构建组织工程人工角膜的天然生物材料的研究进展

当角膜失去透明性或者形状发生改变时,可能会造成视力的丧失。最有效的治疗手段是使用全层或者部分层供体角膜进行角膜移植手术。然而,在全球范围内捐赠角膜的来源严重不足,约有超过98.5%的角膜盲患者在等待捐赠角膜。此外,在角膜移植后,存在感染的可能以及异体移植免疫排斥反应等问题。因此,多年以来组织工程角膜作为供体角膜的可行替代品,不同材料和方法已被广泛研究。并且在近十几年来,有了突破性的进展。研究的最终目的是为了构建具有良好透明性、生物相容性以及合适机械强度的组织工程全层或部分层人工角膜,以修复、再生或替换病变角膜。本综述讨论了近年来最常被研究的天然生物材料包括羊膜、脱细胞角膜、胶原、蚕丝,作为人工角膜支架的研究进展以及目前存在的问题。并进一步说明了该领域中上述讨论的生物材料所面临的其他挑战,以及今后的研究方向。

Research progress of natural biomaterials for construction of tissue engineering cornea

Vision loss can occur when the cornea loses transparency or changes shape. The most effective treatment to restore vision is to use full or partial layers of donor cornea for corneal transplantation. However, there is a severe shortage of donor corneas worldwide, with more than 98.5% of patients with corneal blindness waiting for donor corneas. In addition, there exist some problems such as the possibility of infection, allotransplantation immunologic rejection, and other problems after corneal transplantation. Therefore, tissue-engineering corneas have been widely studied over the years as a viable alternative to donor corneas, with different materials and methods. And in nearly ten years, the research has had breakthrough progress. The ultimate goal of the research is to construct a full or partial tissue-engineering graft with good transparency, biocompatibility, and appropriate mechanical strength to repair, regenerate, or replace diseased corneas. This review discusses the research progress and existing problems about the most frequently studied natural biomaterials in recent years. These biomaterials include amniotic membrane, acellular cornea, collagen, and silk. In addition to the future research directions, other challenges related to the biomaterials discussed in this field are illustrated.