ex-vivo cultivated limbal stem cell pool

Ex-vivo cultivated limbal stem cell pool refers to a population of human limbal epithelial stem cells that are harvested from the corneal limbus (the border area between the cornea and sclera) and expanded in vitro (outside the body) before being transplanted onto a patient’s eye. This therapy is primarily used for treating Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency (LSCD), a condition where damage or loss of these essential corneal progenitor cells leads to impaired healing and vision loss. The process involves taking a small biopsy of healthy limbal tissue—either autologous (from the patient’s own healthy eye) or allogeneic (from a donor)—and culturing it on substrates such as amniotic membrane under Good Manufacturing Practice conditions. After sufficient expansion, sheets containing millions of viable epithelial cells are transplanted onto the affected ocular surface to restore normal corneal epithelium and function[1][3][5][6]. The mechanism is based on direct cellular replacement—repopulating the damaged ocular surface with functional progenitor cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation into mature corneal epithelium[6]. This approach reduces risks associated with larger tissue grafts and can be tailored for both unilateral and bilateral LSCD cases.

Other names

ex vivo cultivated limbal stem cell transplantationCLETcultivated limbal epithelial transplantationcultivated limbal stem cellscLSC