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The avascular cornea transitions into the vascularized conjunctiva at the limbus. Here, we explore a limbal stromal cell sub-population that expresses ABCB5 and has mesenchymal stem cell characteristics. Human primary corneal stromal cells were enriched for ABCB5 by using FACS sorting. ABCB5+ cells expressed the MSC markers CD90, CD73, and CD105. ABCB5+ but not ABCB5\u2212 cells from the same donor displayed evidence of pluripotency with a significantly higher colony-forming efficiency and the ability of trilineage differentiation (osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic). The ABCB5+ cell secretome demonstrated lower levels of the pro-inflammatory protein MIF (macrophage migration inhibitory factor) as well as of the pro-(lymph)angiogenic growth factors VEGFA and VEGFC, which correlated with reduced proliferation of Jurkat cells co-cultured with ABCB5+ cells and decreased proliferation of blood and lymphatic endothelial cells cultured in ABCB5+ cell-conditioned media. These data support the hypothesis that ABCB5+ limbal stromal cells are a putative MSC population with potential anti-inflammatory and anti-(lymph)angiogenic effects. The therapeutic modulation of ABCB5+ limbal stromal cells may prevent cornea neovascularization and inflammation and, if transplanted to other sites in the body, provide similar protective properties to other tissues.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25179702","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T05:59:08Z","timestamp":1725861548000},"page":"9702","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-(Lymph)angiogenic Properties of an ABCB5+ Limbal Mesenchymal Stem Cell Population"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-3646-3823","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Berbang","family":"Meshko","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3519-1359","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas L. A.","family":"Volatier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-7380-0916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Johanna","family":"Mann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0764-4645","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mark A.","family":"Kluth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"RHEACELL GmbH & Co. KG, Im Neuenheimer Feld 517, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christoph","family":"Ganss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"RHEACELL GmbH & Co. KG, Im Neuenheimer Feld 517, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1312-0488","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Markus H.","family":"Frank","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Transplant Research Program, Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA"},{"name":"Harvard Skin Disease Research Center, Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA"},{"name":"Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA"},{"name":"School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA 6027, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Natasha Y.","family":"Frank","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02132, USA"},{"name":"Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bruce R.","family":"Ksander","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Boston, MA 02114, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1958-411X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claus","family":"Cursiefen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"},{"name":"Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"},{"name":"Cluster of Excellence Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD) Research Center, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 26, 50931 Cologne, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Notara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"},{"name":"Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany"},{"name":"Cluster of Excellence Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD) Research Center, Joseph-Stelzmann-Str. 26, 50931 Cologne, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"188","DOI":"10.1016\/j.exer.2009.09.023","article-title":"In sickness and in health: Corneal epithelial stem cell biology, pathology and therapy","volume":"90","author":"Notara","year":"2010","journal-title":"Exp. 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