Abstract:

Abstract:Objective To investigate the construction of compound membrane with corneal stromal cells and collagen-chitosan by tissue engineering technique and its biocompatibility.
Methods Rabbit and human corneal stromal cells were separated and seeded into collagen-chitosan membrane.The compound membrane was transplanted into rabbit corneal stroma.Then the  growth condition of keratocytes,the effect on normal keratocytes and degradation of compound membrane were detected by corneal confocal microscope,anterior OCT and  histological and immunohistochemical methods ex vivo 1,2,4 weeks after grafting.Results The rabbit and human corneal stromal cells grown well  in collagen-chitosan scaffold.The compound membrane degradated gradually after grafting.There was no necrosis and dissolvation.Corneal epithelium,stroma and endothelial cells were all normal.Conclusion Collagen-chitosan can be used as a biological scaffold for construction of corneal stroma.Corneal confocal microscopy and anterior OCT are new methods to observe the biological activity of constructed corneal stroma.

Key words: corneal stromal cells, collagen-chitosan, tissue engineering