Defining compartmentalized stem cell populations with distinct cell division dynamics in the ocular surface epithelium.

ABSTRACT: Adult tissues contain label-retaining cells (LRCs), which are relatively slow-cycling and considered to represent a property of tissue stem cells (SCs). In the ocular surface epithelium, LRCs are present in the limbus and conjunctival fornix; however, the character of these LRCs remains unclear, owing to lack of appropriate molecular markers. Using three CreER transgenic mouse lines, we demonstrate that the ocular surface epithelium accommodates spatially distinct populations with different cell division dynamics. In the limbus, long-lived Slc1a3^CreER-labeled SCs either migrate centripetally toward the central cornea or slowly expand their clones laterally within the limbal region. In the central cornea, non-LRCs labeled with Dlx1^CreER and K14^CreER behave a

SUBMITTER: Ishii R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7758628 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature