Corneal blindness is the fourth leading cause of visual impairment. Of specific interest is blindness due to a dysfunctional corneal endothelium which can only be treated by transplanting healthy tissue from a deceased donor. Unfortunately, corneal supply does not meet the demand with only one donor for every 70 patients. Therefore, there is a huge interest in tissue engineering of grafts consisting of an ultra‐thin scaffold seeded with cultured endothelial cells. The present research describes the fabrication of such artificial Descemet membranes based on the combination of a biodegradable amorphous polyester (poly (d,l‐lactic acid)) and crosslinkable gelatins. Four different crosslinkable gelatin derivatives are compared in terms of processing, membrane quality, and function, as well as biological performance in the presence of corneal endothelial cells. The membranes are fabricated through multi‐step spincoating, including a sacrificial layer to allow for straightforward membrane detachment after production. As a consequence, ultrathin (<1 µm), highly transparent (>90%), semi‐permeable membranes could be obtained with high biological potential. The membranes supported the characteristic morphology and correct phenotype of corneal endothelial cells while exhibiting similar proliferation rates as the positive control. As a consequence, the proposed membranes prove to be a promising synthetic alternative to donor tissue.

中文翻译：

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包含PDLLA和功能性明胶的设计者Descemet膜，作为角膜内皮支架。

角膜失明是视觉障碍的第四大原因。特别令人关注的是由于功能紊乱的角膜内皮引起的失明，只能通过移植来自已故供体的健康组织来治疗。不幸的是，每70名患者只有一个供体，角膜供应不能满足需求。因此，在由移植有内皮细胞的超薄支架组成的移植物组织工程中，人们产生了极大的兴趣。本研究描述了基于可生物降解的无定形聚酯（poly（d，l-乳酸））和可交联的明胶。比较了四种不同的可交联明胶衍生物在加工，膜质量和功能以及存在角膜内皮细胞时的生物学性能方面。膜是通过多步旋涂工艺制造的，其中包括一个牺牲层，以使生产后的膜直接分离。结果，可以获得具有高生物潜力的超薄（<1 µm），高度透明（> 90％），半透膜。这些膜支持角膜内皮细胞的特征形态和正确的表型，同时表现出与阳性对照相似的增殖速率。结果，提出的膜证明是供体组织的有希望的合成替代物。