Methods for characterization/manipulation of human corneal stem cells and their applications in regenerative medicine.

Cell therapy is an emerging therapeutic strategy aimed at replacing or repairing severely damaged tissues with cultured cells. Specifically, ocular burns cause depletion of limbal stem cells, which leads to corneal opacification and visual loss. Corneal stem cells are segregated in the basal layer of the limbus, which is the transitional zone of the epithelium located between the cornea and the bulbar conjunctiva. Autologous cultured limbal epithelial cells can restore damaged corneas. We sought to establish a culture system that allows preservation of limbal stem cells and preparation of manageable epithelial sheets. We outline some quality criteria, which assure the clinical performance of keratinocyte culture: evaluation of the number of holoclones within a cultured epithelial graft, proportion of aborting colonies, and percentage of cells expressing high levels of ΔNp63α.