Corneal Regeneration Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells: Stem Cell-based Corneal Cell Therapy
摘要
Corneal disease continues to be a leading cause of blindness worldwide, yet current treatment with corneal transplantation remains limited by global donor tissue shortage, inconsistent donor tissue quality, and risk of immune complications. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) have emerged as a promising platform for regenerative corneal therapies due to their broad differentiation potential, scalability, and potential to support allogeneic cell therapy through HLA-matched banking. This review examines recent progress in iPSC-based strategies for regenerating the corneal epithelium, stroma, and endothelium, and evaluates the key barriers to clinical translation.
Recent FindingsRecent advances in chemically defined and xeno-free differentiation protocols have improved the generation of corneal lineage cells from iPSCs, particularly for epithelial and endothelial applications. iPSC-derived corneal epithelial cell sheets have recently entered the early stages of clinical translation, with first-in-human trials in limbal stem cell deficiency yielding encouraging results for safety and efficacy. Concurrently, iPSC-derived corneal endothelial cells have shown promising preclinical capacity to restore corneal clarity, while stromal applications, exosome-based therapies, and corneal organoid platforms continue to expand the translational landscape.
SummaryiPSC-based corneal regeneration presents a potential solution to the major limitations posed by conventional corneal transplantation. However, broader clinical application will require improved standardization of differentiation and characterization protocols, reliable safeguards for ensuring functional maturity and tumorigenicity, and scalable GMP-compliant manufacturing guidelines. Continued progress in HLA-typed iPSC banking, quality control, and multidisciplinary translational collaboration will be essential to realize safe and accessible stem cell-based therapies for corneal disease.