Silk Fibroin Film as an Efficient Carrier for Corneal Endothelial Cells Regeneration

Tissue engineered corneas are a promising alternative to the limited donor corneas for transplantation. Here, we fabricated a transparent silk fibroin film with varied sericin content - low sericin silk fibroin film (LSS) and high sericin silk fibroin film (HSS) - to evaluate its ability to serve as an efficient carrier for corneal endothelial cells. Both LSS and HSS were prepared from Bombyx mori containing different percentages of sericin -6.25% and 9.83%, respectively. Tissue culture polystyrene was used as a reference substratum. In vitro studies, such as a morphological evaluation, initial attachment, expression of mRNAs and proteins (ZO-1 and Na+/ K+-ATPase), were performed using rabbit primary corneal endothelial cells as models on silk fibroin films. Results showed that the corneal endothelial cells grown on as-fabricated LSS and HSS were well-maintained, indicating no effect of the difference in sericin content in the films. However, the HSS displayed better initial cell attachment due to the adhesive properties of sericin. These results demonstrated that rabbit corneal endothelial cells grew well on a silk substratum although the percentage of sericin showed no significant difference.