A bioengineered model for reinnervating the decellularized extracellular matrix of corneal scaffolds

Corneal diseases and injuries, with their substantial global prevalence and adverse effects on quality of life, demographics, occupations, and lifestyles, pose a pressing healthcare challenge worldwide. Limited treatment options are unable to halt the progression of end-stage conditions, where transplantation is the ideal solution. Unfortunately, the high demand and low supply of corneal tissues, donor-recipient mismatches, and host rejections leading to graft failure limit this ideal option. As a result, there is a critical need for alternative interventions. This article aims to establish a bioengineered corneal model generated from the cadaveric decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) that can repurpose discarded human corneal tissues to potentially increase the supply of transplantable tissues. Comparable studies have primarily focused on reendothelialization and re-epithelialization. Therefore, we hypothesize devising a method to support scaffold reinnervation emanating from prominent nerve plexi spanning the stroma to the epithelium in a patient-centered manner, using peripheral blood mononuclear cells.