Comparison between Cultivated Oral Mucosa and Ocular Surface Epithelia for COMET Patients Follow-Up

Total bilateral Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency is a pathologic condition of the ocular surface due to loss corneal stem cells. Cultivated oral mucosa epithelial transplantation (COMET) only autologous successful treatment for this pathology in clinical application, although abnormal peripheric vascularization often occurs. Properly characterizing regenerated needed reliable follow-up. So far, univocal identification transplanted has been challenging. Previously proposed markers were shown be co-expressed by different epithelia homeostatic or perturbated environment. In study, we compared transcriptome profile human mucosa, limbal and conjunctival cultured holoclones, identifying Paired Like Homeodomain 2 (PITX2) as new marker that univocally distinguishes tissue from other epithelia. We validated PITX2 at RNA protein levels investigate 10-year follow-up samples derived COMET-treated aniridic patient. Moreover, found novel angiogenesis-related factors differentially expressed three instrumental explaining neovascularization patients. These results will support analysis patients with provide tools understand regeneration mechanism corneas.