Study: Lab-Grown ‘Mini-Corneas’ Mimic Developing Human Corneas
Researchers at NYU Langone Health say three-dimensional, lab-grown “mini-corneas” resemble the developing human cornea, potentially making them a new tool for the study of corneal diseases.
Published in PNAS Nexus, the findings of a study aim to advance the field’s understanding of the molecular events involved in human corneal development in the womb, along with efforts to develop improved therapies for disorders of the cornea, say the study authors. In the future, these organoids could be the source of cells used in cell therapies for corneal diseases.
“Our study is the first to examine human corneal organoids at a single-cell resolution,” corresponding study author Shukti Chakravarti, PhD, professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a NYU Langone Health news release. “By reading the genetic code built by active genes in this model, we have found that our organoids behave like actual corneas that are rapidly maturing in the womb.”