CORNEA ENGINEERING - THREE-DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION OF HUMAN CORNEAS BY TISSUE ENGINEERING (FP6-NMP) (2004-01-01 - 2006-12-31) (»add to infobox)

David John Stuart HULMES, Jean Marc LEGEAIS, Patrick SABATIER, Eric PERRIER, Eric PERRIER, Eija Riitta HAMALAINEN, Graziella PELLEGRINI, Paolo RAMA, Pascal BERNARD, Ake OLDBERG, Vasif HASIRCI, Leena ALA-KOKKO, Efrat KESSLER, Jurgen BEDNARZ, Betty V. NUSGENS, Timothy NEWSON

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) (FR716 - Rhône) (France), ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE - HOPITAUX DE PARIS (FR101 - Paris) (France), BANQUE FRANCAISE DES YEUX (FR101 - Paris) (France), COLETICA SA (FR716 - Rhône) (France), ENGELHARD LYON (FR716 - Rhône) (France), FIBROGEN EUROPE OYJ (FI110 - Uusimaa) (Finland), FONDAZIONE BANCA DEGLI OCCHI DEL VENETO - ONLUS (ITD35 - Venezia) (Italy), FONDAZIONE CENTRO SAN RAFFAELE DEL MONTE TABOR (ITC45 - Milano) (Italy), LABORATOIRES IOLTECH SA (FR532 - Charente-Maritime) (France), LUNDS UNIVERSITET (SE043 - Malmoehus Laen) (Sweden), MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY (EO41 - Turkey) (Turkey), OULUN YLIOPISTO (FI1A2 - Pohjois-Pohjanmaa) (Finland), TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY (ME04 - Israel) (Israel), UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM HAMBURG-EPPENDORF (DE600 - Hamburg) (Germany), UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE (BE332 - Arr. Liège) (Belgium), UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE (UKA15 - Tayside) (Great Britain)

The goal of the proposed research project is to reconstruct a human cornea in vitro, for use both in corneal grafting and as an alternative to animal models for cosmeto-pharmacotoxicity testing. The project responds to the urgent need to develop new forms of corneal replacements as alternatives to the use of donor corneas, in view of the worldwide shortage of donors, the increasing risk of transmissible diseases, the widespread use of corrective surgery, which renders corneas unsuitable for grafting, and the severe limitations of currently available synthetic polymer-based artificial corneas (keratoprostheses). The originality of the proposal lies in the use of recombinant human extra cellular matrix proteins to build a engineered-engineered scaffold to support growth of the different cell types found in the cornea, cells to be derived from human adult stem cell pools. The development of a reconstructed human cornea will represent a real breakthrough, allowing diseased or damaged corneas to be replaced by tissue-engineered human corneal equivalents that resemble in all respects their natural counterparts. The proposal also responds to impending ED legislation banning the marketing of cosmetic products that have been tested on animals, using procedures such as the Raise rabbit eye irritation test. The development of tissue-engineered corneas will provide a non-animal alternative, which will therefore alleviate animal suffering. The project will lead to a transformation of industry to meet societal needs using innovative, knowledge-based approaches integrating Nan technology and biotechnology. The project brings together 14 participants with complementary expertise from 9 different countries, including basic scientists, ophthalmologists and industrialists (three Sees). Ethical and standardisation aspects will also be included.

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