title: Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells from adult human eye conjunctiva stromal cells.
abstract: Identification of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from alternative sources has provided an exciting prospect for intensive investigation. This work focused on characterizing a new source of MSCs from stromal cells from human eye conjunctiva. In this study, after conjunctiva biopsies and culture of stromal segment of this tissue, fibroblast-like (SH2+, SH3+, CD29+, CD44+, CD166+, CD13+) human stromal cells, which can be differentiated toward the osteogenic, adipogenic, chondrogenic, and neurogenic lineages, were obtained. These cells expressed Oct-4, Nanog, Rex-1 genes, and some lineage-specific markers like cardiac actin and Keratin. Taken together, the results indicate that conjunctiva stromal-derived cells are a new source of multipotent MSCs and despite originating from an adult source, they express undifferentiated stem cell markers.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell Department, Stem Cell Technology Co. Ltd, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Samad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nadri
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soleimani
authors.forename: Jafar
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kiani
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Atashi
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Izadpanah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000166:cytology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008875:Middle Aged; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000276:immunology