Abstract
Corneal transparency and avascularity are essential for vision. The avascular cornea transitions into the vascularized conjunctiva at the limbus. Here, we explore a limbal stromal cell sub-population that expresses ABCB5 and has mesenchymal stem cell characteristics. Human primary corneal stromal cells were enriched for ABCB5 by using FACS sorting. ABCB5+ cells expressed the MSC markers CD90, CD73, and CD105. ABCB5+ but not ABCB5- cells from the same donor displayed evidence of pluripotency with a significantly higher colony-forming efficiency and the ability of trilineage differentiation (osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic). The ABCB5+ cell secretome demonstrated lower levels of the pro-inflammatory protein MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor) as well as of the pro-(lymph)angiogenic growth factors VEGFA and VEGFC, which correlated with reduced proliferation of Jurkat cells co-cultured with ABCB5+ cells and decreased proliferation of blood and lymphatic endothelial cells cultured in ABCB5+ cell-conditioned media. These data support the hypothesis that ABCB5+ limbal stromal cells are a putative MSC population with potential anti-inflammatory and anti-(lymph)angiogenic effects. The therapeutic modulation of ABCB5+ limbal stromal cells may prevent cornea neovascularization and inflammation and, if transplanted to other sites in the body, provide similar protective properties to other tissues.