Sphere-forming cells from peripheral XXXX demonstrate a wound-healing response to injury.

@entity267 @entity1970 @entity2850 @entity1939 @entity22939 @entity130
UNASSIGNED: The @entity267 is the initial refractive interface of the eye. Its transparency is critical for clear vision and is maintained by stem cells which also act to repair injury inflicted by external insults such as @entity22939 . Damage to the epithelium compromises its clarity and can reduce or eliminate the stem cell population, diminishing the ability for self-repair. This condition has been termed "limbal stem cell deficiency"; severe cases can lead to @entity1939 . Sphere-forming cells isolated from peripheral @entity267 are a potential source of stem and progenitor cells for corneal repair. When provided with appropriate substrate, these spheres have the ability to adhere and for cells to migrate outwards akin to that of their natural environment. @entity2850 and remote @entity130 experiments were conducted on the sphere cells to gauge their wound healing capacity. Measures of proliferation, differentiation and migration were assessed by immunohistochemical detection of EdU incorporation, a-smooth muscle actin expression and confocal image analysis respectively. Both modes of injury were observed to draw responses from the spheres indicating wound healing processes. Direct wounding induced a rapid, but transient increase in expression of @entity1970 , a marker of corneal myofibroblasts, followed by a proliferative and increasing migratory response. The spheres were observed to respond to remote injury as entire units, with no directional response seen for targeted repair over the @entity130 area. These results give strength to the future use of these peripheral corneal spheres as transplantable units for the regeneration of corneal tissue.
