[Identification, purification and culture of limbal epithelial stem cells]

Limbal epithelial stem cell is extremely significant in the study of ocular surface reconstruction. But it still a problem to identify, purify and culture them. At present, the identification of limbal epithelial stem cell still depends on its associated markers such as P63, ABCG2, integrin, etc. And, there are many kinds of methods to purify the stem cells, e.g. using flow cytometry, attaching to extra-cellular matrix quickly, measuring cell size, etc. But none of them could isolate stem cells effectively. This review summarizes some hot limbal epithelial stem cell markers, purification methods and stem cell niche created methods in vitro, which may meet future research needs for further improvement of the tissue engineering cornea.