TNF and dry eye syndrome: The transcriptional study of selected biomarkers showed an increase in MUC4, MMP9, TNF-α, and hBD-2 (DEFB2) gene expression.<h4>Conclusions</h4>By using a dynamic approach, we were able to define a biomarker gene signature of dry eye-induced effects that could be predictive of corneal damage in vivo and to discriminate the efficacy among different commercial artificial tears.