Tissue Engineering of the Corneal Endothelium: A Review of Carrier Materials

Journal of Functional Biomaterials

Juliane Teichmann³  Monika Valtink²  Mirko Nitschke³  Stefan Gramm³  Richard H.W. Funk²  Katrin Engelmann¹ 

[1] CRTD/DFG-Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden—Cluster of Excellence, Fetscherstraße 105, Dresden 01307, Germany;Institute of Anatomy, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstraße 74, Dresden 01307, Germany; E-Mail:;Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Max Bergmann Center of Biomaterials, Institute of Biofunctional Polymer Materials, Hohe Straße 6, Dresden 01069, Germany; E-Mails:

关键词: tissue engineering;    corneal endothelium;    corneal endothelial cell sheets;    natural membranes;    biological polymers;    thermo-responsive polymers;    physicochemical properties;    biomolecular functionalization;   

DOI  :  10.3390/jfb4040178

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Functional impairment of the human corneal endothelium can lead to corneal blindness. In order to meet the high demand for transplants with an appropriate human corneal endothelial cell density as a prerequisite for corneal function, several tissue engineering techniques have been developed to generate transplantable endothelial cell sheets. These approaches range from the use of natural membranes, biological polymers and biosynthetic material compositions, to completely synthetic materials as matrices for corneal endothelial cell sheet generation. This review gives an overview about currently used materials for the generation of transplantable corneal endothelial cell sheets with a special focus on thermo-responsive polymer coatings.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.