Synthetic β-amino acid polymer promoting keratocyte adhesion and corneal regeneration

Corneal damage ranks among the leading causes of visual impairment globally. Given the prevalence of corneal diseases and challenges of donor cornea shortages and immune rejection, there is an urgent need to develop alternative materials for corneal repair. Although decellular corneal stroma and hydrogels modified with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins/peptides were extensively used for corneal repair, they face the challenges such as batch to batch variation and easy proteolysis. Aiming to address these challenges, we report that the function stable and synthesis controllable β-amino acid polymer promotes keratocyte adhesion comparable to the cell adhesion gold standard RGD peptide. The optimal polymer (DM_0.6CH_0.4)₈₀ modified hyaluronic acid hydrogels demonstrate remarkable efficacy in promoting keratocyte adhesion and in vivo rabbit corneal repair and obtain regenerated cornea with comparable health status to normal cornea. This synthetic polymer approach opens new avenues for the development of next-generation corneal repair materials.