AIRE and Keratoconjunctivitis sicca: Aire knockout (KO) female mice quickly develop dry eye over a 2-week period, with mildly reduced tear secretion and corneal barrier function at 5 weeks (wks) of age, followed by extensive exocrinopathy, and severe pathologies affecting the corneal epithelial cells, their basement membrane (BM), and the nerves that innervate them by 7 wks (9).