Table 1.
The features of corneal epithelial cells and limbal epithelial stem cells.
| Limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) | Corneal epithelium (CE) | |
|---|---|---|
| Morphology | High nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio; smaller than CE (10.1 ± 0.8 µm) | Lower nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio; column cell (17.1 ± 0.8 µm) |
| Blood supply | High vascularization | Avascular |
| Clonogenicity | Holoclones | Paraclones |
| Pigmentation | Intrinsic melanogenesis | Absent pigment, transparency |
| Epithelial cell marker | K5 and K14 | K3, K12, and Cx43 |
| Putative stem cell marker | ABCG2, K19, vimentin, integrin α9 and so on | — |
| Metabolic activity | Low | High |
| Cell cycling | Slow cycling | Fast cycling |