Discuss the refractive and response to wound functions of cornea.

Refractive Function:

Cornea, through its interaction with the tear film, forms a smooth refractive function and uniform thickness.

Response to Wound:

Response to wound is initiates process of migration centripetally across the basement membrane to cover the abraded area and trigger a mechanism which is not known. The migration starts about 5 hrs after injury at the rate of 60-80 mm/hr’ until wound closes. There is mitosis and migration of cells. Hemidesmosomes disappear from basal cells during lag phase. Increase in vinculin synthesis occurs during cell migration. Along with this there is synthesis of cell surface glycoproteins and glycolipids during wound healing.