Corneal Endothelial Cell Culture

Schepens Eye Research Institute
posted on 03/04/2009

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Human endothelial cells are different from vascular and pulmonary endothelial cells as they have a different tissue origin. Human corneal endothelial cells do not normally proliferate in vivo to replace those lost due to cell injury or death and the growth of these cells in culture is also extremely limited. The new growth method uses an agent that interrupts cell-to-cell contact. In addition, the medium contains growth factors that promote the proliferation of corneal endothelial cells. The new formulation permits the consistent growth of older donor cells which was previously particularly difficult to achieve. The new medium formulation would have a great impact in the field of corneal transplantation to increase the endothelial cell density of donor corneas or to produce artificial corneal constructs. The new formulation can also be used for research purposes, to induce proliferation of ocular cells and non-ocular cells such as sensory neurons.