In some embodiments, the present invention provides tissue compositions including a first silk scaffold comprising a plurality of epithelial cells, a second silk scaffold comprising a plurality of stromal cells, and a plurality of neurons. In some embodiments, provided compositions can function as physiologically relevant corneal model systems for, inter alia, testing of therapeutics for corneal disease and/or injury and production of functional corneal tissue (e.g., for transplant, etc). The present invention also provides methods for making and using provided compositions.

A composition including adult pluripotent olfactory stem cells is provided. The adult pluripotent olfactory stem cells are obtained by culturing a cell mixture from an olfactory tissue of a mammal in media containing growth factors and then isolating cells which express B-lymphoma moloney murine leukemia virus insertion region-1 (Bmi-1).

The present invention relates to the treatment of sensory neuropathy induced by a marine neurotoxic poisoning. The invention further encompasses an in vitro method for producing a neuro-cutaneous model allowing to study the cellular and/or molecular mechanisms involved in said neuropathy, a neuro-cutaneous model obtainable according to said method, and applications thereof.