Canonical pathway analyses of the differentially expressed genes between untreated KCs and MOs revealed an activated Th2 and suppressed PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in KCs compared to MOs (Table S3)51, supporting previous findings that KCs naturally lean toward an M2 phenotype, while MOs are more inclined toward M1 polarization [26, 27]. The gene discussed is TBCE; the disease is dry eye syndrome.