TY - JOUR
T1 - Nanoscale Topographies for Corneal Endothelial Regeneration
AU - Formisano, Nello
AU - Sahin, Gozde
AU - Catala, Pere
AU - Truckenmuller, Roman
AU - Nuijts, Rudy M. M. A.
AU - Dickman, Mor M.
AU - LaPointe, Vanessa L. S.
AU - Giselbrecht, Stefan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors.
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - The corneal endothelium is the innermost layer of the cornea that selectively pumps ions and metabolites and regulates the hydration level of the cornea, ensuring its transparency. Trauma or disease affecting human corneal endothelial cells (hCECs) can result in major imbalances of such transport activity with consequent deterioration or loss of vision. Since tissue transplantation from deceased donors is only available to a fraction of patients worldwide, alternative solutions are urgently needed. Cell therapy approaches, in particular by attempting to expand primary culture of hCECs in vitro, aim to tackle this issue. However, existing cell culture protocols result in limited expansion of this cell type. Recent studies in this field have shown that topographical features with specific dimensions and shapes could improve the efficacy of hCEC expansion. Therefore, potential solutions to overcome the limitation of the conventional culture of hCECs may include recreating nanometer scale topographies (nanotopographies) that mimic essential biophysical cues present in their native environment. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge and understanding of the effect of substrate topographies on the response of hCECs. Moreover, we also review the latest developments for the nanofabrication of such bio-instructive cell substrates.
AB - The corneal endothelium is the innermost layer of the cornea that selectively pumps ions and metabolites and regulates the hydration level of the cornea, ensuring its transparency. Trauma or disease affecting human corneal endothelial cells (hCECs) can result in major imbalances of such transport activity with consequent deterioration or loss of vision. Since tissue transplantation from deceased donors is only available to a fraction of patients worldwide, alternative solutions are urgently needed. Cell therapy approaches, in particular by attempting to expand primary culture of hCECs in vitro, aim to tackle this issue. However, existing cell culture protocols result in limited expansion of this cell type. Recent studies in this field have shown that topographical features with specific dimensions and shapes could improve the efficacy of hCEC expansion. Therefore, potential solutions to overcome the limitation of the conventional culture of hCECs may include recreating nanometer scale topographies (nanotopographies) that mimic essential biophysical cues present in their native environment. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge and understanding of the effect of substrate topographies on the response of hCECs. Moreover, we also review the latest developments for the nanofabrication of such bio-instructive cell substrates.
KW - substrate topography
KW - corneal endothelial cells
KW - nanofabrication
KW - cornea
KW - corneal cell culture
KW - topography
KW - regenerative medicine
KW - advanced cell culture substrates
U2 - 10.3390/app11020827
DO - 10.3390/app11020827
M3 - (Systematic) Review article
SN - 2076-3417
VL - 11
JO - Applied Sciences
JF - Applied Sciences
IS - 2
M1 - 827
ER -