title: Pluripotent Stem Cells and Other Innovative Strategies for the Treatment of Ocular Surface Diseases.
abstract: The cornea provides two thirds of the refractive power of the eye and protection against insults such as infection and injury. The outermost tissue of the cornea is renewed by stem cells located in the limbus. Depletion or destruction of these stem cells may lead to blinding limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) that concerns millions of patients around the world. Innovative strategies based on adult stem cell therapies have been developed in the recent years but they are still facing numerous unresolved issues, and the long term results can be deceiving. Today there is a clear need to improve these therapies, and/or to develop new approaches for the treatment of LSCD. Here, we review the current cell-based therapies used for the treatment of ocular diseases, and discuss the potential of pluripotent stem cells (embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells) in corneal repair. As the secretion of paracrine factors is known to have a crucial role in maintaining stem cell homeostasis and in wound repair, we also consider the therapeutic potential of a promising novel pathway, the exosomes. Exosomes are nano-sized vesicles that have the ability to transfer RNAs and proteins to recipient cells, and several studies demonstrated their role in cell protection and wound healing. Exosomes could circumvent the hurdles of stem-cell based approaches, and they could become a strong candidate as an alternative therapy for ocular surface diseases.
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Unit, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, F-75010, France.|INSERM, CIC de Biothérapies (CBT-501) and U1160, Institut Universitaire d'Hématologie, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, 75010, France.|University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, F-75475, France.
authors.forename: Johanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Erbani
authors.affiliation: University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, F-75475, France. daniel.aberdam@inserm.fr.|INSERM U976, Hôpital St-Louis, Paris, F-75010, France. daniel.aberdam@inserm.fr.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aberdam
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Unit, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, F-75010, France.|INSERM, CIC de Biothérapies (CBT-501) and U1160, Institut Universitaire d'Hématologie, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, 75010, France.|University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, F-75475, France.
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Larghero
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Unit, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, F-75010, France. valerie.vanneaux@aphp.fr.|INSERM, CIC de Biothérapies (CBT-501) and U1160, Institut Universitaire d'Hématologie, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, 75010, France. valerie.vanneaux@aphp.fr.|University Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, F-75475, France. valerie.vanneaux@aphp.fr.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vanneaux
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods
keywords: Cornea; Exosomes; Limbal stem cell deficiency; Ocular surface diseases; Pluripotent stem cells; Secreted microvesicles