Dysfunction of the limbal epithelial stem cell niche in aniridia-associated keratopathy

Abnormalities in the limbal niche microenvironment have been suggested to be causally involved in aniridia-associated keratopathy (AAK), but histological analyses on the limbal structure and composition in AAK are lacking. Here, we investigated morphologic and molecular alterations of the limbal epithelial stem cell niche in human congenital aniridia. The blind, buphthalmic and painful left eye of a 16-year old girl with congenital aniridia and...