De Miguel Maria P, Cadenas-Martin Marta, Stokking Martha, Martin-Gonzalez Ana I
Cell Engineering Laboratory, La Paz University Hospital Health Research Institute, IdiPAZ, 28046 Madrid, Spain.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jan 15;26(2):695. doi: 10.3390/ijms26020695.
The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 285 million people suffer from visual impairments, around 5% of which are caused by corneal pathologies. Currently, the most common clinical treatment consists of a corneal transplant (keratoplasty) from a human donor. However, worldwide demand for donor corneas amply exceeds the available supply. Lamellar keratoplasty (transplantation replacement of only one of the three layers of the cornea) is partially solving the problem of cornea undersupply. Obviously, cell therapy applied to every one of these layers will expand current therapeutic options, reducing the cost of ophthalmological interventions and increasing the effectiveness of surgery. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are adult stem cells with the capacity for self-renewal and differentiation into different cell lineages. They can be obtained from many human tissues, such as bone marrow, umbilical cord, adipose tissue, dental pulp, skin, and cornea. Their ease of collection and advantages over embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells make them a very practical source for experimental and potential clinical applications. In this review, we focus on recent advances using MSCs from different sources to replace the damaged cells of the three corneal layers, at both the preclinical and clinical levels for specific corneal diseases.
世界卫生组织估计，约有2.85亿人患有视力障碍，其中约5%是由角膜病变引起的。目前，最常见的临床治疗方法是进行人类供体的角膜移植（角膜移植术）。然而，全球对供体角膜的需求远远超过了可用供应。板层角膜移植术（仅替换角膜三层中的一层进行移植）在一定程度上解决了角膜供应不足的问题。显然，应用于这些层中的每一层的细胞疗法将扩大当前的治疗选择，降低眼科干预成本并提高手术效果。间充质干细胞（MSCs）是具有自我更新能力并能分化为不同细胞谱系的成体干细胞。它们可以从许多人体组织中获得，如骨髓、脐带、脂肪组织、牙髓、皮肤和角膜。它们易于采集以及相对于胚胎干细胞或诱导多能干细胞的优势，使其成为实验和潜在临床应用的非常实用的来源。在本综述中，我们聚焦于使用来自不同来源的间充质干细胞在临床前和临床水平上替代三层角膜受损细胞以治疗特定角膜疾病的最新进展。
