[Research progress on corneal organoids].

ABSTRACT

Corneal organoids are cornea-like tissue structures that are developed from induced pluripotent stem cells or embryonic stem cells in vitro. They have similar anatomical characteristics and gene expression profiles to the human cornea. Although the culture of corneal organoids is difficult, expensive, and time-consuming, they can be tailored to reconstruct the physiological environment and the interaction between corneal cells in each layer, which suggests broad application prospects. In this article, we review the latest research progress and summarize the application of corneal organoids in the research of corneal development mechanisms, keratopathy pathogenesis, donor corneal transplantation, and corneal organoids-on-a-chip, in order to provide reference for further clinical corneal research concerning keratopathy models, drug screening, and personalized medicine.