PURPOSE Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are self-renewing, multipotent cells that are present in many adult tissues, including bone marrow, trabecular bone, adipose, and muscle. The presence of such cells of mesenchymal origin and their role during the wound healing of ocular injuries are currently being explored by many studies worldwide. In this study, we aimed to report the presence of mesenchy...

A simple, reproducible, animal-material free method for cultivating and characterizing cornea limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) on human lens capsule (LC) was developed for future clinical transplantation. The limbal tissue explants (2 × 2 × 0.25 mm) were harvested from 77 cadavers and expanded ex vivo on either cell culture plates or LC in medium containing human serum as the only growth su...

The integrity and normal function of the corneal epithelium are essential for maintaining the cornea's transparency and vision. The existence of a cell population with progenitor characteristics in the limbus maintains a dynamic of constant epithelial repair and renewal. Currently, cell-based therapies for bio-replacement, such as cultured limbal epithelial transplantation and cultured oral muc...

PURPOSE To investigate the potential of a pigment epithelial-derived factor (PEDF) peptide 44-mer to promote limbal regeneration in a rabbit partial limbal deficiency model. METHODS Limbal excision (180°) was created surgically, and topical application of 44-mer-containing ointment once a day for 2 weeks was started immediately after injury. Limbal barrier function was inspected at 2 and 6 mo...

Purpose: To compare the outcome of amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) versus autologus limbal stem cell transplantation (LSCT) in the management of recurrent pterygium. Setting: Suez Canal University Hospital, Ophthalmology Department, Ismailia, Egypt. Methods: This is a comparative prospective case series study included forty two eyes with recurrent pterygia. They were equally and randoml...

PURPOSE To characterize human limbal epithelial cells based on the expression levels of nuclear protein p63 and the nucleus-to-cytoplasm (N/C) ratio. METHODS Limbal, peripheral, and central corneal epithelia were separated from the stroma by Dispase II and subsequently were treated with trypsin to obtain single-cell suspensions. Cytospin smears of the cell suspensions were double immunostaine...

PURPOSE To report the outcomes of allograft limbal stem cell transplantation for recurrent gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy (GDLD). METHODS In this non-comparative interventional case series, 4 eyes of 3 consecutive patients with recurrent GDLD underwent allograft limbal stem cell transplantation. Two eyes underwent concomitant penetrating keratoplasty while the other two underwent simu...

When cell populations are incubated with the DNA-binding dye Hoechst 33342 and subjected to flow cytometry analysis for Hoechst 33342 emissions, active efflux of the dye by the ABCG2/BCRP1 transporter causes certain cells to appear as a segregated cohort, known as a side population (SP). Stem cells from several tissues have been shown to possess the SP phenotype. As the lack of specific surface...

In this review we evaluate evidence for three different hypotheses that explain how the corneal epithelium is maintained. The limbal epithelial stem cell (LESC) hypothesis is most widely accepted. This proposes that stem cells in the basal layer of the limbal epithelium, at the periphery of the cornea, maintain themselves and also produce transient (or transit) amplifying cells (TACs). TACs the...