Characterizing the effects of aligned collagen fibers and ascorbic acid derivatives on behavior of rabbit corneal fibroblasts

The cornea is responsible for functional optical activity of the mammalian eye, as it must remain transparent in order to focus light onto the retina. Corneal disease is the second leading cause worldwide of vision loss. Human donor tissue transplantation in the cornea is associated with problems such as immunorejection and recurring graft failures. Tissue engineering offers a promising alternative to using human donor tissues in treating corneal diseases. A viable tissue-engineered cornea must be mechanically resilient to protect the fragile intraocular components of the eye, and optically transparent to refract light onto the retina. In the native cornea, transparency is maintained by both the cells in the stromal layer and the high organization of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This study aims to combine the effects of aligned collagen fibers and ascorbic acid derivatives to control corneal fibroblast behavior to not only express the appropriate proteins, but also to deposit aligned, small diameter collagen fibers that resemble the highly organized structure of the natural ECM. Results from this study suggest that the combined effect of an aligned scaffolding material and ascorbic acid supplements can create a cell-matrix construct that both down-regulates expression of the light scattering protein alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-sma) and supports an increased number of cell layers.