The aim of the study is to evaluate the stemness gene expression of cultured human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) in serial passages. HAECs obtained from human term placentae were cultured in F12:DMEM(1:1) + 10% FBS +10ng/ml EGF in serial passages (P0, P1, P2 and P4). Quantitative RT-PCR was used to assess the gene expression analysis. The results showed that cultured HAECs expressed and downregulated the stemness genes expression for Oct-4, Sox-2, Nanog3, FGF4, Rex-1, FZD-9, BST-1 ABCG2. However, vimentin and nestin gene expression were upregulated. The results suggested that cultured HAECs may have pluripotent and multipotent properties.
The cultivated epithelial transplantation is a new surgical modality for treating a variety of severe ocular surface disorders. This type of tissue-engineered epithelial sheet provides a rapid epithelial coverage on the corneal surface that reduces inflammation and postoperative complications. Although cultivated corneal epithelial transplantation is an effective surgical strategy, autologous transplantation is limited to unilateral cases. Autologous cultivated oral mucosal epithelial transplantation (COMET) enables surgeons to reconstruct the ocular surface using autologous, non-ocular surface cells, and has opened a new pathway for treating severe, bilateral ocular surface disorders.