Notably, α-MSH, at all the doses, substantially alleviated corneal damage in the dry eye rats, with the fluorescein staining scores being similar to the saline controls (Fig. 1C,D, all p > 0.05, NaCl+NaCl vs D+10−5 α-MSH, NaCl+NaCl vs D+10−4 α-MSH, NaCl+NaCl vs D+10−3 α-MSH). The gene discussed is STAMBP; the disease is Keratoconjunctivitis sicca.