Researchers create artificial cornea using pig and human stem cells

Researchers extracted pig corneal cells and replaced them with human stem cells. Thus, the University of Granada takes the lead in the making of bioartificial organs, a field so far led by the Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid.

A University of Granada research group composed of professors Antonio Campos and Miguel Alaminos (histologists), María del Mar Pérez, Ana Ionescu and Juan de la Cruz Cardona (opticians) and the ophthalmologist Miguel González Andrades, University Hospital San Cecilio, Granada, have made the first bioartificial organ in Spain

Researchers extracted pig corneal cells and replaced them with human stem cells. This method, known as decellularization and recellulation, allows scientists to maintain the basic structure of the cornea and replace its cellular components.

The results obtained in this study were described in an article published in the most prestigious online research journal on ophthalmology: IOVS (Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science).

An artificial cornea

These University of Granada researchers belong to the same research group that made an artificial cornea with biomaterials designed at the Tissue Engineering Laboratory of the University of Granada, that is currently on the preparatory stage to start a clinical trial.

At present, the authors of this study are promoting the establishment of an Institute for Tissue Engineering in Granada, which is currently on the feasibility and design phase.