Autologous transplantation of conjunctival epithelial stem cells based on epigenetical control.

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24659757
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Ophthalmology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Women's Medical University
• Principal Investigator: MIMURA Tatsuya 東京女子医科大学, 医学部, 講師 (70463867)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 結膜再生

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We developed an adult precursor/stem cell isolation method (the sphere-forming assay) for conjunctival epithelial cells from donor eye and rabbit eye. We demonstrated conjunctival precursor/stem cells possessed the higher proliferative capacity as indicated by BrDU staining and the immature state as indicated by nestin staining compared with cultured differentiated epithelial cells. We cultured conjunctival precursor/stem cells on the amniotic membrane and demonstrated that cultured conjuncdtival epithelium formed three to four layers on amniotic membrane. After transplantation of reconstructed conjunctival sheet on the rabbit conjunctiva and cornea with corneal epithelial opacity, there was no inflammation in the conjunctiva and cornea maintained corneal clarity. These results suggest that transplantation of reconstructed conjunctival epithelial sheet using cultured precursor/stem cells is a possible treatment strategy for treating total limbal stem cell deficiency.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学