AIM To determine the epithelial phenotype in rabbits with total limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) after reconstruction with autologous limbal epithelial stem cells ex vivo expanded on rabbit amniotic membrane (AM). METHODS Left eyes of 52 rabbits were rendered total LSCD, verified by impression cytology. The fibrovascular pannus of each cornea was removed. Group I (n = 10) received rabbit AM...

PURPOSE To evaluate the effect of several culture variables on clonal growth and differentiation of limbal stem cells ex vivo and provide an improved culture technique that supports preferential expansion and preservation of stem cells for therapeutic applications. METHODS Corneal epithelial stem cells were isolated from human limbal specimens and clonally expanded on a 3T3 feeder layer, foll...

Cornea epithelium is subject to constant trauma and shedding of the surface epithelium, and replenishment is from epithelial cells beneath and peripheral to the central desquamating epithelium. The origin of the corneal epithelium appears to reside in the crypts of Vogt, where a population of "immortal" stem cells resides, possessing enormous potential for clonogenic cell division. These cells,...

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) leads to severe ocular surface abnormalities that can result in the loss of vision. The most successful therapy currently being used is transplantation of limbal epithelial cell sheets cultivated from a limbal biopsy obtained from the patient's healthy, contralateral eye or cadaveric tissue. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of murine vi...

Dear Editor, In the treatment of unilateral total limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), conjunctival limbal autograft (CLAU) surgery taken from the healthy fellow eye with or without amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) is one of the main therapeutic alternatives. There are some controversies regarding the optimal size of the limbal graft necessary for complete and stable epithelialization of ...

PURPOSE To determine whether epithelial-mesenchymal transition is involved in the development of corneal subepithelial fibrosis (pannus). METHODS Frozen samples of pannus tissue removed from human corneas with a diagnosis of total limbal stem cell deficiency were characterized by immunostaining for both epithelial and mesenchymal markers. We selected transformation-related protein 63 (p63) an...