• Julia I. Khorolskaya
  • Daria A. Perepletchikova
  • Daniel V. Kachkin
  • Kirill E. Zhurenkov
  • Elga I. Alexander-Sinkler
  • Julia S. Ivanova
  • Natalia A. Mikhailova
  • Miralda I. Blinova

The development of cell-based approaches to the treatment of various cornea pathologies, including limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), is an area of current interest in regenerative biomedicine. In this context, the shortage of donor material is urgent, and limbal mesenchymal stem cells (L-MSCs) may become a promising cell source for the development of these novel approaches, being established mainly within the rabbit model. In this study, we obtained and characterized rabbit L-MSCs and modified them with lentiviral transduction to express the green fluorescent protein EGFP (L-MSCs-EGFP). L-MSCs and L-MSCs-EGFP express not only stem cell markers specific for mesenchymal stem cells but also ABCG2, ABCB5, ALDH3A1, PAX6, and p63a specific for limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs), as well as various cytokeratins (3/12, 15, 19). L-MSCs-EGFP have been proven to differentiate into adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic directions, as well as to transdifferentiate into epithelial cells. The possibility of using L-MSCs-EGFP to study the biocompatibility of various scaffolds developed to treat corneal pathologies was demonstrated. L-MSCs-EGFP may become a useful tool for studying regenerative processes occurring during the treatment of various corneal pathologies, including LSCD, with the use of cell-based technologies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1134
Number of pages17
JournalBiomedicines
Volume9
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2021

    Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
  • Medicine (miscellaneous)

    Research areas

  • Corneal regeneration, EGFP-labeled cells, Limbal mesenchymal stem cells, Limbal stem cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Mesenchymal-epithelial transition, Regenerative medicine, limbal mesenchymal stem cells, regenerative medicine, limbal stem cells, CORNEAL EPITHELIUM, PHENOTYPE, IN-VITRO, mesenchymal-epithelial transition, mesenchymal stem cells, corneal regeneration, DIFFERENTIATION

ID: 86550346