Topical Vitamin C Promotes the Recovery of Corneal Alkali Burns in Mice

Figure 3

Vitamin C promotes the stemness of corneal epithelial stem cells and increases the CK3 expression in vivo. (a) Representative images of hematoxylin and eosin staining of injured corneas. (b) Immunohistochemical analyses of p63 expression. (c) The number of p63-positive cells in both groups. (d) Immunohistochemical analyses of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression. (e) The number of PCNA-positive cells in both groups. (f) Immunohistochemical analyses of CK3 expression. (g) The IOD/area of CK3 in the cornea. IOD refers to the integral optical density. Abbreviations: Ctrl, control group (sterile water group); Vc, vitamin C group; ns, no significant difference between the indicated groups. means the comparison of Vc group and control group. ## and ### means the comparison with day 1. ## in G means the comparison with the Vc group on day 4. , , , , and . Scale bar = 50 μm.

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