Rapid Automated Fabrication of Tissues (RAFT): Corneal Stem Cells

目标是开发一种自动化系统，用于快速，简单地生产3D组织结构，并演示使用人类角膜缘干细胞制造角膜结构的临床前概念验证。UCL的专利工艺是基于塑料压缩铸造胶原蛋白凝胶。组织等效物可以在几分钟内用适合控制干细胞生长的压纹3D空间壁龛制成。该工艺解决了组织工程标准培养方法存在的高成本、低产量和长周期的问题。将建立测试设备并用于研究工艺参数对结构和功能的影响。利用微纳表面压纹图案制作多层结构的方法将得到发展。我们的目标是证明细胞种子结构是仿生的（模仿真实组织），控制细胞分化率和支持角膜再生。该方法将适用于一系列治疗应用以及药物和毒性测试。

The goals are to develop an automated system for rapid, simple production of 3D tissue constructs and to demonstrate pre-clinical proof of concept using human corneal limbal stem cells to make corneal constructs. UCL's patented process is based on plastic compression of cast collagen gels. Tissue equivalents can be made in minutes with embossed 3D spatial niches suitable for controlling stem cell growth. The process addresses issues of high cost, low yield and long cycle times seen with standard culture approaches to tissue engineering. Test equipment will be built and used to investigate the impact of process parameters on structure and function. Methods for making multi-layer constructs with micro-nano surface embossed patterns will be developed. We aim to show that the cell-seeded construct is biomimetic (mimics real tissue), controls cell differentiation rates and supports corneal regeneration. The approach will be applicable to a range of therapeutic applications as well as drug and toxicity testing.