Applications of platelet products for regenerative medicine of cornea

Platelet is main cellular part of hemostasis and acts through its granules and surface proteins. It has many biomolecules which have a positive effect on migration and proliferation. A release of a large number of soluble mediators is due to platelet degranulation which is one of the most important steps for wound healing. Platelet has PDGF, VEGF, and FGF-2 that could speed recovery up by angiogenesis stimulation. Platelet Products (PP) consist of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), Platelet Lysate (PL) and other related product like fibrin. All of these can be used for therapeutic purposes in corneal regenerative medicine. Understanding of corneal biology opens new windows for treatment based on cell therapy and tissue engineering. Corneal epithelium has Limbal Stem Cell (LSC) and today, LSC deficiency treatment is LSC transplantation by using LSC cultivating on fibrin or PPs. Corneal Stroma is a very essential part for transparency maintenance and use of serum-free media for keratocyte culture ensures this. PLs can be used as a replacement of fetal bovine serum in transplantation. Researches also show the beneficial effect of PLs for corneal endothelium expansion. According to these data, PPs may be more interesting biomaterial for the corneal regeneration. More research in the field could clear exact effects and use of them.

Keywords:

Platelet , Cornea , Limbal stem cell , Wound healing , Regenerative medicine