NIH R01 · 2024
ABCB5-positive stem cells for LSCD therapy
ABSTRACT- limited to 30 lines The corneal epithelium is a rapidly self-renewing epithelial surface essential for maintaining a clear cornea and normal vision. The limbus contains a small subpopulation of limbal stem cells (LSCs) that continually repopulate the corneal epithelium and patients with limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) are unable to regenerate the corneal epithelium, resulting in "conjunctivalization" that ultimately leads to blindness. We previously identified that the ABCB5 gene is expressed by LSCs in both mouse and human tissues and that normal function of ABCB5+ LSCs is required for corneal development, homeostasis, and repair. Moreover, ABCB5 is a cell surface protein and…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.