EGF receptor inhibitor erlotinib as a potential pharmacological prophylaxis for posterior capsule opacification

Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is the most frequent complication after cataract surgery, leading to a loss of sight if untreated. Erlotinib might be of therapeutic interest as an effective target agent (selective EGF-tyrosin-kinase-1 inhibitor). In this in-vitro study, erlotinib was evaluated for ocular biocompatibility and its effect on cell proliferation, migration, 3D matrix contraction and spreading of human lens epithelial cells. To exclude toxic concentrations, erlotinib was assessed for its biocompatibility on five different human ocular cell types in vitro by the tetrazolium dye-reduction assay (MTT) and the Live-Dead assay. To determine its effect on human lens epithelial cell (HLE-B3) proliferation, the MTT test was performed after incubation with different concentrations of erlotinib. Chemotactic migration was analyzed with the Boyden chamber assay and chemokinetic migration was assessed by time lapse microscopy. Contraction was measured by a 3D collagen type 1 matrix contraction assay, and cell spreading was determined by measuring the cell diameter on a fibronectin coated surface. The maximum non-toxic concentration of erlotinib was determined to be 100 mu M in cell culture. Erlotinib potently inhibits human lens epithelial cell proliferation, with an IC50 of about 10 mu M (8.8 mu M +/- 0.9 mu M SD; r (2) = 0.94). Chemotactic migration (p = 0.004) and chemokinetic migration (p = 0.001) were reduced significantly in a concentration-based manner. Erlotinib prevented human lens epithelial cells from matrix contraction (p = 0.001) and cell-spreading (p = 0.001). Erlotinib might become of clinical relevance for PCO prophylaxis in the future since it displayed good biocompatibility on ocular cells and mitigated human lens epithelial cell proliferation, migration, contraction, and spreading in vitro. Further studies are warranted to evaluate its potential for clinical application.