title: Silk film biomaterials for cornea tissue engineering.
abstract: Biomaterials for corneal tissue engineering must demonstrate several critical features for potential utility in vivo, including transparency, mechanical integrity, biocompatibility and slow biodegradation. Silk film biomaterials were designed and characterized to meet these functional requirements. Silk protein films were used in a biomimetic approach to replicate corneal stromal tissue architecture. The films were 2 microm thick to emulate corneal collagen lamellae dimensions, and were surface patterned to guide cell alignment. To enhance trans-lamellar diffusion of nutrients and to promote cell-cell interaction, pores with 0.5-5.0 microm diameters were introduced into the silk films. Human and rabbit corneal fibroblast proliferation, alignment and corneal extracellular matrix expression on these films in both 2D and 3D cultures were demonstrated. The mechanical properties, optical clarity and surface patterned features of these films, combined with their ability to support corneal cell functions suggest that this new biomaterial system offers important potential benefits for corneal tissue regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, 4 Colby St., Medford, MA 02155, USA.
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Jeffrey K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Marchant
authors.forename: Mariya A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pindrus
authors.forename: Fiorenzo G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Omenetto
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Kaplan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D011817:Rabbits; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013499:Surface Properties; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D047011:Silk; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins