{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,12]],"date-time":"2026-07-12T05:01:55Z","timestamp":1783832515603,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,1]],"date-time":"2021-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1622505600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Universidad nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, DGAPA-PAPIIT","award":["IN203920"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IN203920"]}]},{"name":"Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, DGAPA-PAPIIT:","award":["IN203821"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IN203821"]}]},{"name":"Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog\u00eda","award":["0311"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["0311"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Human oral mucosa stem cells (hOMSCs) arise from the neural crest, they can self-renew, proliferate, and differentiate to several cell lines and could represent a good source for application in tissue engineering. Because of their anatomical location, hOMSCs are easy to isolate, have multilineage differentiation capacity and express embryonic stem cells markers such as\u2014Sox2, Oct3\/4 and Nanog. We have used SHEM (supplemented hormonal epithelial medium) media and cultured hOMSCs over human amniotic membrane and determined the cell\u2019s capacity to differentiate to an epithelial-like phenotype and to express corneal specific epithelial markers\u2014CK3, CK12, CK19, Pan-cadherin and E-cadherin. Our results showed that hOMSCs possess the capacity to attach to the amniotic membrane and express CK3, CK19, Pan-Cadherin and E-Cadherin without induction with SHEM media and expressed CK12 or changed the expression pattern of E-Cadherin to a punctual-like feature when treated with SHEM media. The results observed in this study show that hOMSCs possess the potential to differentiate toward epithelial cells. In conclusion, our results revealed that hOMSCs readily express markers for corneal determination and could provide the ophthalmology field with a therapeutic alternative for tissue engineering to achieve corneal replacement when compared with other techniques. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to develop a predictable therapeutic alternative for cornea replacement.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms22115976","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,1]],"date-time":"2021-06-01T15:58:44Z","timestamp":1622563124000},"page":"5976","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Can Human Oral Mucosa Stem Cells Differentiate to Corneal Epithelia?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8447-6425","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sonia","family":"L\u00f3pez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Biolog\u00eda Periodontal, Facultad de Odontolog\u00eda, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, CDMX 04510, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8284-0745","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"L\u00eda","family":"Hoz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Biolog\u00eda Periodontal, Facultad de Odontolog\u00eda, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, CDMX 04510, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4725-2286","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eda Patricia","family":"Tenorio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, CDMX 04510, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4529-990X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Beatriz","family":"Buentello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Oftalmolog\u00eda Conde de Valenciana, CDMX 06800, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1535-9898","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"F\u00e1tima Sof\u00eda","family":"Maga\u00f1a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Oftalmolog\u00eda Conde de Valenciana, CDMX 06800, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ana","family":"Wintergerst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Biolog\u00eda Periodontal, Facultad de Odontolog\u00eda, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, CDMX 04510, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9417-5711","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alejandro","family":"Navas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Oftalmolog\u00eda Conde de Valenciana, CDMX 06800, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yonathan","family":"Garfias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bioqu\u00edmica, Facultad de Medicina, UNAM, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, CDMX 04510, Mexico"},{"name":"Instituto de Oftalmolog\u00eda Conde de Valenciana, CDMX 06800, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3735-4924","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Higinio","family":"Arzate","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratorio de Biolog\u00eda Periodontal, Facultad de Odontolog\u00eda, Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de M\u00e9xico, CDMX 04510, Mexico"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"29","DOI":"10.1016\/j.blre.2004.03.001","article-title":"Stem cell plasticity","volume":"19","author":"Lakshmipathy","year":"2005","journal-title":"Blood Rev."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1080\/14653240600855905","article-title":"Minimal criteria for defining multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells. 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