Biomaterials pel transplantament de cèl·lules epitelials de retina per a la malaltia macular degenerativa

Author

Camaló Vila, Judith

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration is a chronic disease and is the most common cause of irreversible central vision loss in developed countries, it is characterized by cell death of the retinal epithelium. Existing treatments such as laser photocoagulation, photodynamic therapy and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy treat the symptoms of the disease but cannot cure it. That is why the need arises for new treatments that allow to reestablish the original characteristics of the macula. Currently, there are numerous studies related to tissue engineering, the aim of which is to replace damaged cells in the retina with a population of healthy cells, but these have not been successful. There are different approaches to repopulate the retina, the most promising is to transplant healthy cells into a biomaterial as a support. In this TFG, the behavior of the human retina cell line ARPE-19 has been studied in the presence of methacrylated human type I collagen as a substrate biomaterial. ARPE-19 have been treated by two different techniques, encapsulated and seeded in the biomaterial. The objective is to determine which technique and which characteristics of the biomaterial are the best for the growth of ARPE-19. From the results obtained, it has been stated that: (i) collagen methacrylate is a good biomaterial for the growth of ARPE-19 cells; (ii) the technique of seeding cells on top of collagen methacrylate is best in order to achieve the native morphology of the epithelium; (iii) collagen methacrylate with the photoinitiator LAP allows the ciliary growth of cells and therefore their maturation. Therefore, it can be concluded that collagen methacrylate is an optimal biomaterial for this application.

 

Director

Fornaguera i Puigvert, Cristina
Ramón, Javier; de Chiara, Francesco

Degree

IQS SE - Undergraduate Program in Pharmacy

Date

2021-07-09