title: Human corneal endothelial cell sheets for transplantation: thermo-responsive cell culture carriers to meet cell-specific requirements.
abstract: Corneal endothelial diseases lead to severe vision impairment, motivating the transplantation of donor corneae or corneal endothelial lamellae, which is, however, impeded by endothelial cell loss during processing. Therefore, one prioritized aim in corneal tissue engineering is the generation of transplantable human corneal endothelial cell (HCEC) layers. Thermo-responsive cell culture carriers are widely used for non-enzymatic harvest of cell sheets. The current study presents a novel thermo-responsive carrier based on simultaneous electron beam immobilization and cross-linking of poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) on polymeric surfaces, which allows one to adjust layer thickness, stiffness, switching amplitude and functionalization with bioactive molecules to meet cell type specific requirements. The efficacy of this approach for HCEC, which require elaborate cell culture conditions and are strongly adherent to the substratum, is demonstrated. The developed method may pave the way to tissue engineering of corneal endothelium and significantly improve therapeutic options.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teichmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valtink
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gramm
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nitschke
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: R H W
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Funk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engelmann
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000187:drug effects; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology* / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008298:Maleates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011095:Polyethylenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D008298:Maleates; D011095:Polyethylenes; C043105:poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride)