Three-Dimensional Construction of a Rabbit Anterior Corneal Replacement for Lamellar Keratoplasty

PLoS One. 2016 Dec 8;11(12):e0168084. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168084. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to construct a rabbit anterior corneal replacement for transplantation using acellular porcine corneal matrix (APCM) and rabbit epithelial or stromal cells. APCM was prepared from fresh porcine cornea treated with 0.5% (wt./vol.) sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution. The expanded stromal cells were first injected into APCM parallel to its surface and were cultured in a shaking culture system for 7 days to obtain the stromal construct. Next, corneal epithelial cells were cultured on the stromal construct surface for another 7 days to obtain rabbit anterior corneal lamella. The construct had a phenotype similar to that of normal cornea, with high expression of cytokeratin 3 in the epithelial cell layer and vimentin in the stromal cells. More importantly, the construct integrated well with the implanted host corneal tissue, and the implant cornea maintained transparency in the 6-month follow-up, although there was a slight haze in the central corneal area. The endothelium in the surgery cornea had a similar cell density and mosaic pattern with normal cornea as shown by confocal laser corneal microscopy, and the regenerated corneal epithelial cells on the implant surface showed a similar morphology to that of natural epithelial cells. These results demonstrate that the constructed anterior corneal replacement exhibits an excellent biological property for lamellar keratoplasty and might be a possible alternative to human corneal tissue in the future.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Corneal Stroma / cytology
  • Corneal Transplantation / methods*
  • Epithelium, Corneal / cytology
  • Rabbits
  • Swine
  • Tissue Engineering / methods

Grants and funding

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81271716; No.81400377; http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/) and Key research and development program of Shandong Province (No. 2015GSF118018; http://www.sdstc.gov.cn/). The corresponding author XYW received funding of No.81271716 and No. 2015GSF118018. The first author KPP received funding of No.81400377. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.