Corneal Epithelium Tissue Engineering: Recent Advances in Regeneration and Replacement of Corneal Surface

Abstract

Currently, many corneal diseases are treated by corneal transplantation, artificial corneal implantation or, in severe cases, keratoprosthesis. Owing to the shortage of cornea donors and the risks involved with artificial corneal implants, such as infection transmission, researchers continually seek new approaches for corneal regeneration. Corneal tissue engineering is a promising approach that has attracted much attention from researchers and is focused on regenerative strategies using various biomaterials in combination with different cell types. These constructs should have the ability to mimic the native tissue microenvironment and present suitable optical, mechanical and biological properties. In this article, we review studies that have focused on the current clinical techniques for corneal replacement. We also describe tissue-engineering and cell-based approaches for corneal regeneration.

Characterization of Macroporous Polycaprolactone/Silk Fibroin/Gelatin/Ascorbic Acid Composite Scaffolds and In Vivo Results in a Rabbit Model for Meniscus Cartilage Repair

“…The current study assumes that the mixture of gelatin and silk with AA and PCL provides a better biomaterial with appropriate mechanical strength, flexibility, water absorption, biocompatibility, and biological interactions. Among all cell sources, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), because of their capability of differentiation to different mesenchymal lineages, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory features [28][29][30][31][32][33][34] are of particular interest. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) obtained from the infrapatellar fat pad of the knee can differentiate into chondrocytes and produce proteoglycans and type II collagen.…”

Dental-derived stem cells and biowaste biomaterials: What’s next in bone regenerative medicine applications

“…The term "tissue engineering" identifies tissue regeneration procedures of the human organism through the seeding of cells on structures (scaffolds) made up of specific materials and with peculiar characteristics, their cultivation in special reactors (bioreactors) until the colonization of the same scaffold, and to the neo-formation of a bioengineered tissue (Bettini et al, 2020;Cantore et al, 2018;Nosrati et al, 2020). The recent trend is the scaffolds creation for the in vitro genesis of bio-tissues (Wang et al, 2020); in this case, bioabsorbable polymeric materials used in 3D printers are employed, generally with fused deposition modeling (FDM) techniques (filament extrusion) or with bioprinting (nozzles that spray small amounts of liquid material).…”

Is the Conjunctiva a Potential Target for Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products?

“…Regenerative medicines for eye tissues focused on tissue engineering techniques have been developed and established as a new clinical field with enormous potential. In particular, the regeneration of ocular surface tissues such as the cornea or the limbus has greatly benefited from diverse tissue engineering developments (for a recent review, see [ 72 , 73 ]). Regarding human conjunctival tissue regeneration, some examples have been described in preclinical studies, but most of them have not yet been investigated in clinical studies.…”