Advances in the tissue-engineered corneal endothelial transplantation

Due to the serious shortage of corneal donor, the development of penetrating keratoplasty and corneal endothelial transplantation is severely restricted in clinical practice.The root cause is the limited proliferation capacity of healthy corneal endothelial cells.With the continuous development of tissue engineering technology and cell engineering technology, the research of tissue-engineered cornea has made some progress.In vitro culture of corneal endothelial cells with high density and healthy endothelial function for transplantation is a hot topic in current tissue engineering research.The keys of tissue-engineered corneal endothelial technology include seed cells, vector materials and the strategy of cell transplantation.At present, many research teams domestic and abroad have reported that the source of seed cells includes human corneal endothelial cells, stem cells, vascular endothelial cells and human amniotic epithelial cells.Vector materials include amniotic membrane, acellular corneal stroma, posterior elastic layer, anterior capsular membrane and various biomaterials.The cultured cells are transplanted by penetrating keratoplasty, corneal endothelial transplantation or anterior chamber injection.This review summarized the latest progress in the research on the source of corneal endothelial seed cells, the selection of vectors and the methods of corneal endothelial transplantation, and summed up the problems faced in the current research and looked forward to its prospects.