Cornea renews itself by using stem cells
Scientists from Switzerland have published a paper where they explain how cornea repairs itself by using stem cells located in it’s epithelium. They are capable of doing simple repairing tasks, while more complex tasks require other stem cells which migrate from distant locations.
Cornea is the outer layer of our eye and is very important for our vision. Even minor damages on cornea cause partial or full blindness. These situations can be treated by doing a cornea transplantation, and stem cell treatment lately.
Stem cells are located in the limbus. They expand themselves in the eye following the principle of „tectonic plates“, squeezing the limbus between them. They fill the space there and in the case of damage, they do their job – they repair. What they actually do is differentiate themselves into appropriate cells.
Subscribe to the comments for this post