A microfabricated scaffold for retinal progenitor cell grafting

摘要: Diseases that cause photoreceptor cell degeneration afflict millions of people, yet no restorative treatment exists for these blinding disorders. Replacement photoreceptors using retinal progenitor cells (RPCs) represents a promising therapy the degeneration. Previous studies have demonstrated ability polymer scaffolds to increase significantly both survival and differentiation RPCs. We report microfabrication poly(glycerol-sebacate) scaffold with superior mechanical properties delivery RPCs subretinal space. Using replica molding technique, porous thickness 45 μm was fabricated. Evaluation this showed Young’s modulus is about 5-fold lower maximum elongation at failure 10-fold higher than previously reported RPC scaffolds. strongly adhered scaffold, endogenous fluorescence nearly doubled over 2 day period before leveling off after 3 days. Immunohistochemistry revealed grown on 7 days expressed mixture immature mature markers, suggesting tendency towards differentiation. conclude microfabricated exhibits number novel use as delivery.