Limbal epithelial stem cell sheets from young donors have better regenerative potential
To investigate the stemness of limbal epithelial stem cell sheets concerning the donor’s age. Human Limbal explants from cadaveric donors were set on human amniotic membrane scaffolds with xeno-free medium. Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) by multiple etiologies is characterized by impaired corneal wound healing, opaque cornea, conjunctivalization, and partial or total vision loss. For people with unilateral LSCD, the current treatments involve getting healthy eyes from a donor source to replace the LSCs that have been used up.
The expression of the proliferation marker Ki67, stem/progenitor cell markers p63α and ABCG2, cornea specific marker PANCK, and differentiation marker CK12 were evaluated. Outgrowth cells from aged donors (age > 65) showed lower expression of stem/progenitor cell markers p63α and ABCG2. Limbal extracellular stem cell sheets from donors younger than 45 showed enhanced stemness and proliferation potential. The ability of limbal explants to grow on HAMS( human amniotic membrane scaffolds) was greater than the average growth that had been seen in earlier studies.
Levels of putative stem cell markers and telomerase activity did not differ according to donor age. The older age group exhibited a significant reduction of these cell differences on Day 2 compared to D0. Younger donors, especially those of age < 65, are a better source for limbal epithelial stem cell sheet generation with high regeneration potential and maintenance of stemness.
Yang, S., Lee, H.J., Shin, S. et al. Limbal epithelial stem cell sheets from young donors have better regenerative potential. Sci Rep 12, 14191 (2022).
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