Therefore immune-matched autologous cell resources have considerable advantages. Autologous somatic cells can be genetically reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells, an embryonic stem cell-like state, and then differentiate into all three germ layer cells, including a retinal lineage with the production of photoreceptors and RPE cells. These iPSCs derived cells have been transplanted into animal models of retinal degeneration and have shown promising results. Whilst using this differentiation method, risk of tumour formation remains due to contamination with undifferentiated cells. Recently, a new 3D culture method has successfully produced a larger number of “integrationcompetent” photoreceptor cells from ESCs. The process of differentiation recapitulates the in vivo development of the opticcup. This 3D culture protocol is also based on Matrigel, a solubilised basement membrane derived from murine sarcomas. It contains undefined xenogenic growth factors, which prevents the protocol from production of clinical grade transplantable retinal cells. Hence, potential adverse effects still need to be carefully addressed prior to iPSCs based cell therapy. Adult stem/progenitor cells are an attractive alternative autologous cell resource. Studies have shown the plasticity of these cell types. They can be induced to transdifferentiate toward lineages other than that of their origin. Certain cell types can also de-differentiate into multipotent progenitor cells that give rise to cells that express retinal specific markers. This includes ciliary body epithelium and retinal Mu¨ller glial cells, although their potential remains controversial. In addition, routine safe and practical surgical techniques do not exist to harvest them. Therefore they are unlikely to be a practical autologous cell resource in the immediate future. In contrast, the corneal limbus is a readily accessible area, where the superficial layers are amenable to tissue harvesting. Several groups have reported generation of neural colonies from cornea/limbus by neurosphere assay. This utilises a well-defined suspension culture system, thus it is more appropriate for the derivation of cells for clinical application. Zhao et al. showed the rat limbal cell cultured as neurospheres expressed photoreceptor specific markers following co-culture with neonatal retinal cells. The co-culture condition provides a photoreceptor promoting microenvironment. However, it remains unknown whether LNS from other species, particularly from humans and mice, can give rise to retinal like cells. Their ability to generate photoreceptor like cells in vivo and to integrate into host retina is yet to be proven. In addition, the number of adult stem/progenitor cells KRX-0401 normally decreases with age. It is thus important to investigate whether LNS can be cultured from aged human eyes and used as an autologous cell resource in age related diseases. Here, we investigate LNS derived from mice and humans to extend the knowledge of limbal cells to other species. We have previously conducted a comprehensive characterization of mouse LNS regarding their self-renewal capacity.