Corneal failure is a highly prevalent cause of blindness. One special cause of corneal failure occurs due to malfunction or destruction of the limbal stem cell niche, upon which the superficial cornea depends for homeostatic maintenance and wound healing. Failure of the limbal niche is referred to as limbal stem cell deficiency. As the corneal epithelial stem cell niche is easily accessible, limbal stem cell-based therapy and regenerative medicine applied to the ocular surface are among the most highly advanced forms of this novel approach to disease therapy. However, the challenges are still great, including the development of cell-based products and understanding how they work in the patient’s eye. Advances are being made at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels to alter disease processes and to reduce or eliminate blindness. Efforts must be coordinated from the most basic research to the most clinically oriented projects so that cell-based therapies can become an integrated part of the therapeutic armamentarium to fight corneal blindness. We undoubtedly are progressing along the right path because cell-based therapy for eye diseases is one of the most successful examples of global regenerative medicine.

中文翻译：

---

基于干细胞治疗角膜缘缺陷导致的角膜失明的目标和挑战

角膜衰竭是导致失明的一个非常普遍的原因。角膜衰竭的一个特殊原因是角膜缘干细胞生态位的故障或破坏，浅表角膜依赖于稳态维持和伤口愈合。角膜缘生态位的失败被称为角膜缘干细胞缺陷。由于角膜上皮干细胞生态位很容易获得，基于角膜缘干细胞的治疗和应用于眼表的再生医学是这种疾病治疗新方法的最先进形式之一。然而，挑战仍然很大，包括开发基于细胞的产品以及了解它们如何在患者眼中发挥作用。正在分子、细胞和组织水平上取得进展，以改变疾病过程并减少或消除失明。必须从最基本的研究到最面向临床的项目协调努力，使基于细胞的疗法能够成为抗击角膜盲的治疗设备的一个组成部分。毫无疑问，我们正沿着正确的道路前进，因为眼部疾病的细胞疗法是全球再生医学最成功的例子之一。