Age-related macular degeneration is a major ophthalmic disease that causes visual impairment and blindness. There have been several studies on the development of natural and synthetic substrates for local delivery of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. However, these engineered substrates are not sufficiently flexible to be aspirated and injected through a clinical syringe needle. Therefore, miniaturization of the substrates is an important approach to realize minimally invasive delivery of the engineered tissue. In this study, we developed micropatterned polymeric nanosheets consisted of biodegradable poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs, 10 nm in diameter) for local delivery of the RPE cells, that were fabricated by microcontact printing techniques (Figure 1). Owing to the flexible structure and magnetic property, the micropatterned nanosheet with 170 nm thick was manipulated remotely and delivered to the subretinal space of a swine eye. The micropatterned nanosheet also directed growth and morphogenesis of the RPE cells, which allowed for the injection of an engineered RPE monolayer through syringe needles without loss of cell viability. Such an ultra-thin and flexible carrier has the promise of a minimally invasive delivery of organized cellular structures into narrow tissue spaces. Figure 1.  Subretinal injection process of the micropatterned polymeric nanosheet, and a confocal laser scanning microscope image of the nanosheet (colored red) with RPE monolayer (colored green).

Micropatterned polymeric nanosheets for local injection of an engineered epithelial monolayer

248th National Meeting (2014)

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