Corneal Tissue Engineering: From Bench to Clinic
1Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Republic of Korea
2Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore
3Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico
Corneal Tissue Engineering: From Bench to Clinic
Description
Corneal blindness is the leading cause of reversible blindness worldwide. The only method for treatment is corneal transplantation. Penetrating keratoplasty has long been the mainstay of the corneal transplantation. More recently, partial thickness corneal transplantation, such as deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), Descemet's stripping and automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK), and Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), has become more popular due to improved visual outcome and reduced allogeneic rejection. However, due to a global shortage of corneal tissue, the demands for corneal transplant can never be met with current cornea donation programs.
To address this problem, various methods of corneal tissue engineering have been studied. Cultivation and expansion of corneal tissues using novel drugs and biomaterials are expected to enable the production of large amount of synthetic corneal tissue for transplantation without the risk of disease transmission.
We invite investigators to contribute original research and review articles on the researches on corneal tissue engineering and its clinical application. We are particularly interested in articles about cell therapy for corneal tissues, including epithelium, stroma and endothelium, clinical application of the corneal tissue engineering, development of drugs and biomaterials used for corneal tissue engineering, application of anterior segment imaging techniques in corneal tissue engineering, and application of artificial corneal tissue. Articles on new techniques of corneal transplantation and anterior segment reconstruction are also welcome.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Novel techniques of corneal transplantation and anterior segment reconstruction
- Cell therapy for corneal epithelium, such as limbal expansion, simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET), and cultivated oral mucosal epithelial transplantation (COMET)
- Cell therapy for corneal stroma
- Cell therapy for corneal endothelium, such as tissue-engineered endothelial keratoplasty (TEEK) or cell injection
- Clinical application of the corneal tissue engineering techniques
- Novel medications and biomaterials for corneal tissue engineering
- Introduction of the novel and experimental techniques of corneal tissue engineering
- Application of the anterior segment imaging techniques in corneal tissue engineering
- Development and application of artificial corneal tissue