Introducing an Efficient In Vitro Cornea Mimetic Model for Testing Drug Permeability

There is a growing need for novel in vitro corneal models to replace animal-based ex vivo tests in drug permeability studies. In this study, we demonstrated a corneal mimetic that models the stromal and epithelial compartments of the human cornea. Human corneal epithelial cells (HCE-T) were grown on top of a self-supporting porcine collagen-based hydrogel. Cross-sections of the multi-layers were characterized by histological staining and immunocytochemistry of zonula oc-cludens-1 protein (ZO-1) and occludin. Furthermore, water content and bssic elastic properties of the synthetized collagen type I-based hydrogels were measured. The apparent permeability coefficient (P_app) values of a representative set of ophthalmic drugs were measured and correlated to rabbit cornea P_app values found in the literature. A multilayered structure of HCE-T cells and the expression of ZO-1 and occludin in the full thickness of the multilayer were observed. The hydrogel-based corneal model exhibited an excellent correlation to rabbit corneal permeability (r = 0.96), whereas the insert-grown HCE-T multilayer was more permeable and the correlation to the rabbit corneal permeability was lower (r = 0.89). The hydrogel-based human corneal model predicts the rabbit corneal permeability more reliably in comparison to HCE-T cells grown in inserts. This in vitro human corneal model can be successfully employed for drug permeability tests whilst avoiding ethical issues and reducing costs. View Full-Text

Keywords: in vitro corneal model; collagen hydrogel; permeability

▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Žiniauskaitė, A.; Cėpla, V.; Jelinskas, T.; Eimont, R.; Ulčinas, A.; Aldonytė, R.; Valiokas, R.; Kalesnykas, G.; Hakkarainen, J.J. Introducing an Efficient In Vitro Cornea Mimetic Model for Testing Drug Permeability. Sci 2021, 3, 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci3030030

AMA Style

Žiniauskaitė A, Cėpla V, Jelinskas T, Eimont R, Ulčinas A, Aldonytė R, Valiokas R, Kalesnykas G, Hakkarainen JJ. Introducing an Efficient In Vitro Cornea Mimetic Model for Testing Drug Permeability. Sci. 2021; 3(3):30. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci3030030

Chicago/Turabian Style

Žiniauskaitė, Agnė, Vytautas Cėpla, Tadas Jelinskas, Romuald Eimont, Artūras Ulčinas, Rūta Aldonytė, Ramūnas Valiokas, Giedrius Kalesnykas, and Jenni J. Hakkarainen. 2021. "Introducing an Efficient In Vitro Cornea Mimetic Model for Testing Drug Permeability" Sci 3, no. 3: 30. https://doi.org/10.3390/sci3030030

Find Other Styles

Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Metrics

Abstract views Pdf views Html views

Article Menu

Introducing an Efficient In Vitro Cornea Mimetic Model for Testing Drug Permeability

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Article Access Map by Country/Region

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI