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Reconstruction of chemically burned rat corneal surface by bone marrow-derived human mesenchymal ste |
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Thursday, 18 August 2005 |
From: Stem Cells
Authors: Yanling Ma , Yongsheng Xu , Zhifeng Xiao , Wei Yang , Chun Zhang , E Song , Yiqin Du , Lingsong Li
Full Text: http://stemcells.alphamedpress.org/cgi/reprint/2005-0046v1
Abstract
To examine whether transplantation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could reconstruct the corneal damage and also whether grafted MSCs could differentiate into corneal epithelial cells, we isolated MSCs from healthy donors. After growth and expansion on amniotic membrane, cells were transplanted to rat corneas 7 days after chemical burns. Reconstruction of the damaged cornea and the rat vision were measured once a week by slit-lamp and by an optokinetic head-tracking instrument, respectively. Corneas were then cut out, fixed and imbedded for immunofluorescent study of the expression of keratin 3 and keratin-pan as epithelial cell markers. Expression of CD45, interleukin 2 and metalloproteinase-2 was also investigated for inflammation and inflammation-related angiogenesis.. The data showed that transplantation of MSCs, like limbal epithelial stem cells (LSCs), successfully reconstructed damaged rat corneal surface. Interestingly, the therapeutic effect of the transplantation may be associated with the inhibition of inflammation and angiogenesis after transplantation of MSCs rather than the epithelial differentiation from MSCs. This study provides the first line of evidence that MSCs can be used for reconstruction of damaged corneas, presenting a new source for auto-transplantation in the treatment of corneal disorders.
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