Isolation of Adult Stem Cell Populations from the Human Cornea
Authors
Matthew J. Branch , Wing-Yan Yu , Carl Sheridan and Andrew Hopkinson
Institution
Nottingham
Country
United Kingdom
Year
2014
Journal
Stem Cell Protocols, Chapter 14
Abstract
Corneal blindness is a leading cause of vision loss globally. From a tissue engineering perspective, the
cornea represents specific challenges in respect to isolating, stably expanding, banking, and effectively
manipulating the various cell types required for effective corneal regeneration. The current research trend
in this area focuses on a combined stem cell component with a biological or synthetic carrier or engineering
scaffold. Corneal derived stem cells play an important role in such strategies as they represent an available
supply of cells with specifi c abilities to further generate corneal cells in the long term. This chapter
describes the isolation protocols of the epithelial stromal and endothelial stem cell populations.