Thedamageofhumancornealcellsencounterwiththeproblemofavailabilityofcornealcellsforreplacement.Limitationofthesourceofcornealcellshasbeenrealized.Anattemptofdevelopmentofcornealepithelial-likecellsfromthehumanskin-derivedprecursor(hSKPs)hasbeenmadeinthisstudy.Combinationofthreeessentialgrowthfactors:epidermalgrowthfactor(EGF),keratinocytegrowthfactor(KGF)andhepatocytegrowthfactor(HGF)coulddemonstratesuccessfullyinductionofhSKPstodifferentiationintocornealcells.Theinducedcellsexpressedtheappearanceofmarkersofcornealepithelialcellsasshownbythepresenceofkeratin3(K3)byantibodylabelandWesternblotassay.TheK3geneexpressionofinducedhSKPscellsasshownbyreversetranscription-polymerasechainreaction(RT-PCR)technologywasalsodemonstrated.ThepresenceofthesemarkersatbothgeneandproteinlevelscouldleadtoourconclusionthatthedirectionaltransdifferentiationofhSKPscellsintocornealepithelialcellswassuccessfullydoneunderthiscellinductionprotocol.Thefindingshowsanewlyavailablestemcellsourcecanbeobtainedfromeasilyavailableskin.Cellsfromautologoushumanskinmightbeusedforcornealdisordertreatmentinfutureclinicalapplication.
