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Cell-based approaches advancing to meet challenges of corneal regeneration
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LOS ANGELES — Tissue engineering-based therapy holds great promise for the future of corneal regeneration and reconstruction.
“Replacing live with live” is the goal, Damien Harkin, MD, said at Cornea Subspecialty Day preceding the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting.
Damien Harkin
Attempts have been made but have not yet fully met the complex challenges of engineering a tissue that is fully biocompatible and retains the strength, transparency and refractive power of the human cornea. The high costs are also an issue. However, the interest of the ophthalmology community is strong and all current transplantation techniques seem to be naturally evolving toward cell-based approaches, Harkin said.
“Historically, we had this goal to recreate with living cells all three layers of the cornea. Now the approach is very much following the trend in corneal transplantation and is to replicate individual layers,” he said.
Looking to the future, the “remarkable success” obtained in Japan with epithelial cell transplantation needs to have wider application in other centers to gain confidence, according to Harkin.
Further investigation into the specific interactions of stromal cells with both epithelium and endothelium is needed, as is research into opportunities to optimize induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation, he said. – by Michela Cimberle
Reference:
Harkin D. Bioengineered corneas. Presented at: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting; May 5-9, 2017; Los Angeles.
Disclosure: Harkin reports no relevant financial interests.