Stem Cell Therapy May Someday Replace Corneal Transplants

December 16, 2014

(Medscape) – Stromal (mesenchymal) stem cells from patients’ own eyes may replace corneal transplants, suggests a study published in the December 10 issue of Science Translational Medicine. Sayan Basu, MD, from L. V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India, and colleagues have been working with mesenchymal/stromal corneal stem cells for a decade. The cells, from the limbus area, can regenerate wounded corneas in mice more deeply than can other populations of limbal stem cells that have already been through clinical trials.