The cell density and morphology of cHCECs on AM were similar to those of normal corneas, and cHCECs on AM were functional in vivo. These results indicate that AM maintains HCEC morphology and function and could serve as a carrier for cHCEC transplantation.

The sterilized, freeze-dried AM retained most of the physical, biological, and morphologic characteristics of cryopreserved AM; consequently, it is a useful biomaterial for ocular surface reconstruction.

No abstract

We successfully cultivated well-stratified and -differentiated limbal cells on denuded AM, while on the intact AM limbal cells failed to stratify and in places formed only a monolayer of cells. The limbal cells cultivated on denuded AM were well attached to the AM stroma and were morphologically superior to the limbal epithelium cultivated on intact AM. We conclude that for purposes of transplantation of differentiated epithelial sheets, denuded AM is probably the more practical carrier for human limbal epithelial cell cultures when using our cell-suspension culture system.

AS-supplemented cultures were effective in supporting the proliferation of human corneal and oral epithelial cells, as well as the development of transplantable epithelial equivalents. The use of AS is of clinical importance in the development of autologous xenobiotic-free bioengineered ocular surface equivalents for clinical transplantation.