Technologies

The management of corneal and ocular surface wounds has not changed significantly in the last few decades and consists mainly of measures such as lubrication, patching, and antibiotics that support but do not promote wound healing. In severe injuries and disease such as chemical burns and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, irreversible visual loss often occurs in spite of such measures. Thus, there remains a major clinical need for technologies that specifically promote regeneration of the cornea and ocular surface. The administration of the therapeutic factors secreted by harvested stem cells is an attractive and viable option for treating wounded or diseased tissue that avoids the uncertainties and challenges of delivering actual stem cells into patients. Yet, simple topical delivery of soluble therapeutic factors to the eye is limited and cost-inefficient due to fluid turnover from tearing and drainage through the lacrimal pathway. Of particular benefit would be a vehicle that could deliver these therapeutic factors in a sustained fashion while maintaining their bioactivity and also serving as a protective membrane to the wound itself. Our hypothesis is that an in situ forming, viscoelastic gel carrier can facilitate the optimum delivery of the secreted factors of bone-marrow derived human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to the eye. In this work, the secreted factors of hMSCs will be produced, collected, and packaged in lyophilized form ex vivo, and then encapsulated within a protective, tissue-adherent hyaluronic acid-based gel on the corneal wound surface. The technology leverages the inherent biocompatibility and favorable biophysical properties of hyaluronic acid as well as the controllable production of secreted factors from cultured stem cells. The ultimate goal of this research is to lay the groundwork for a novel regenerative therapy for severe ocular surface injuries and disease.