c-maf expression in adult human ocular surface and its implication in pterygium pathogenesis

Background: c-maf, a transcription factor that belongs to the b-zip maf transcription factor family, was found to be critical for lens development in vertebrates. it is a well-known fact that the adult human ocular surface expresses c-maf, however, its role in the limbus, cornea and conjunctiva remains unknown. thus, the present study aimed to investigate c-maf expression within the human ocular surface, and its potential role in pterygium pathogenesis.methods: we performed immunohistochemical staining to detect c-maf expression in frozen adult human tissue sections, including the limbus, cornea and conjunctiva, and cultured cells from eye cadavers. we then compared c-maf expression to the expression of a known protein, p63. lastly, we performed rt-pcr, and immunohistochemistry for c-maf expression in healthy adult human conjunctiva and pterygium.results: we found differential c-maf expression between adult human limbus, cornea and conjunctiva tissues. further, we observed that c-maf is downregulated in the pterygium compared to healthy conjunctiva.conclusions: overall, our results suggest that c-maf may play a context-specific role in maintaining limbal, corneal and conjunctival homeostasis, and may be critical for preventing pterygium development in humans.