PURPOSE The presence of multipotent human limbal stromal cells resembling mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) provides new insights to the characteristic of these cells and its therapeutic potential. However, little is known about the expression of stage-specific embryonic antigen 4 (SSEA-4) and the embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like properties of these cells. We studied the expression of SSEA-4 surfac...

Long-term cultures of cornea limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) were developed and characterized for future tissue engineering and clinical applications. The limbal tissue explants were cultivated and expanded for more than 3 months in medium containing serum as the only growth supplement and without use of scaffolds. Viable 3D cell outgrowth from the explants was observed within 4 weeks of c...

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) leads to severe ocular surface abnormalities that can result in the loss of vision. The most successful therapy currently being used is transplantation of limbal epithelial cell sheets cultivated from a limbal biopsy obtained from the patient's healthy, contralateral eye or cadaveric tissue. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of murine vi...

since alkaline substances can rapidly penetrate into the cornea and subsequently damage limbal stem cells, another source of stem cells may be necessary to reconstruct the ocular surface. omentum has some such characteristics like ability to regenerate tissue as well as anti-inflammatory capacity. presence of adult stem cells and pluripotent embryonic cell markers make it suitable in wound heal...

Cultured limbal tissue transplants have become widely used over the last decade as a treatment for limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). While the number of patients afflicted with LSCD in Australia and New Zealand is considered to be relatively low, the impact of this disease on quality of life is so severe that the potential efficacy of cultured transplants has necessitated investigation. We pr...

The clear cornea functions like a window that controls the entry of light for visual information and plays a protective role. The failure of appropriate repair following corneal injury results in loss of corneal function. The limbal region of the cornea is thought to serve as a unique reservoir of corneal epithelial stem cells where limbal stem cells (LSC) contributed to the regeneration of cor...

PURPOSE In the epidermis, proliferative basal cells can be divided into two subpopulations according to their response to phorbol ester tumor promoters. The tumor promoter-sensitive subpopulation ceases mitosis and initiates terminal differentiation and, thus, represents more differentiated transient amplifying cells. In contrast, the tumor promoter-resistant subpopulation that continues to pro...

Ocular burns constitute true ocular emergencies and both thermal and chemical burns represent potentially blinding ocular injuries. Thermal burns result from accidents associated with firework explosions, steam, boiling water, or molten metal (commonly aluminium). Chemical burns may be caused by either alkaline or acidic agents. Common alkaline agents include ammonium hydroxide used in fertilis...

PURPOSE Amniotic membrane (AM) transplantation facilitates rapid epithelialization in severe neurotrophic corneal ulcers. To elucidate its action mechanism, we investigated the expression of ligands and receptors of the neurotrophin family by human limbal epithelial (HLE) cells expanded on AM cultures. METHODS Expression of nerve growth factor (NGF); neurotrophins (NT)3 and NT4; brain-derived...

PURPOSE Human corneal limbal stem cells mature and repopulate the superficial layers of the cornea throughout life. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that human corneal stem cells, derived from neural ectoderm, can exhibit functional neuronal properties. METHODS Human corneal limbal tissue (donor age 6 weeks to 92 years) was obtained from Upstate New York Transplant Services. Tissues we...