The project “Development and implementation of the oral epithelial cell culture technique (COMET) for the treatment of patients with bilateral limbal stem cell deficiency”, led by Servicios Médicos Luis Pasteur S.A. with the participation of researchers from the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA) and Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), was awarded funding by CORFO through its Crea y Valida.
instrument. The initiative seeks to establish in Chile scientific and technical capabilities for the culture and transplantation of corneal limbal stem cells, responsible for regenerating the surface of the eye and restoring vision in patients affected by a devastating cause of blindness: stem cell deficiency (totipotent or pluripotent cells), a little-known condition that causes a progressive loss of corneal transparency, with pain, photophobia and blindness.
It is estimated that between 15% and 20% of corneal blindness worldwide is due to this cause, mainly affecting young and working-age people. In Chile, specialists estimate that at least 6,000 people live with this problem without access to regenerative therapies, as the only treatment available so far is palliative.
The main causes include chemical burns —which account for up to 17% of eye injuries in the country—, autoimmune diseases such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and congenital conditions such as aniridia, a rare eye disease characterized by the partial or total absence of the iris. Its impact is not only clinical: the WHO estimates that blindness generates losses of USD 411 billion a year globally due to reduced productivity and quality of life.
Contribution to national science
To address this gap, doctors Osvaldo Berger (USACH) and Patricia Díaz (CEDENNA) are working on a solution unprecedented in Chile: growing corneal limbal cells in the laboratory and then implanting them in affected patients.
The initiative caught the attention of the “Crea y Valida” on CORFOprogram, designed to support Chilean companies in developing and validating technological and innovative solutions with a focus on research and development (R&D), supporting projects from the prototype phase to technical and commercial validation.
Regarding the CEDENNA–USACH initiative, the researchers explain that they are working on a project in which they grow corneal limbal cells, a specific area of the cornea responsible for maintaining transparency for proper vision.
“These cells are lost in different situations, such as trauma or burns, and the body is unable to regenerate them on its own. So in the laboratory we grow and multiply them so that we can later implant them in patients who have a deficit of these cells,” explains ophthalmologist Osvaldo Berger.
Doctor Patricia Díaz, researcher in charge of CEDENNA’s Nanobiomedicine Laboratory, explains: “With Dr. Berger we are standardizing cultures of corneal limbal cells. These cells make it possible to regenerate the cornea, and what we do is isolate them, select growth factors that optimize their proliferation and, in this way, generate samples that can be used for transplants in patients”.
The project is in an early standardization phase, and it is expected that next year it will be possible to move on to clinical application. “Once we have well-differentiated samples, we will be able to start applying them immediately. Many patients have been waiting for this alternative for years,” adds Dr. Berger.
An innovation with public health impact
In countries such as Japan, India and Italy, similar techniques —such as COMET, based on the culture of autologous oral mucosal epithelial cells— have shown clinical success rates above 70%, allowing vision to be recovered without the need for prolonged immunosuppression. However, in Chile there is still no laboratory offering this type of treatment.
The CEDENNA–USACH initiative seeks precisely to establish this local capacity, generating standardized protocols and trained staff that make it possible to offer an effective alternative to those who today only have palliative measures.
If achieved, it would be a historic advance in ocular regenerative medicine in Chile, with direct benefits in social inclusion, quality of life and patient productivity.
This work is carried out in collaboration with the Fundación Córnea Chile and Clínica Pasteur, from which the culture cells are obtained and which also acts as a training center for postgraduate residents. This joint work between institutions is what CORFO recognized when selecting them for co-funding.
“Joint work between physicians and research centers is essential. Many of us physicians are in the clinical field and do not always know the possibilities offered by a center like CEDENNA and initiatives like ‘Crea y Valida’. This combination of factors allows us to move towards better health in Chile,” concludes Dr. Berger.
