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TISSUE ENGINEERING OF THE HUMAN CORNEA contact: steffi[email protected] The Cornea THE HUMAN CORNEA IS THE TRANSPARENT TISSUE COVERING THE EYE AND IT CONSISTS OF THREE CELL LAYERS: AN EPITHELIUM, A STROMA AND AN ENDOTHELIUM WITH RESIDENT STEM CELLS THAT ARE CRUCIAL FOR IN VIVO TISSUE REGENERATION. CORNEAL BLINDNESS, RESULTING FROM A STEM CELL DISORDER, DISEASE OR TRAUMA, IS ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF (IR)REVERSIBLE BLINDNESS WORLDWIDE. CURRENTLY THE ONLY SOLUTION FOR THESE PATIENTS IS CORNEAL TRANSPLANTATION. UNFORTUNATELY, A GLOBAL DONOR SHORTAGE LIMITS TREATMENT TO ONLY 1 IN 70 PATIENTS. THE RELA TIVE SIMPLY ARCHITECTURE OF THE CORNEA AND THE DIRE NEED FOR LAB-GROWN ALTERNATIVES, HAS MADE IT A POPULAR CANDIDATE FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING. A FULLY BIOMIMETIC CORNEA THAT IS EASILY TRANSPLANTED COULD SOLVE THE CURRENT DONOR SHORTAGE. IN OUR LAB WE ARE DEVELOPING SEVERAL CELL THERAPIES TO RELIEVE PATIENTS FROM THEIR VISUAL IMPAIRMENT OR BLINDNESS. Prof. Dr. Sorcha Ni Dhubhghaill and Prof. Dr. Carina Koppen - DEVELOPING CELL THERAPIES TO CURE CORNEAL BLINDNESS - ... - 2008 PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENT 2008-2012 CLINICAL TRIAL PHASE I/II 2014 - ... CLINICAL TRIAL PHASE II SUCCESS RATE: 67% (12/18) 20 PATIENTS TREATED CORNEAL TISSUE ENGINEERING IN ANTWERP 1. DEVELOPMENT OF NANOENGINEERED SCAFFOLDS USING RECOMBINANT COLLAGEN, MODIFIED GELATIN AND COLLAGEN-LIKE PEPTIDES 2. 3D BIOPRINTING USING RECOMBINANT COLLAGEN 3. EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES AND THEIR THERAPEUTIC VALUE 4. GENE PROFILING OF CORNEAL MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS ASSETS INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS FUNDING AGENCIES EXPERTISE IN - ATMP PRODUCTION - OCULAR STEM CELLS - BIOMATERIALS AND SCAFFOLDS - HIGH-CONTENT LIVE CELL IMAGING WE ARE HIRING! INTER ESTED? IDEA CULTIVATED LIMBAL EPITHELIAL TRANSPLANTATION GMP
