Page 292 - IJB-9-3

International Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
3D bioprinting as a prospective therapeutic

strategy for corneal limbal epithelial stem cell
deficiency

Qian Xue 1,2† , Liang Ma 1,2† , Hanyi Hu , Qi Li , Weiwei Wang , Huayong Yang ,
3,4
1,2
1,2
3,4
Bin Zhang *
1,2
1 State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power & Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
310058, People’s Republic of China
2 School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of
China
3
School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, People’s Republic of China
4 Department of Ophthalmology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
310058, People’s Republic of China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in the Application of Bioprinted Biomaterials in
Tissue Engineering)

Abstract

Limbal epithelial stem cells (LESCs) are responsible for the maintenance and repair of
the corneal surface. Injuries and diseases of the eye may result in a vision condition
called limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Without limbal stem cells, the cornea
becomes opaque, vascularized, and inflamed. Cultured LESC therapy as a treatment
† These authors contributed equally method was first described in 1997, and LESCs cultured from either patients or donors
to this work.
have been used to treat LSCD successfully. However, the main source of cornea for
*Corresponding author: Bin Zhang LSCD treatment is from donors, which are too few to meet the demand (less than
(zbzju@zju.edu.cn) 1:70 of cases). The global shortage of donor cornea promotes the need for studies
Citation: Xue Q, Ma L, Hu H, exploring corneal limbus alternatives. Many problems still remain unresolved, such as
et al., 2023, 3D bioprinting as a original geometry reconstruction, corneal epithelial regeneration, and ocular optical
prospective therapeutic strategy for
corneal limbal epithelial stem cell function restoration. 3D bioprinting has garnered tremendous attention in recent
deficiency. Int J Bioprint, 9(3): 710. years, and significant advances have been made in fabricating cell–laden scaffolds.
https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.710 These advancements could lead to a promising treatment for LSCD. It is possible
Received: October 21, 2022 that alternative limbus stem cells can be constructed using 3D printing, which, in
Accepted: November 23, 2022 corneal limbus regeneration, enables personalized corneal implants and fabrication
Published Online: March 15, 2023
of single- or multilayer corneal limbus equivalents with corneal limbal stem cells. In
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). this review, the progress, applications, and limitations of the most influential works
This is an Open Access article regarding current treatments of LESC deficiency are discussed. The advantages of 3D
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution bioprinting are illustrated, and some first promising steps toward the creation of a
License, permitting distribution functional cornea limbus with 3D bioprinting are discussed. Finally, insights into the
and reproduction in any medium, prospects and technical challenges facing the future research of 3D bioprinting of
provided the original work is
properly cited. corneal limbus alternatives in vivo and in vitro are provided.
Publisher’s Note: Whioce
Publishing remains neutral with Keywords: 3D bioprinting; Corneal limbus; Regenerative medicine; Limbal stem cell
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional deficiency
affiliations.

Volume 9 Issue 3 (2023) 284 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.710