Abstract
Acellular corneal stroma matrix has been used for corneal stroma engineering. However, because of its compact tissue structure, regrowth of keratocytes into the scaffold is difficult. Previously, we developed a sandwich model for cartilage engineering using acellular cartilage sheets. In the present study, we tested this model for corneal stroma regeneration using acellular porcine corneal stroma (APCS) sheets and keratocytes. Porcine corneas were decellularized by NaCl treatment, and the APCS was cut into 20-μm-thick sheets. A rabbit corneal stroma defect model was created by lamellar keratoplasty and repaired by transplantation of five pieces of APCS sheets with keratocytes. Six months after transplantation, transparent corneas were present in the experimental group, which were confirmed by anterior segment optical coherence tomography examination and transmittance examination. The biomechanical properties in the experimental group were similar to those of normal cornea. Histological analyses showed an even distribution of keratocytes and well-oriented matrix in the stroma layer in the experimental group. Together, these results demonstrated that the sandwich model using acellular corneal stroma sheets and keratocytes could be potentially useful for corneal stroma regeneration.
Highlights
Corneal dysfunction due to injury or infection often leads to vision impairment and a poor quality of life, and is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide [1, 2]
Porcine eyes were collected within 3 h postmortem (Fig 2A)
After several washes and air drying at room temperature, the transparent acellular porcine corneal stroma (APCS) scaffolds were ready for use (Fig 2E and 2F)
Summary
Corneal dysfunction due to injury or infection often leads to vision impairment and a poor quality of life, and is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide [1, 2]. The usual treatment for corneal blindness is keratoplasty [3]. The whole cornea, including the epithelial layer, stromal layer, and endothelial layer, is replaced. Lamellar keratoplasty, in which only the diseased layer is replaced without removing the whole cornea, has been developed [4, 5]. The poor availability of donor corneas restricts the wide application of this technique [6,7,8]. Several attempts have been made to regenerate
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