Patent ID: 9707256
Date: 2017-07-18
CPC Classifications: A61F,A61K,A61L,A61P

Claim:
1. A method of making an endothelial scaffold, comprising the steps of: providing a sectioned corneal stroma, said stroma having a thickness of between 50 and 200 micrometers, wherein said providing comprises sectioning a cornea parallel to the endothelial surface thereof; decellularizing said stroma to form a scaffold, wherein said decellularizing comprises treating said stroma with a detergent and/or basic solution, or comprises treating said stroma with a hypo-osmotic solution; and seeding cultured endothelial cells onto said scaffold to form an endothelial scaffold, wherein said cultured endothelial cells are corneal endothelial cells, and wherein said cultured corneal endothelial cells are positive for the markers: Zona occludin-1 (ZO-1), Na+/K+ ATPase, connexin-43, cytokeratin AE1/AE3, von Willebrand factor (vWF), and VE-Cadherin; and are negative for the marker CD31, to thereby produce said endothelial scaffold.