Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026
Isolation and Identification of Limbal Niche Cells
Published on: October 27, 2023
The culture and transplantation of human limbal stem cells
Sajjad Ahmad1, Charles Osei-Bempong, Reza Dana
1Institute of Human Genetics, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. sajjad.ahmad@ncl.ac.uk
Abstract:
The cornea is the clear front of the eye and its surface is composed of an epithelium. This is renewed by stem cells located at the limbus, which encircles the periphery of the cornea. These limbal stem cells become lost or deficient in the blinding disease of limbal stem cell deficiency. In this review article, we discuss the historical perspective in managing limbal stem cell deficiency as well as describing the more contemporary treatment options, and in particular the culture and transplantation of human limbal stem cells. This treatment was first proposed 13 years ago and many case series have been presented to date showing promising outcomes of this technique. However, challenges still remain in treating the debilitating disease of limbal stem cell deficiency. Here we discuss some of the questions, which remain to be answered in this field.
