{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T21:45:33Z","timestamp":1790286333947,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,30]],"date-time":"2024-07-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1722297600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,10,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>The narrow intersection between the cornea and conjunctiva, otherwise known as the limbus, is purported to harbor stem cells (SCs) that replenish the ocular surface epithelium throughout life. Damage to this site or depletion of its SCs can have dire consequences for eye health and vision. To date, various SC and keratin proteins have been used to identify the limbus, however, none could definitively mark its boundaries. Herein, we use the mouse as a model system to investigate whether structural and phenotypic features can be used to define the limbus and its boundaries with adjacent tissues. We demonstrate that differentially aligned blood and lymphatic vessels, intraepithelial nerves, and basal epithelial cellular and nuclei dimensions can be used as structural landmarks of the limbus. Identification of these features enabled approximation of the limbal expanse, which varied across distinct ocular surface quadrants, with the superior nasal and inferior temporal limbus being the widest and narrowest, respectively. Moreover, label-retaining SCs were unevenly distributed across the ocular circumference, with increased numbers in the superior temporal and inferior temporal moieties. These findings will heighten our current understanding of the SC niche, be beneficial for accurately predicting SC distribution to improve their isolation and devising efficacious cell therapies, and importantly, aid the ongoing search for novel SC markers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/stcltm\/szae055","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,30]],"date-time":"2024-07-30T20:00:44Z","timestamp":1722369644000},"page":"1015-1027","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["A detailed survey of the murine limbus, its stem cell distribution, and its boundaries with the cornea and conjunctiva"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-0239-3271","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lamia","family":"Nureen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of New South Wales School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, , Sydney, NSW 2052 ,","place":["Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joanna","family":"Biazik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of New South Wales Electron Microscope Unit, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, , Sydney, NSW 2052,","place":["Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"Carnell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of New South Wales Katharina Gaus Light Microscopy Facility, Mark Wainwright Analytical Centre, , Sydney, NSW 2052 ,","place":["Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nick","family":"Di Girolamo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of New South Wales School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, , Sydney, NSW 2052 ,","place":["Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"322","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jtos.2021.05.011","article-title":"The conjunctival extracellular matrix, related disorders and development of substrates for conjunctival restoration","volume":"28","author":"Makuloluwa","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ocul Surf"},{"key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1038\/eye.1989.16","article-title":"The anatomy of the limbus","volume":"3 ( Pt 2)","author":"Van Buskirk","year":"1989","journal-title":"Eye (Lond)"},{"issue":"101148","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101148","DOI":"10.1016\/j.preteyeres.2022.101148","article-title":"Cell identity changes in ocular surface Epithelia","volume":"95","author":"Di Girolamo","year":"2023","journal-title":"Prog Retin Eye Res"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1016\/S1542-0124(12)70119-2","article-title":"The corneal epithelial stem cell niche","volume":"3","author":"Stepp","year":"2005","journal-title":"Ocul Surf"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.1083\/jcb.103.1.49","article-title":"Differentiation-related expression of a major 64K corneal keratin in vivo and in culture suggests limbal location of corneal epithelial stem cells","volume":"103","author":"Schermer","year":"1986","journal-title":"J Cell Biol"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"769","DOI":"10.1083\/jcb.145.4.769","article-title":"Location and clonal analysis of stem cells and their differentiated progeny in the human ocular surface","volume":"145","author":"Pellegrini","year":"1999","journal-title":"J Cell Biol"},{"issue":"5286","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"560","DOI":"10.1038\/229560a0","article-title":"Role of the pericorneal papillary structure in renewal of corneal epithelium","volume":"229","author":"Davanger","year":"1971","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"364","DOI":"10.1097\/ICO.0000000000001820","article-title":"Global consensus on definition, classification, diagnosis, and staging of limbal stem cell deficiency","volume":"38","author":"Deng","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cornea"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa0905955","article-title":"Limbal stem-cell therapy and long-term corneal regeneration","volume":"363","author":"Rama","year":"2010","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024101011121290900_CIT0010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.1016\/S1542-0124(12)70072-1","article-title":"Ex vivo cultured limbal epithelial transplantation. 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