Evidence of the survival of ectopically transplanted oral mucosal epithelial stem cells after repeated wounding of cornea.

ABSTRACT: Tissue engineering has become an essential tool in the development of regenerative medicine. We have developed cell sheet-based techniques for use in regenerative medicine that have already been successfully used in clinical applications. Native corneal epithelium is produced from limbal stem cells located in the transition zone between the cornea and the bulbar conjunctiva. Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is a severe defect of the limbal stem cells leading to vision loss due to conjunctival epithelial invasion and neovascularization. Rabbit LSCD models were treated with transplantable autologous oral mucosal epithelial cell (OEC) sheets fabricated on temperature-responsive cell culture surfaces, after which, the ocular surfaces were clear and smooth with no observable defects. The cent

SUBMITTER: Sugiyama H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4435588 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature