Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 32, Issue 22, Pages 5086-5091Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2011.03.068
Keywords
Cornea; Epithelium; Silk; Fibroin; Transplantation
Funding
- National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia
- Discipline of Medical Sciences (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia)
- Prevent Blindness Foundation, Queensland, Australia
- ANZ Trust
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Membranes prepared from a protein, fibroin, isolated from domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori) silk, support the cultivation of human limbal epithelial (FILE) cells and thus display significant potential as biomaterials for ocular surface reconstruction. We presently extend this promising avenue of research by directly comparing the attachment, morphology and phenotype of primary FILE cell cultures grown on fibroin to that observed on donor amniotic membrane (AM), the current clinical standard substrate for HLE transplantation. Fibroin membranes measuring 6.3 +/- 0.5 mu m (mean +/- sd) in thickness and permeable to FITC dextran of a molecular weight up to 70 kDa, were used. Attachment of HLE cells to fibroin was similar to that supported by tissue culture plastic but approximately 6-fold less than that observed on AM. Nevertheless, epithelia constructed from HLE on fibroin maintained evidence of corneal phenotype (K3/K12 expression) and displayed a comparable number and distribution of Delta Np63(+) progenitor cells to that seen in cultures grown on AM. These results support the suitability of membranes constructed from Bombyx mori silk fibroin as substrata for HLE cultivation and encourage progression to studies of efficacy in preclinical models. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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