TY - JOUR
T1 - Bioinspired thermosensitive hydrogel as a vitreous substitute
T2 - Synthesis, properties, and progress of animal studies
AU - Laradji, Amine
AU - Shui, Ying Bo
AU - Karakocak, Bedia Begum
AU - Evans, Lynn
AU - Hamilton, Paul
AU - Ravi, Nathan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors.
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - In many vitreal diseases, the surgeon removes the natural vitreous and replaces it with silicone oils, gases, or balanced salt solutions to fill the eyeball and hold the retina in position. However, these materials are often associated with complications and have properties that differ from natural vitreous. Herein, we report an extension of our previous work on the synthesis of a biomimetic hydrogel that is composed of thiolated gellan as an analogue of type II collagen and poly(methacrylamide-co-methacrylate-co-bis(methacryloyl)cystamine), a polyelectrolyte, as an analogue of hyaluronic acid. This thermosensitive hydrogel can be injected into the eye as a viscous solution at 45 °C. It then forms a physical gel in situ when it reaches body temperature, and later forms disulfide covalent crosslinks. In this article, we evaluated two different formulations of the biomimetic hydrogels for their physical, mechanical, and optical properties, and we determined their biocompatibility with several cell lines. Finally, we report on the progress of the four-month preclinical evaluation of our bio-inspired vitreous substitute in comparison to silicone oil or a balanced salt solution. We assessed the eyes with a slit-lamp examination, intraocular pressure measurements, electroretinography, and optical coherence tomography. Preliminary results are very encouraging for the continuing evaluation of our bio-inspired hydrogel in clinical trials.
AB - In many vitreal diseases, the surgeon removes the natural vitreous and replaces it with silicone oils, gases, or balanced salt solutions to fill the eyeball and hold the retina in position. However, these materials are often associated with complications and have properties that differ from natural vitreous. Herein, we report an extension of our previous work on the synthesis of a biomimetic hydrogel that is composed of thiolated gellan as an analogue of type II collagen and poly(methacrylamide-co-methacrylate-co-bis(methacryloyl)cystamine), a polyelectrolyte, as an analogue of hyaluronic acid. This thermosensitive hydrogel can be injected into the eye as a viscous solution at 45 °C. It then forms a physical gel in situ when it reaches body temperature, and later forms disulfide covalent crosslinks. In this article, we evaluated two different formulations of the biomimetic hydrogels for their physical, mechanical, and optical properties, and we determined their biocompatibility with several cell lines. Finally, we report on the progress of the four-month preclinical evaluation of our bio-inspired vitreous substitute in comparison to silicone oil or a balanced salt solution. We assessed the eyes with a slit-lamp examination, intraocular pressure measurements, electroretinography, and optical coherence tomography. Preliminary results are very encouraging for the continuing evaluation of our bio-inspired hydrogel in clinical trials.
KW - Biocompatible
KW - Biomimetic
KW - Hydrogel
KW - Sol-gel transition
KW - Thermoresponsive
KW - Vitrectomy
KW - Vitreous
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082654411&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ma13061337
DO - 10.3390/ma13061337
M3 - Article
C2 - 32183465
AN - SCOPUS:85082654411
SN - 1996-1944
VL - 13
JO - Materials
JF - Materials
IS - 6
M1 - 1337
ER -