Characterization of polycaprolactone based electrospun scaffold towards in vitro human trabecular meshwork model

Resumen

Glaucoma is the world´s second leading cause of irreversible blindness according to the World Health Organization. Age, race, family history of glaucoma, myopia and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) are the most important risk factors to develop this pathology. The human trabecular meshwork (HTM), which is responsible for the regulation of the IOP by draining the aqueous humor (AH), is usually dysregulated during Glaucoma development. A decrease of draining capacity would render an increase of the IOP, which causes the stiffening of the trabecular meshwork (TM). However, the biophysical mechanisms by which these pathologic changes contribute to IOP elevation remain unclear. Moreover, the lack of appropriate in vitro TM models makes it challenging to understand the specifics of outflow physiology as well as to derive new anti-glaucoma therapies. For this reason, we propose a TM-emulating model based on nanofibrous composite scaffold fabricated by means of electrospinning technologies. In this work, randomly oriented polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers were used as scaffolds of the TM. Scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing were performed in order to quantify the microstructure porosity and stiffness of both the scaffolds and the native tissue. Permeability studies were also undertaken by passing out a specific flow rate through the electrospun mesh, which simulates the AH. Our results show cellular viability of human trabecular meshwork cells onto the scaffolds. Finally, this in vitro platform will allow further research on the effects of TM rigidity on regulation of the IOP and glaucoma progression. In all likelihood, this research will pave the way for the development of new treatment strategies for this pathology