Lei Lei, Liu Jia, Shi Yueting, Wu Yiping, Wu Wei, Hu Yuhan, Wang Haoxuan, Wang Jiaqing, Li Xingyi
National Engineering Research Center of Ophthalmology and Optometry, School of Ophthalmology and Optometry & Biomedical Engineering, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, 270 Xueyuan Road, Wenzhou 325027, China.
Biomacromolecules. 2025 Jul 14;26(7):4219-4229. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5c00221. Epub 2025 Jun 26.
The rapid corneal re-epithelization after injury is crucial for maintaining corneal homeostasis and barrier function. This study reports a bioadhesive functional peptide-derived supramolecular hydrogel (FBA-FFGGRGD) for promoting corneal re-epithelization. The aldehyde-modified bioactive peptide (RGD) endows the hydrogel with bioadhesive properties, enabling covalent anchoring to corneal basement membrane proteins via Schiff base reaction. Compared with its analogue (TA-FFGGRGD), FBA-FFGGRGD significantly enhances adhesion, migration, and proliferation of human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs), doubling cell numbers within 48 h and upregulating zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) expression. studies show that the hydrogel exhibits excellent ocular biocompatibility, prolongs precorneal retention (∼40 min), and promotes stratified epithelium formation in a rabbit model of corneal injury. By remodeling the epithelial barrier, this bioadhesive hydrogel provides a promising strategy for corneal homeostasis preservation and ocular disorder prevention.
损伤后角膜的快速再上皮化对于维持角膜稳态和屏障功能至关重要。本研究报道了一种用于促进角膜再上皮化的生物粘附性功能肽衍生的超分子水凝胶（FBA-FFGGRGD）。醛修饰的生物活性肽（RGD）赋予水凝胶生物粘附特性，使其能够通过席夫碱反应与角膜基底膜蛋白共价锚定。与类似物（TA-FFGGRGD）相比，FBA-FFGGRGD显著增强人角膜上皮细胞（HCEC）的粘附、迁移和增殖，在48小时内使细胞数量翻倍，并上调紧密连接蛋白1（ZO-1）的表达。研究表明，该水凝胶具有优异的眼生物相容性，延长角膜前滞留时间（约40分钟），并在兔角膜损伤模型中促进分层上皮形成。通过重塑上皮屏障，这种生物粘附性水凝胶为角膜稳态维持和眼部疾病预防提供了一种有前景的策略。
