Fabrication and Characterization of Nanocomposite Membrane Based on GelMA-Silk Nanofibrils as A Bioengi-neered Neo-Corneal Stroma

Background: Due to the increasing incidence of diseases and injuries to the cornea of the human eye and the limitation of this sensitive tissue to receive medical treatments or ocular im-plants, as well as corneal transplantation problems, cornea re-construction is desirable.Materials and Methods: Nanocomposite membrane of Gel-Ma-silk nano fibroin is prepared. The silk nanofiber reinforce-ment increases both transparency and strength of the hydrogels improving handling and integrity.The wettability, transparency and mechanical properties of the composites with different volume ratios of GelMa/SNF were measured.Conclusion: According to research on corneal stromal tissue engineering, the construction of bi-sticky scaffolds with suffi-cient transparency and the ability to accelerate tissue regenera-tion is prepared and characterized.

Keywords:

GelMA , Silk Nanofibrill , Nanocomposite , Stroma , Corneal Tissue Engineering