Stephen C. Kaufman, MD, PhD, Kunal Suri, MD, Megan Twite, Ching Yuan, PhD
Cryopreservation, limbal stem cell, cornea, eye bank
PURPOSE: This article provides a summary of our research, an overview of the recent progress, and current challenges of cryopreservation and eye banking of corneal limbal stem cell tissue.
METHODS: We reviewed the literature, summarized our research, and presented current challenges involved with cryopreservation and eye banking of corneal limbal stem cell tissue.
RESULTS: Corneal limbal stem cell transplantation is the primary ocular surface treatment for severe chemical burns, radiation injuries, severe infection, ocular pemphigoid, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and other corneal disorders that result in corneal-limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Numerous techniques have been described to replace corneal limbal stem cells, which are required to produce a normal, new corneal epithelium. Obstacles to overcoming some of the limitations of providing human eye tissue for corneal limbal stem cell transplantation include storage of tissue, tissue culture of the stem cells and the formulation of a tissue culture medium that does not contain cholera toxin and animal products, which are problematic from a safety and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory standpoint.
CONCLUSIONS: Biopreservation of ocular limbal stem tissue using cryogenic techniques (“cryopreservation”) can extend the viable storage life of transplantable tissues, provide for storage of allograft and autologous graft tissue and perhaps be used to cryopreserve stem cell cultures for certain patients (“eye banking”).
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