Oral Mucosal Stem Cells, Human Immature Dental Pulp Stem Cells and Hair Follicle Bulge Stem Cells as Adult Stem Cells Able to Correct Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency

Background: Adult stem cells are somatic stem cells distributed all over the body. They represent a promising future for regenerative medicine because of their multiple advantages as they are widely available, accessible, easily stored and manipulated to a wide range of cells and with minimal invasive extraction. Objective: This review describes three examples of adult stem cells: oral mucosal epithelial stem cells, human immature dental pulp stem cells and hair follicle bulge stem cells that show an ability to correct limbal stem cell deficiency, their isolation and cultivation methods, feeder layers, carriers, markers expressed, successfulness to regenerate the ocular surface and mimic the corneal function in LSCD. Conclusion: Although hair follicle bulge stem cells and human immature dental pulp stem cells are a promising adult stem cell source to correct limbal stem cell deficiency, but the published research evaluating this ability is limited. Therefore, this article emphasize further research in this area. Keywords: Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), Adult stem cells (ASC), oral mucosal epithelial stem cells (OMESCs), human imature dental pulp stem cells (hIDPSCs), Hair follicle (HF) bulge stem cells, corneal transplant.