Fabrication and transplantation of xeno-free canine corneal epithelial cell sheet

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26450422
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Veterinary medical science
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Tsuzuki Keiko 東京大学, 大学院農学生命科学研究科(農学部), 特任助教 (30364251)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 角膜上皮再生 / 犬 / 角膜上皮細胞シート

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It was revealed that canine corneal epithelial cells can maintain their undifferentiated state and proliferation ability even when cultured without any feeder cells. Thus, feeder cells can be eliminated for fabrication of canine corneal epithelial cell sheets. However, canine corneal epithelial cells showed apparent morphological change when cultured using autologous serum. Therefore, the use of fetal bovine serum could not be eliminated to fabricate canine corneal epithelial cell sheets. In the process to explore the possible growth factors to fabricate canine corneal epithelial cells, we found out that hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) promotes the cell invasion ability of canine corneal epithelial cells and HGF can be a promising drug to treat corneal injury. We could also developed transplantation of canine corneal epithelial cell sheets without sutures.

Free Research Field

角膜再生医療