Effect of growth factors on proliferation and expression of growth factor receptors in a human lens epithelial cell line

The data showed that bFGF and TGFβ2 are strong mitogens for HLEC. The HLEC-SRA 01/04 cell line derived from HLEC reacted to growth factors, with cell proliferation only to a lesser extent. Such quiescence of these cells, when compared with cells in primary culture, cannot be explained by the lack of respective receptors for growth factors. Further investigation of growth factor-induced responses of both cell types will provide new insight into the proliferative processes involved in postoperative secondary cataract formation.