Research Project
2164652
DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the applicant's abstract) Opacification of the normally transparent cornea is among the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Often vision can be restored by corneal transplantation but the procedure requires the availability of: a) suitable human corneal donor tissue; and b) a sophisticated eye banking system. It is further limited by the potential to transmit diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis. A significant advance would be the availability of an artificial cornea. Among other properties, such a device must have a surface that promotes rapid re-epithelialization. A significant advance has been the development of a synthetic cornea model consisting of a transparent hydrogel center and a porous peripheral web. With this device it has been demonstrated that stromal keratocytes migrate into the porous web and synthesize extracellular matrix proteins that anchor the device to adjacent recipient cornea. While the central hydrogel optic has desired optical and mechanical properties, its surface will not support re-epithelialization without modification. We propose to use rf-plasma technology to modify the surface properties of the anterior surface of the hydrogel and determine the modification conditions that will best support continuous epithelial adherence, growth, and the deposition of an extracellular matrix in vitro and in vivo.
