Abstract

P 212

Comparative analysis of the fibroblasts of the suprachoroidal space for the development of a new glaucoma micro stent

Diana Buß1, Wolfram Schmidt2, Marian Löbler2, Rudolf F. Guthoff1
1Universitäts-Augenklinik Rostock, 2Institut für Biomedizinische Technik, Rostock

Objective
The medical attendance of glaucoma patients with implants is bounded by barely controllable wound healing reactions. The implantation of a new micro stent into the suprachoroidal space promises to be accompanied by less scarring issues. The aim of this study is the establishment and characterisation of choroidal and scleral fibroblast cell cultures for a better understanding regarding the surface structures of a micro stent draining into the suprachoroidal space.
Methods
Cell cultures from the following human ocular eye tissues were established: sclera, choroid and tenon’s capsule. The cell cultivation followed standard protocols.
Results
Besides different demands to their environment the cell cultures also show morphological differences. A cultivation of scleral fibroblast could only be started with a FCS amount of 20 %, whereas all other cultures started with only 10 % FCS. Morphological differences for example show in thin fibroblasts from tenon’s capsule compared to a more compact appearance of choroidal fibroblasts. Scleral fibroblasts are as thin as fibroblasts from tenon’s capsule but have shorter and more pseudopodia.
Conclusions
The varying demands of the cell cultures to their environment and the different morphologies found in vitro already show that there is a possibility to distinguish between the different fibroblasts that have contact with glaucoma implants. Cyto-toxicological investigations and the analysis of RNA expression by means of oligo arrays are planed. A better understanding of the growth of the different fibroblasts can lead to the specific adjustment of the micro stent and its eluted medications and therefore provide the possibility to regulate scarring reactions in the attended tissues.

This project is supported by the SFB Transregio 37 „Micro- and Nanosystems in Medicine – Reconstruction of Biological Functions“.

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