Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods of loading therapeutic agents into corneal tissues, corneal tissues including therapeutic agents, and surgical methods including keratoplasties in which corneal tissues having one or more therapeutic agents loaded therein are transplanted into a patient.

Abstract: The present invention relates to the discovery of a method of enzymatically, consistently and reproducibly, isolating a viable, intact limbal epithelial sheet that retains stem cell characteristics in the basal epithelium. The method comprises the steps of: a) obtaining limbus from a biopsy of a donor eye of a living individual, a living-related individual, or from a cadaveric eye, the limbus comprising limbal epithelium and an underlying stroma; b) contacting the limbus with a solution comprising Dispase 2, for a period of time and under conditions sufficient to loosen a limbal epithelial sheet from the stroma, thereby forming a loosely adherent limbal epithelial sheet; and c) mechanically separating the loose epithelial sheet from the underlying stroma, thereby isolating a substantially intact, viable, limbal epithelial sheet.