneal homeostasis and mechanisms of parainflammation after 24 h and 6 days of lens wear, with two of the most recent manuscripts published in IOVS: Datta et al., 2023; Datta et al., 2024. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37585189/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38466283/.Here, we used the same in vivo model to explore the impact of contact lens wear on gene expression in the murine corneal epithelium and its response to a 4 h challenge with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Total RNA-sequencing of both epithelium and bacterial gene expression was performed and showed significant impacts on both. Prior lens wear was associated with the upregulation of epithelium genes involved in innate immune defense, and the induction of bacterial genes encoding virulence, adaptation and resistance to antimicrobials.