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PMID: 17211449 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Review

Niche regulation of corneal epithelial stem cells at the limbus.

Cell research ·Vol. 17 ·No. 1 ·2007-01-00 ·Pages 26-36

Li W, Hayashida Y, Chen YT, Tseng SC

Abstract

Among all adult somatic stem cells, those of the corneal epithelium are unique in their exclusive location in a defined limbal structure termed Palisades of Vogt. As a result, surgical engraftment of limbal epithelial stem cells with or without ex vivo expansion has long been practiced to restore sights in patients inflicted with limbal stem cell deficiency. Nevertheless, compared to other stem cell examples, relatively little is known about the limbal niche, which is believed to play a pivotal role in regulating self-renewal and fate decision of limbal epithelial stem cells. This review summarizes relevant literature and formulates several key questions to guide future research into better understanding of the pathogenesis of limbal stem cell deficiency and further improvement of the tissue engineering of the corneal epithelium by focusing on the limbal niche.

MeSH Terms
Adult Stem Cells/pathology,physiology Animals Epithelium, Corneal/cytology,pathology,physiology Humans Limbus Corneae/cytology,pathology,physiology
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Li Wei
Ocular Surface Center and TissueTech Inc. Miami, Florida, 33173, USA.
Hayashida Yasutaka
Chen Ying-Ting
Tseng Scheffer C G
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Article Info
Journal
Cell research
Abbr.
Cell Res
ISSN
1748-7838
DOI
10.1038/sj.cr.7310137
Published
2007-01-00
Pages
26-36
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
9425763
PMCID
PMC3190132
Subset
IM
Grants
NEI NIH HHS · R01 EY006819 · United States
NEI NIH HHS · R01 EY015735 · United States
NEI NIH HHS · R01 EY06819 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1038/sj.cr.7310137 PMC Full Text View journal details
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