Electrospun-Reinforced Suturable Biodegradable Artificial Cornea

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Current hydrogels for tissue replacement, like for the cornea, lack mechanical strength and hierarchical structures.
• This limits their suturability and integration into host tissues, hindering effective repair of damaged tissues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer a robust and suturable hydrogel-microfiber composite for tissue regeneration.
• To enhance the mechanical properties and cellular integration of hydrogel scaffolds for potential corneal transplantation.

Main Methods:

• Solution electrospinning of polycaprolactone (PCL) microfibers.
• Protein-based hydrogel perfusion and layer-by-layer stacking to create composite scaffolds.
• Varying PCL fiber diameters and hydrogel concentrations to optimize properties.

Main Results:

• The hydrogel-microfiber composite demonstrated synergistic improvements in mechanical properties (10-fold) and suturability (50-fold) compared to individual components.
• Human corneal cells showed viability, proliferation, and retained phenotypic characteristics on the composite scaffolds.
• Corneal stromal cells successfully migrated into, degraded, and regenerated the extracellular matrix within the scaffold.

Conclusions:

• The developed hydrogel reinforcing system significantly enhances mechanical properties and enables suturability of tissue constructs.
• This approach offers a promising pathway for creating transplantable tissue replacements with tailored mechanical characteristics.
• The composite material supports cell viability, proliferation, and in-situ matrix regeneration, crucial for functional tissue repair.