Signaling Pathways Impact on Induction of Corneal Epithelial-like Cells Derived from Human Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

ABSTRACT: Corneal epithelium, the outmost layer of the cornea, comprises corneal epithelial cells (CECs) that are continuously renewed by limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs). Loss or dysfunction of LESCs causes limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) which results in corneal epithelial integrity loss and visual impairment. To regenerate the ocular surface, transplantation of stem cell-derived CECs is necessary. Human Wharton's jelly derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) are a good candidate for cellular therapies in allogeneic transplantation. This study aimed to test the effects of treatments on three signaling pathways involved in CEC differentiation as well as examine the optimal protocol for inducing corneal epithelial differentiation of human WJ-MSCs. All-trans retinoic acid (RA, 5 or 10 µM) inh

SUBMITTER: Nguyen HT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8949174 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature