Corneal Wound Healing Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Secretome Delivered Within a Viscoelastic Gel Carrier
Abstract
Severe corneal injuries often result in permanent vision loss and remain a clinical challenge. Human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their secreted factors (secretome) have been studied for their antiscarring, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogeneic properties. We aimed to deliver lyophilized MSC secretome (MSC-S) within a viscoelastic gel composed of hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) as a way to enhance corneal re-epithelialization and reduce complications after mechanical and chemical injuries of the cornea. We hypothesized that delivering MSC-S within HA/CS would have improved wound healing effects compared the with either MSC-S or HA/CS alone. The results showed that a once-daily application of MSC-S in HA/CS enhances epithelial cell proliferation and wound healing after injury to the cornea. It also reduced scar formation, neovascularization, and hemorrhage after alkaline corneal burns. We found that combining MSC-S and HA/CS increased the expression of CD44 receptors colocalized with HA, suggesting that the observed therapeutic effects between the MSC-S and HA/CS are in part mediated by CD44 receptor upregulation and activation by HA. The results from this study demonstrate a reproducible and efficient approach for delivering the MSC-S to the ocular surface for treatment of severe corneal injuries. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2019;8:478–489
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jan 15, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1002/sctm.18-0178
Entities
People
- Ali R Djalilian
- David Myung
- Gabriella Maria Fernandes-cunha
- Hyun Jong Lee
- Ignacio Jesus Blanco
- Ilham Putra
- Kyung-sun Na
- Medi Eslani
- Sarah Hull
- Yu-chia Cheng
Organizations
- Catholic University of Korea
- National Eye Institute
- National Institutes of Health
- Stanford University
- United States Army
- United States Department of Defense
- University of Illinois at Chicago