title: An Ultra-thin Amniotic Membrane as Carrier in Corneal Epithelium Tissue-Engineering.
abstract: Amniotic membranes (AMs) are widely used as a corneal epithelial tissue carrier in reconstruction surgery. However, the engineered tissue transparency is low due to the translucent thick underlying AM stroma. To overcome this drawback, we developed an ultra-thin AM (UAM) by using collagenase IV to strip away from the epithelial denuded AM (DAM) some of the stroma. By thinning the stroma to about 30 μm, its moist and dry forms were rendered acellular, optically clear and its collagen framework became compacted and inerratic. Engineered rabbit corneal epithelial cell (RCEC) sheets generated through expansion of limbal epithelial cells on UAM were more transparent and thicker than those expanded on DAM. Moreover, ΔNp63 and ABCG2 gene expression was greater in tissue engineered cell sheets expanded on UAM than on DAM. Furthermore, 2 weeks after surgery, the cornea grafted with UAM based cell sheets showed higher transparency and more stratified epithelium than the cornea grafted with DAM based cell sheets. Taken together, tissue engineered corneal epithelium generated on UAM has a preferable outcome because the transplanted tissue is more transparent and better resembles the phenotype of the native tissue than that obtained by using DAM for this procedure. UAM preserves compact layer of the amniotic membrane and maybe an ideal substrate for corneal epithelial tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Shandong Eye Hospital, Shandong Eye Institute, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Dulei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Sanming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Junqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Yangluowa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Shangkun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Changkai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Zhengzhou Second People Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Yongxiong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Xiamen University affiliated Xiamen Eye Center, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Zuguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Medical College of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Xiamen University affiliated Xiamen Eye Center, Xiamen, Fujian, China.|Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000650:Amnion / Q000737:chemistry / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D017364:Collagenases / Q000737:chemistry; D003315:Cornea / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003319:Corneal Stroma / Q000737:chemistry; D019573:Epithelium, Corneal / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D051379:Mice; D011817:Rabbits; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D017364:Collagenases