We describe a case of severed and steroid-resistant limbal vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) with deficient stem cells, papillary hypertrophies, its pattern management topical eye drops tacrolimus (TAC) interferon alpha-2b (IFN- ∝ 2b) . The present study is report and review the literature. A woman aged 20 years complaint decreased vision, ocular surface burning, photophobia in both e...

Severe ocular surface disease can result in limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), a condition leading to decreased visual acuity, photophobia, and ocular pain. To restore the ocular surface in advanced stem cell deficient corneas, an autologous or allogenic limbal stem cell transplantation is performed. In recent years, the risk of secondary LSCD due to removal of large limbal grafts has been sig...

PURPOSE To examine the expression of stage-specific embryonic antigen-4 (SSEA4) in the epithelium of the human ocular surface and characterize SSEA4(+) and SSEA4(-) limbal epithelial cells. METHODS SSEA4 expression in the human cornea and limbus was examined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. SSEA4(+) and SSEA4(-) cells were then separated by using magnetic beads. The phenotypes of these two...

The aim of this study was to investigate the transdifferentiation potential of murine vibrissa hair follicle (HF) stem cells into corneal epithelial-like cells through modulation by corneal- or limbus-specific microenvironmental factors. Adult epithelial stem cells were isolated from the HF bulge region by mechanical dissection or fluorescence-activated cell sorting using antibodies to alpha6 i...

Although the existence of the limbal stem cell (LSC) niche is accepted, precise knowledge of its three-dimensional (3D) architecture remains incomplete. The LSC niche was explored on freshly excised and organ-cultured corneoscleral rims from human donors (n = 47), pigs (n = 15) and mice (n = 27) with full-field optical coherence microscopy (FFOCM). Limbal crypt features were detected in 90% of ...

Corneal epithelial stem cells are thought to be localized in the basal cell layer of the limbus. We developed a monoclonal antibody designated 4G10.3 that immunolocalized to limbal basal cells in rat corneas. Western blot analysis demonstrated that 4G10.3 reacted with a single band of 50,000 molecular weight in rat and rabbit corneal epithelium and 48,000-49,000 in human epithelium. Following e...

Corneal and conjunctival epithelial stem cells are responsible for the homeostasis and regeneration of the ocular surface epithelium. Corneal epithelial stem cells reside in the basal region of the limbus, while the conjunctival forniceal region appears to be the site that is enriched in conjunctival stem cells. Ocular surface disease arising from limbal stem cell deficiency is characterised by...

purpose: to evaluate stem cell deficiency using impression cytology (ic) in patients with chronic and delayed-onset mustard gas keratopathy (mgk). methods: a consecutive series of patients with mgk underwent ic. thirty-five eyes of 18 patients (all male) with mustard gas keratopathy were included in this observational case series. presence of goblet cells on the corneal side of specimens was co...

Purpose Limbal niche cells (LNCs) play a pivotal role in regulating limbal epithelial stem/progenitor cells (LESCs). This study aimed to investigate whether Notch signaling is involved in LNCs' regulation of LESCs. Methods Rat limbus was digested by dispase and collagenase, respectively. Limbal niche cells were isolated by serial passage of collagenase-digested cells on coated Matrigel in a m...

Chemical injuries of the eye may produce extensive damage to the ocular surface epithelium, cornea, and anterior segment, resulting in permanent unilateral or bilateral visual impairment. Pathophysiological events which may influence the final visual prognosis and which are amenable to therapeutic modulation include 1) ocular surface injury, repair, and differentiation, 2) corneal stromal matri...