Sox9 marks limbal stem cells and is required for asymmetric cell fate switch in the corneal epithelium.

A recent preprint abstract discusses the role of the Sox9 gene in regulating the asymmetric fates of limbal stem cells and their progeny in the corneal epithelium. The study utilized an in vivo cell cycle reporter and single-cell transcriptional analysis to identify distinct basal cell identities with unique expression profiles. Sox9 was found to be differentially expressed between limbal stem cells and their progeny, and its conditional deletion led to abnormal differentiation and squamous metaplasia in the central cornea. The findings suggest that Sox9 plays an essential role in the spatial regulation of asymmetric fate in the corneal epithelium, which is necessary for tissue homeostasis. [Extracted from the article]