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Cyclodextrin Modulated Type I Collagen Self-Assembly to Engineer Biomimetic Cornea Implants.
Shoumyo Majumdar1, Xiaokun Wang1, Sven D Sommerfeld1
1Translational Tissue Engineering Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.
Advanced Functional Materials
|September 17, 2021
Summary
Cyclodextrins (CDs) regulate collagen self-assembly, creating robust, transparent biosynthetic corneal materials. These engineered implants integrate into rabbit corneas, showing potential for tissue reconstruction.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Ophthalmology
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Corneal extracellular matrix (ECM) ultrastructure is crucial for optical transparency and mechanical strength.
- Small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) regulate corneal collagen fibril organization during development.
- Mimicking native cornea structure requires precise control over collagen assembly.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cyclodextrins (CDs) for regulating collagen assembly in biosynthetic materials.
- To engineer corneal substitutes with native-like structural and optical properties.
- To evaluate the in vivo performance of CD-modified collagen implants for corneal reconstruction.
Main Methods:
- Screening of various cyclodextrins (CDs) for their ability to regulate collagen assembly during vitrification.
- Characterization of self-assembled collagen-vitrigel materials with beta-cyclodextrin (βCD).
- Engineering of custom molds for fabricating corneal implants and in vivo implantation in a rabbit partial keratoplasty model.
Main Results:
- Addition of βCD to collagen vitrigels yielded materials with aligned fibers and lamellae, mimicking native cornea.
- βCD interacted with hydrophobic amino acids in collagen, influencing fibril organization and resulting in mechanically robust and transparent materials.
- Acellular βCD/Coll implants demonstrated successful tissue integration and supported re-epithelialization in a rabbit model.
Conclusions:
- Cyclodextrin molecules effectively regulate collagen self-assembly for creating advanced corneal mimetic substitutes.
- The process offers a simple method for engineering biosynthetic materials with improved structural and functional properties.
- CD-modified collagen implants show promise for corneal reconstruction applications.
