Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41590604›Full record

ArticleInvestigative ophthalmology & visual science2026

PAX6 Deficiency Compromises the Ability of Limbal Epithelial Stem Cells to Properly Differentiate Into Mature Corneal Epithelial Cells.

Parisa Foroozandeh, Nihal Kaplan, Xiaolin Qi, Wending Yang, Xiaoping Chen, Sun Kyong Lee, Ziyou Ren, Robert M Lavker, Tsutomu Kume, Han Peng

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Investigative ophthalmology & visual science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Parisa ForoozandehDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Nihal KaplanDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Xiaolin QiDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Wending YangDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Xiaoping ChenDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Sun Kyong LeeDepartment of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Ziyou RenDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Robert M LavkerDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Tsutomu KumeDepartment of Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Han PengDepartment of Dermatology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Funding

Tumor Environment and Metastasis (TEAM) Research ProgramP30CA060553 · NCI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Devalingam Mahalingam · 1993 to 2026
$153.9M
Northwestern University Skin Disease Research Center Resource-based CenterP30AR075049 · NIAMS · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Amy S Paller · 2019 to 2026
$6.6M
The Role of MicroRNAs in Corneal Epithelial HomeostasisR01EY019463 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI LAVKER, ROBERT M · 2010 to 2022
$5.0M
The Roles of Autophagy in Limbal/Corneal Epithelia.R01EY028560 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Han Peng · 2018 to 2026
$3.9M
Novel ocular imaging and molecular analysis of anterior eye segment for glaucomaR01EY034740 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Tsutomu Kume, Hao F Zhang · 2023 to 2026
$2.7M
Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals novel regulatory pathways in maintaining limbal epithelial stem cell homeostasisR01EY032922 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI PENG, HAN · 2021 to 2025
$2.0M
Ocular mustard keratopathy elicits induced autophagy, which is detrimental to the corneaR56EY036320 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI PENG, HAN · 2024 to 2024
$469k
The 10x Chromium System for High-Throughput Single Cell GenomicsS10OD025120 · OD · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI WANG, XINKUN · 2019 to 2019
$79k
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA060553NEI NIH HHS R01 EY019463NEI NIH HHS R01 EY028560NEI NIH HHS R01 EY032922NEI NIH HHS R01 EY034740NEI NIH HHS R56 EY036320NIAMS NIH HHS P30 AR075049NIH HHS S10 OD025120
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: Aniridia, driven by PAX6 mutations, causes aniridia-associated keratopathy (AAK), a progressive condition linked to limbal stem cell deficiency. A major hurdle to developing targeted therapies for AAK is the incomplete understanding of the molecular abnormalities in affected corneas. To address this, we leveraged Pax6± (Pax6 het) mice, a model of AAK, and applied single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to profile the transcriptomic changes at a single-cell resolution. Methods: ScRNA-seq of corneal/limbal tissues of wild type (WT) and Pax6 het mice were conducted. Immunostaining was performed to examine the expression of specific markers for stem cells. Results: ScRNA-seq identified a quiescent limbal epithelial stem cell (LESC)-like cell cluster and an early transient amplifying cell (eTAC)-like cluster. An increase in the cell numbers in these two clusters in the Pax6 het mouse corneas was observed. Immunostaining detected a marked increase in markers for these two clusters including Tmem176b, Apoe, and Krt15 in the corneal epithelium of Pax6 het mice, suggesting an increase of these LESC/eTA-like cells into the corneal epithelium. The Pax6 deficiency inhibited the expression of genes involved in cell proliferation in the eTAC-like cluster as well as the expression of genes related to corneal epithelial cell fate and differentiation compared with WT mice. Conclusions: Our single cell transcriptome of the limbus and cornea of Pax6 het mice indicates that AAK may be due to the increase of dysfunctional stem/eTACs with defects in committing to a corneal epithelial cell fate and differentiation.

Indexed as

AniridiaCell DifferentiationEpithelium, CornealLimbus CorneaePAX6 Transcription FactorAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalLimbal Stem Cell DeficiencyLimbal Stem CellsMiceMice, Inbred C57BLPax6 protein, mousePAX6 Transcription Factor

Identifiers

PMID41590604
PMCPMC12859707

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.