Influence of Pre-Freezing Temperature on the Corneal Endothelial Cytocompatibility and Cell Delivery Performance of Porous Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel Carriers.
The development of porous hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels for corneal endothelial tissue engineering is attractive because they can be used as functional cell delivery carriers to help in the reconstruction of damaged areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the corneal endothelial cytocompatibility and cell delivery performance of porous HA hydrogel biomaterials fabricated at different pre-freezing temperatures. As compared to their counterparts prepared at -80 °C, the HA samples fabricated at higher pre-freezing temperature (i.e., 0 °C) exhibited a larger pore size and higher porosity, thereby leading to lower resistance to glucose permeation. Live/dead assays and gene expression analyses showed that the restricted porous structure of HA carriers decreases the viability and ionic pump function of cultured corneal endothelial cells (CECs). The results also indicated that the porous hydrogel biomaterials fabricated at high pre-freezing temperature seem to be more compatible with rabbit CECs. In an animal model of corneal endothelial dysfunction, the wounded rabbit corneas receiving bioengineered CEC sheets and restricted porous-structured HA carriers demonstrated poor tissue reconstruction. The therapeutic efficacy of cell sheet transplants can be improved by using carrier materials prepared at high pre-freezing temperature. Our findings suggest that the cryogenic operation temperature-mediated pore microstructure of HA carriers plays an important role in corneal endothelial cytocompatibility and cell delivery performance.
Institute of Biochemical and Biomedical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. jylai@mail.cgu.edu.tw.|Biomedical Engineering Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. jylai@mail.cgu.edu.tw.|Molecular Medicine Research Center, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 33302, Taiwan. jylai@mail.cgu.edu.tw.|Center for Tissue Engineering, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan 33305, Taiwan . jylai@mail.cgu.edu.tw.
Jui-Yang
JY
Lai
D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002470:Cell Survival; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D004728:Endothelium, Corneal / Q000166:cytology; D005615:Freezing; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D011817:Rabbits; D013696:Temperature; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid
cell delivery performance; corneal endothelial cytocompatibility; hyaluronic acid; porous hydrogel carrier; pre-freezing temperature