a large population of epithelial stem cells (EpSC). These cord lining EpSC exhibit classical pluripotent stem cell markers such as SSEA-4, Oct-4, SOX2 and Nanog. They also express p63, a specific marker of epithelial progenitor cells. In-vitro organotypic culture of cord lining EpSC using the air-liquid interface method resulted in stratified epithelium being formed with expression of various forms of cytokeratins. Furthermore, due to their similarity in terms of phenotypic expression of keratins compared to normal human epidermal keratinocytes, cord lining EpSC have the potential to be an alternative source of cells for skin repair and regeneration. Animal studies on cord lining EpSC have shown that genetic modifications using the proinsulin gene allowed transplanted stem cells to lower blood glucose levels in diabetic animals. These cells also express HLA-G in the transmembrane and soluble form, aiding in their immunosuppressive behavior. In vitro studies also indicated that cord lining EpSC can be differentiated biochemically to become hepatocyte-like cells (liver cells) as shown by the expression of hepatic-specific markers such as â-fetoprotein, albumin and hepatocyte-specific cytokeratins. Cord lining EpSC show similarities to limbal stem cells in terms of expression of ABCG2, HES1 and BMI1 in addition to p63. When transplanted onto rabbit eyes with corneal defects on a human amniotic membrane scaffold, these stem cells could reconstitute the natural morphology of the corneal epithelium similar to that of a natural corneal surface. The stem cells included a unique mucin-expressing cord lining epithelial stem cell (CLEC-muc) expressing (MUC1). Such results were not seen when human amniotic membrane was used without the cells indicating the therapeutic value of the cord lining EpSC. References Stem cells Vertebrate developmental biology Embryology