Journal
STEM CELLS TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
Volume 4, Issue 9, Pages 1052-1063Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.5966/sctm.2015-0039
Keywords
Limbal stem cells; Mesenchymal stem cells; Alkali-injured ocular surface; Corneal regeneration; Stem cell-based therapy
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Funding
- Grant Agency of the Czech Republic [14-12580S]
- Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic [NT/14102]
- Grant Agency of the Charles University [889113, 80815]
- [Biocev CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0109]
- [NPUI: LO1309]
- [UNCE 204013]
- [SVV 260206]
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Stem cell-based therapy has become an attractive and promising approach for the treatment of severe injuries or thus-far incurable diseases. However, the use of stem cells is often limited by a shortage of available tissue-specific stem cells; therefore, other sources of stem cells are being investigated and tested. In this respect, mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) have proven to be a promising stem cell type. In the present study, we prepared MSCs from bone marrow (BM-MSCs) or adipose tissue (Ad-MSCs) as well as limbal epithelial stem cells (LSCs), and their growth, differentiation, and secretory properties were compared. The cells were grown on nanofiber scaffolds and transferred onto the alkali-injured eye in a rabbit model, and their therapeutic potential was characterized. We found that BM-MSCs and tissue-specific LSCs had similar therapeutic effects. Clinical characterization of the healing process, as well as the evaluation of corneal thickness, re-epithelialization, neovascularization, and the suppression of a local inflammatory reaction, were comparable in the BM-MSC- and LSC-treated eyes, but results were significantly better than in injured, untreated eyes or in eyes treated with a nanofiber scaffold alone or with a nanofiber scaffold seeded with Ad-MSCs. Taken together, the results show that BM-MSCs' therapeutic effect on healing of injured corneal surface is comparable to that of tissue-specific LSCs. We suggest that BM-MSCs can be used for ocular surface regeneration in cases when autologous LSCs are absent or difficult to obtain.
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