(42a) Electrospun Nanofibrous Scaffolds for the Promotion of Scar-Free Corneal Wound Healing

The healthy cornea is a highly-ordered structure containing lamellae of aligned collagen nanofibers stacked on top of each other in an orthogonal manner. Irregular healing following corneal injury accounts for approximately 1.5 million new cases of monocular blindness every year. Unlike cataracts, such cases of blindness are irreversible without corneal transplantation. Efforts to develop biomaterials that promote wound healing have been largely unsuccessful for corneal applications, where stringent optical requirements necessitate a transparent wound dressing to promote host-cell infiltration and foster scar-free tissue remodeling. We approach this problem with a protein-polymer scaffold that contains nanofibrillar elements characteristic of the highly-ordered structure of a healthy corneal stroma. To evaluate the role of this fibrillar nanostructure, we examine cellular responses to electrospun nanofiber mats in-vitro using a mock wound healing assay, ex-vivo using intact porcine eyes and in-vivo using a mouse model. We show that the material is well-suited for corneal applications because of its transparency, ability to recruit epithelial and fibroblast cells and capability to regulate the fibroblast repair phenotype.