Objective:To determine whether TGF-β1 induces the proliferation of Tenon capsule fibroblast (HTFs) and explored its mechanism. Methods:In vitro cultured 3~6 generations of HTFs were treated with various doses of TGF-β1 (0,0.5,1.0,2.0,5.0 and 10.0 ng/ml) for 24 h. Cell proliferation was detected by the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay and 5-ethynyl-2-deoxyuridine (EdU) incorporation assay. The expression of RhoE and its downstream cell cycle related protein cyclinD1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen(PCNA) were detected by Western blot assay. The lentivirus was performed to establish the RhoE knockdown cell lines. Results:The proliferation of the TGF-β1-treated HTFs increased in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 caused a significant difference. EdU incorporation assay showed that the EdU labeling rate in the 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 group were higher than that in the control group. The average gray value of the expression of RhoE protein in HTFs in the 5 ng/ml TGF-β1 group was lower than that in the control group,while The average gray value of the expressions of cell proliferation protein cyclinD1 and PCNA were higher than those in the control group. After RhoE silenced in the cell,an increase of cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay compared to the control group,flow cytometry showed that S period also increased and the gray value of cell proliferation protein cyclinD1 and PCNA were increased. Conclusion:TGF-β1 increases the expression of downstream cell cycle related protein cyclinD1 via downregulating RhoE,and induces the proliferation of Tenon capsule fibroblast.