Abstract
Hydrogels derived from corneal extracellular matrix (ECM) represent a promising biomaterial for corneal repair and regeneration. To fabricate these hydrogels, first corneas need to be decellularized using repeated freeze-thaw cycles and nucleases to remove all nuclear and cellular components. The remaining corneal ECM is lyophilized to remove all water and milled into a fine powder. The ECM powder is weighed and dissolved in pepsin solution at a concentration of 20 mg/mL. Hydrogels are formed by neutralizing the pH of the solution and maintaining it at 37 °C until fibrillogenesis has occurred. Corneal stromal cells may be suspended throughout the hydrogel solution prior to gelation to generate a corneal stromal substitute.
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Acknowledgements
The research is supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 637460) and Science Foundation Ireland and Marie-Curie Action COFUND (grant no. 11/SIRG/B2104).
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Ahearne, M., Fernández-Pérez, J. (2020). Fabrication of Corneal Extracellular Matrix-Derived Hydrogels. In: Ahearne, M. (eds) Corneal Regeneration. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2145. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0599-8_11
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