Figure 1.

Limbal niche. Illustration of the limbal niche, focusing on the palisade of Vogt. The palisades of Vogt form crypts in the limbal epithelium, allowing for close contact between LESCs and supportive cells, including melanocytes, keratocytes, mesenchymal stem cells and Langerhans cells. These cells, along with the basement membrane and neurovasculature, provide growth factors, nutrients and structural support to promote proper LESC proliferation and differentiation. At the border of the limbal and corneal basement membranes, LESCs divide into progenitor cells or transient amplifying cells (TAC). The TACs divide into postmitotic cells (PMCs) and migrate centrally. These PMCs differentiate into terminally differentiated epithelial cells (TDCs) to replace lost cells on the corneal surface. Use of illustration permitted by [5].