2004 Volume 24 Issue 1 Pages 43-46
Autologous cultivated mucosal epithelial cells from a non-ocular surface origin were investigated to determine their possible use in ocular surface reconstruction. An ocular-surface injury was created in one eye of each of the adult albino rabbits used, via lamellar keratectomy. Next, oral mucosal biopsies were taken from these rabbits and then cultivated for 2-3 weeks on denuded amniotic membrane. The cultivated oral epithelial sheets were examined by electron microscopy (EM) and immunohistochemically labeled for several keratins. EM revealed that the epithelial cells were very similar in appearance to those of in vivo normal corneal epithelium. It also showed that they had numerous desmosomal junctions and were strongly attached to a basement membrane with hemi-desmosomes. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the presence of non-keratinized, stratified keratins 4/13 and cornea-specific keratin 3. All of the corneas that were transplanted with the autologous cultivated oral epithelial sheets were clear and epithelialized 10 days after transplantation. From these results, we conclude that the autologous transplantation of cultivated oral epithelium is a feasible procedure for ocular surface reconstruction.
