Issue 10, 2022

Tissue engineered scaffolds for corneal endothelial regeneration: a material's perspective

Abstract

Currently, the treatment of corneal diseases caused by damage to the corneal endothelium requires a donor cornea. Because of their limited availability (1 donor cornea for 70 patients in need), researchers are investigating alternative approaches that are independent of donor tissue. One of them includes the development of a tissue engineered scaffold onto which corneal endothelial cells are seeded. In order to function as a suitable substrate, some of its essential properties including thickness, permeability, transparency and mechanical strength should meet certain demands. Additionally, the membrane should be biocompatible and allow the formation of a functional endothelium on the surface. Many materials have already been investigated in this regard including natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic polymers. In the current review, we present an overview of their characteristics and provide a critical view on the methods exploited for material characterization. Next, also the suitability of scaffolds to serve their purpose is discussed along with an overview of natural tissues (e.g. amniotic membrane and lens capsule) previously investigated for this application. Eventually, we propose a consistent approach to be exploited ideally for membrane characterization in future research. This will allow a scientifically sound comparison of materials and membranes investigated by different research groups, hence benefitting research towards the creation of a suitable/optimal tissue engineered endothelial graft.

Graphical abstract: Tissue engineered scaffolds for corneal endothelial regeneration: a material's perspective

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
31 dec 2021
Accepted
18 mar 2022
First published
21 mar 2022

Biomater. Sci., 2022,10, 2440-2461

Tissue engineered scaffolds for corneal endothelial regeneration: a material's perspective

J. Delaey, L. De Vos, C. Koppen, P. Dubruel, S. Van Vlierberghe and B. Van den Bogerd, Biomater. Sci., 2022, 10, 2440 DOI: 10.1039/D1BM02023D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements