Figure 6
From: Decellularization of human stromal refractive lenticules for corneal tissue engineering
Re-implantation of SDS-decellularized human lenticules to rabbit corneal stromal pockets.
(A) Ophthalmic examination of corneas with implanted lenticules at different weeks. Gray-scale slit lamp images showed a slight opacity of the implanted lenticule at week 1 and the transparency was improved afterwards. ASOCT displayed a demarcation line with increased reflectivity at the lenticule plane at week 1 and it became less distinct afterwards. In vivo confocal microscopy showed a lack of highly reflective cells at the lenticule anterior plane at early weeks and some reflective spots at week 21. (B) Percentage changes of central corneal thickness of lenticule-implanted corneas compared to normal corneas. (C) H&E histology of cornea with lenticule implantation for 21 weeks. Lenticule was integrated with host stromal tissue. Cell-like structures were seen at the lenticule edge (arrows). No inflammatory cells were observed. Scale bar: 100 μm. (D) TEM images showing compact fibrillar structure of implanted lenticule and it was integrated with host stroma (arrows). Scale bar: 10 μm. (E) Collagen fibrils inside lenticule displayed irregular orientation and less distinct lattice arrangement. (F) Radial arrangement (*) of collagen fibrils inside lenticule. Scale bars: 2 μm.
