Design and Characterization of Biomimetic Kerateine Aerogel-Electrospun Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Retinal Cell Culture

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a retinal disease that affects 196 million people and causes nearly 9% of blindness worldwide. While several pharmacological approaches slow the effects of AMD, in our opinion, cell-based strategies offer the most likely path to a cure. We describe the design and initial characterization of a kerateine (obtained by reductive extraction from keratin proteins) aerogel-electrospun polycaprolactone fiber scaffold system. The scaffolds mimic key features of the choroid and the Bruch’s membrane, which is the basement membrane to which the cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) attach. The scaffolds had elastic moduli of 2–7.2 MPa, a similar range as native choroid and Bruch’s membrane. ARPE-19 cells attached to the polycaprolactone fibers, remained viable for one week, and proliferated to form a monolayer reminiscent of that needed for retinal repair. These constructs could serve as a model system for testing cell and/or drug treatment strategies or directing ex vivo retinal tissue formation in the treatment of AMD.