Ocular Surface Regeneration by Limbal Stem Cells Therapies: State of the Art, Challenges, and Perspectives.

ABSTRACT: Limbal stem cells (LSCs) are adult stem cells located at the limbus ensuring the continuous renewal of the corneal epithelium, critical to maintain an optimal visual function. Damages to the LSCs or their niche microenvironment lead to limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), a potentially blinding disease. Transplantation of LSCs as a treatment for severe to total LSCD has gained popularity since 1980s, owing to the clinical success of the first direct limbal autograft transplantation. Recent advances in the understanding of the LSCs' molecular identity and regulation have enabled preclinical and clinical advancements of promising LSCs therapies. However, lack of standardization of the diagnostic methods, staging of the disease severity, manufacturing process, and clinical outcome measures hav

SUBMITTER: Bonnet C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10630076 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature