PURPOSE Posterior Polymorphous Dystrophy (PPCD) is a genetically heterogeneous corneal dystrophy, with linkage to three different chromosomal loci, with several genes in these loci being implicated. The role of both VSX1 and COL8A2 in PPCD remains controversial but recent work suggests that mutations in the transcription factor gene ZEB1/TCF8 account for disease in up to 30% of subjects, with a...

PURPOSE To reconstruct a human hemicornea in vitro by means of limbal stem cells cultured onto human keratoplasty lenticules (HKLs) and to obtain a natural corneal graft for clinical applications. METHODS Limbal stem cells were seeded onto HKLs with or without the presence of feeder layers of lethally irradiated 3T3-J2 cells and compared with the current "gold standard" scaffold, i.e., the fi...

PURPOSE With advances in phenotyping tools and availability of molecular characterization, an increasing number of phenotypically and genotypically diverse inherited corneal dystrophies are described. We aimed to determine the underlying causative genetic mechanism in a three-generation pedigree affected with a unique anterior membrane corneal dystrophy characterized by early onset recurrent co...

We were very interested to read of a second mutation in the seed region of miR-184 resulting in EDICT syndrome. We were unsure after reading the paper, however, of how the corneal findings should be classified and of the statement that the family “does not demonstrate a keratoconus phenotype.” Keratoconus, the commonest disorder of corneal thinning and steepening, has been linked with VSX1 and ...

Whereas the mammalian retina possesses a repertoire of factors known to establish general retinal cell types, these factors alone cannot explain the vast diversity of neuronal subtypes. In other CNS regions, the differentiation of diverse neuronal pools is governed by coordinately acting LIM-homeodomain proteins including the Islet-class factor Islet-1 (Isl1). We report that deletion of Isl1 pr...