Transdifferentiation of rat hair follicle stem cells to epithelium-like cells induced by stroma of limbus corneae

The study investigated the potential for hair follicle stem cells from 7-to 8-day-old SD rats to differentiate into epithelium-like cells when induced by rabbit corneal limbal stroma. The researchers found that these stem cells, which expressed α 6-integrin and CD34, could be induced to express Keratin-12 (K12) after 10 days, as confirmed by immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. Flow cytometry also showed a significant rate of K12-positive cells, indicating successful differentiation into corneal epithelium-like cells in vitro.