Successful generation of transplantable epithelial cell sheets from GFP rats.

<p>(A) Phase-contrast image of oral mucosal epithelial cells. (B) Fluorescence microscopy showing GFP-positive cells from a donor GFP rat. (C) Cross-section of a GFP-positive cell sheet. (D) Basal cells of cultured epithelial cell sheets express p63. (E) Both primary oral mucosa and cultured cell sheets contained sufficient numbers of progenitor cells. Scale bars = 200 µm (A, B) and 50 µm (C, D).</p

Eight weeks after transplanting cultured cell sheets prepared from GFP rats.

<p>(A) Slit lamp photograph of a reconstructed nude rat cornea. (B) HE staining showing that the reconstructed cornea was covered with 3–4 epithelial cell layers. (C, D) Immunostaining results showing that a reconstructed cornea still expressed p63 in the basal layers. (E, F) K14 was expressed in all epithelial layers after cell sheet transplantation. (G, H) The expression of CD 31 was observed in the basal epithelial layer and the superficial stroma in the peripheral cornea. (I) Corneal surface completely covered with GFP-positive epithelial cells. (J) Fluorescence microscopy showing that surviving GFP-positive epithelial cells were on the surface of a transplanted cornea. (K) CFAs for peripheral and central epithelial cells prepared from a postoperative eye and limbal and central epithelial cells prepared from a normal cornea. (L) The mean CFE values for the peripheral cells removed from the transplanted cornea was significantly greater than that for the central cell, which was also observed in a normal cornea (N = 4, *p<0.05). Epi, epithelium; St, stroma. Scale bars = 20 µm (C, D, E, F, G, H) and 25 µm (B, I).</p