Researchers Regrow Human Corneas: First Known Tissue Grown from a Human Stem Cell

A restored functional cornea following transplantation of human ABCB5-positive limbal stem cells to limbal stem cell-deficient mice. Transplants consisting of human ABCB5-positive limbal stem cells resulted in restoration and long-term maintenance of a normal clear cornea, whereas control mice that received either no cells or ABCB5-negative cells failed to restore the cornea. Image credit: Kira Lathrop, Bruce Ksander, Markus Frank, Natasha Frank and Paraskevi Kolovou.

Limbal stem cells — identified with a new marker — could reverse a leading cause of blindness

Boston researchers have identified a way to enhance regrowth of human corneal tissue to restore vision, using a molecule known as ABCB5 that acts as a marker for hard-to-find limbal stem cells. This work, a collaboration between the Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute (Mass. Eye and Ear), Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the VA Boston Healthcare System, provides promise to burn victims, victims of chemical injury and others with damaging eye diseases. The research, published this week in Nature, is also one of the first known examples of constructing a tissue from an adult-derived human stem cell.

Limbal stem cells reside in the eye’s basal limbal epithelium, or limbus, and help maintain and regenerate corneal tissue. Their loss due to injury or disease is one of the leading causes of blindness. In the past, tissue or cell transplants have been used to help the cornea regenerate, but it was unknown whether there were actual limbal stem cells in the grafts, or how many, and the outcomes were not consistent.

In this study, researchers were able to use antibodies detecting ABCB5 to zero in on the stem cells in tissue from deceased human donors and use them to regrow anatomically correct, fully functional human corneas in mice.

The Latest on: Regrow Human Corneas

[google_news title=”” keyword=”Regrow Human Corneas” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]

via Google News

Laboratory-Grown Vaginas Implanted in Patients

The Latest on: Regrow Human Corneas

Scarce organ donations strain life-saving resources
on May 8, 2024 at 4:08 pm
Pham Thi Su held an organ donation commitment form in her trembling hands.
Dehydrated Blood, Corneal Implants, And 35 Other Wild Photos Of The Human Body That Prove Science Is Basically Magic
on May 5, 2024 at 1:16 pm
3.Here's what a biker's legs look like after completing just one stage of the Tour de France: 4.And this is what an Olympic rower's hands look like after rowing for 1,000 km: ...
Human Spectacle
on April 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm
For more audio journalism and storytelling, download New York Times Audio, a new iOS app available for news subscribers. By New York Times Audio Gladiators in the Colosseum. Sideshow performers ...
Teaching for Tomorrow’s Employment Landscape
on April 17, 2024 at 5:00 pm
As for the engineering majors, their focus was on biomedical engineering, including techniques such as tissue engineering and organ regeneration to replace or regenerate human cells, tissues or organs ...
UM research discovers new way to generate human cartilage
on April 14, 2024 at 7:00 am
Grimes said there is a critical unmet need for new methods to regenerate human cartilage for the 230,000 children born annually in the U.S. with craniofacial defects. Growing cartilage in the ...
What is human resources?
on April 11, 2024 at 10:39 pm
Human resources (HR) is an administrative business function responsible for recruiting, compensating, managing and developing employees. HR professionals oversee a range of tasks that keep a ...
Research team discovers new way to generate human cartilage
on April 9, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Grimes said there is a critical unmet need for new methods to regenerate human cartilage for the 230,000 children born annually in the U.S. with craniofacial defects. Growing cartilage in the ...
New way to generate human cartilage
on April 9, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Grimes said there is a critical unmet need for new methods to regenerate human cartilage for the 230,000 children born annually in the U.S. with craniofacial defects. Growing cartilage in the ...
Surgeons Perform World's First Whole Eyeball Transplant on Arkansas Veteran
on November 10, 2023 at 11:42 am
Corneal transplants ... had ever attempted a human eyeball transplant before. One of the main hurdles is getting the optic nerve, which links the eye to the brain, to regenerate completely.
Regrow Ag
on July 19, 2023 at 5:45 am
Here, two panels of innovators share their approaches to filling in systemic gaps in our food system. 6 months ago - By partnering with Regrow Ag to track and reduce supply chain emissions, Kellogg's ...