We have shown in pre-clinical study that self-assembling collagen–like peptide PEG conjugate (CLP-PEG) successfully mimicked the function of full-length recombinant human collagen as corneal implants, promoting stable regeneration of several cell types in appropriate configurations. All regenerated neo-corneas were optically transparent and early results suggest they allowed restoration of morphological features approximating those of natural corneas, suggesting their future applicability for clinical grafting.
Fig. 1. Post-surgical corneal regeneration at 12 months after CLP-PEG implantation. (a) Optically clear CLP-PEG implant (arrowed) stably integrated within the pig cornea, compared to its healthy, unoperated contralateral cornea (b). Blood vessels are seen in the implanted cornea but stop at the margin of the implant. (c) H&E staining of a representative regenerated CLP-PEG neo-cornea compared to a healthy control cornea (d), showing similar morphology. e, epithelium; s, stroma; i, implant. Scale bars, 50μm (e) In vivo confocal microscopy shows the regenerated nerve (arrows) in CLP-PEG cornea, that follow a parallel pattern similar to that of the unoperated cornea (f).
Reference:
Islam, M., Ravichandran, R., Olsen, D., Ljunggren, M. K., Fagerholm, P., Lee, C.J., Griffith, M., Phopase, J.
RSC Adv., 2016, Accepted Manuscript. DOI: 10.1039/C6RA08895C
