Regrowing corneal cells from teeth

Thursday, April 9 2015 | 00 h 00 min | Vision Science

Pittsburgh University researchers have succeeded in transforming stem cells from wisdom teeth into corneal cells in mice. These cells could be used to repair corneal scarring and offer a potential future treatment for corneal blindness, a condition affecting millions worldwide.

Corneal blindness is typically treated with transplants but rejection of donor tissue and a shortage of donor corneas present potential issues. “Our work is promising, because they use the patient’s own cells for the treatment, which reduces the risk of encountering these problems,” says Fatima Syed-Picard, who led the study.

Dental pulp stem cells may also be used to regrow other tissues such as nerves and bone in future regenerative therapies.

Further information: http://www.upmc.com/media/NewsReleases/2015/Pages/wisdom-teeth-stem-cells-corneal.aspx