Bioactive self-assembled peptide nanofibers for corneal stroma regeneration.

[]

Defects in the corneal stroma caused by trauma or diseases such as macular corneal dystrophy and keratoconus can be detrimental for vision . Development of therapeutic methods to enhance corneal regeneration is essential for treatment of these defects . This paper describes a bioactive peptide nanofiber scaffold system for corneal tissue regeneration . These nanofibers are formed by self-assembling peptide amphiphile molecules containing laminin and fibronectin inspired sequences . Human corneal keratocyte cells cultured on laminin-mimetic peptide nanofibers retained their characteristic morphology , and their proliferation was enhanced compared with cells cultured on fibronectin-mimetic nanofibers . When these nanofibers were used for damaged rabbit corneas , laminin-mimetic peptide nanofibers increased keratocyte migration and supported stroma regeneration . These results suggest that laminin-mimetic peptide nanofibers provide a promising injectable , synthetic scaffold system for cornea stroma regeneration .