Researchers regrow human corneas

Scientists in the US have identified a way to enhance regrowth of human corneal tissue to restore vision.

Boston researchers used a molecule known as ABCB5 that acts as a marker for hard-to-find limbal stem cells, which reside in the basal epithelium of the limbus, for the regrowth.

The research, published this week in Nature, was said to be one of the first known examples of constructing a tissue from an adult-derived human stem cell.

Transplants consisting of human ABCB5-positive limbal stem cells resulted in restoration and long-term maintenance of a normal clear cornea in limbal stem cell-deficient mice. Control mice that received either no cells or ABCB5-negative cells failed to restore the cornea, researchers found.