Artificial silk based innervated cornea
AssigneeTrustees of Tufts College
InventorsDavid L. Kaplan, Siran Wang, Rachel Gomes, Chiara Ghezzi, Dana Cairns
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Abstract
In some embodiments, the present invention provides tissue compositions including a first silk scaffold comprising a plurality of epithelial cells, a second silk scaffold comprising a plurality of stromal cells, and a plurality of neurons. In some embodiments, provided compositions can function as physiologically relevant corneal model systems for, inter alia, testing of therapeutics for corneal disease and/or injury and production of functional corneal tissue (e.g., for transplant, etc). The present invention also provides methods for making and using provided compositions.
Claims16
A tissue composition comprising
- a first silk scaffold comprising a plurality of epithelial cells;
- a second silk scaffold comprising a plurality of stromal cells;
- and a plurality of neurons;
- wherein one or more silk scaffold has a porosity of at least 10%.
A method of making a tissue composition comprising
- providing a first silk scaffold comprising a plurality of epithelial cells;
- associating a second silk scaffold comprising a plurality of stromal cells with the first silk scaffold to form a silk scaffold stack;
- and
- introducing a plurality of neurons to the silk scaffold stack to form a tissue composition,
- wherein at least some of the plurality of neurons innervate at least one of:
- a portion of the epithelial cells, and a portion of the stromal cells;
- wherein one or more silk scaffold has a porosity of at least 10%.
A tissue composition comprising
- a first silk scaffold comprising a plurality of epithelial cells;
- a second silk scaffold comprising a plurality of stromal cells;
- a plurality of neurons;
- and
- a tear-like fluid;
- wherein the tear-like fluid is or comprises an aqueous solution including at least one lipid, at least one antibiotic, and at least one neurotrophic peptide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.