Firdos Alam Khan
Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia
Title: Isolation of pluripotent stem cells from an adult human eye
Biography
Biography: Firdos Alam Khan
Abstract
We have investigated whether the adult human cornea-limbal tissue has any self-renewing and multi-lineage differentiation capacities. We report, the identification and isolation of limbal fibroblast-like cells obtained from the adult human corneo-limbal tissue possessing self-renewing capacity and multi-lineage differentiation potential. The cells form cell aggregates or clusters, which express molecular markers, specific for ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm lineages in vitro. Further, these cells mature into a myriad of cell types including neurons, corneal cells, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, hepatocytes and pancreatic islet cells. Despite originating from a non-embryonic source, they express Embryonic Stem Cell and other stem cell markers important for maintaining an undifferentiated state. This multi-potential capability, relatively easy isolation and high rate of ex vivo proliferation capacity make these cells a promising therapeutic tool.