Science News | Scientists Develop Unique Thermogel to Help Prevent Retinal Scars | NewestLY

Washington [US]July 9 (ANI): A group of Singaporean scientists have developed a biofunctional thermogel, a type of synthetic polymer, to prevent retinal scarring caused by failed retinal detachment repair surgery, according to a new study.

The research findings were published in the journal Nature.

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Research reveals that proliferative vitreoretinopathy occurs when retinal scar tissue prevents the retina from healing and falling back into place. And it’s said that it accounts for more than 75 percent of failed retinal detachment surgeries, and can result in vision loss or blindness if left untreated.

Current treatment options for PVR are limited to surgical removal of this scar membrane with preserved visual recovery. This work highlights the potential use of synthetic polymers alone to modulate cellular behavior and, for the first time, offers a novel thermogel-based therapy to prevent retinal scarring.

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The team behind this development comes from A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) and the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI).

The research team demonstrated that bio-functional thermogels alone were able to prevent retinal scarring in pre-clinical models that mimic human disease. Using retinal cells, the team observed that the thermogel prevented the development of scar membranes by modulating cellular behaviors such as proliferation and migration.

Using genome-wide transcriptomic analysis to profile cellular gene expression, they revealed that the thermogel activates a protein called erythroid-associated nuclear factor 2 (NRF2), to initiate a series of chemical reactions to prevent scarring.

“Our study offers insight into how synthetic polymers no longer function only as inert drug carriers. This challenges the conventional belief that the use of small molecule drugs is always necessary to achieve a therapeutic effect. Beyond ophthalmology, the unique biofunctions of thermogels can also be applied to other diseases such as orthopedics. where intra-articular joint scarring may be a problem,” said Dr Su Xinyi, Senior Principal Investigator and Division Director at IMCB A*STAR, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at NUS. Yong Loo Lin Medical School.

“When we first developed this bio-functional thermogel at IMRE, we realized that it was a significant step forward in developing the next generation of biodegradable polymers. Its ability to mimic and replace vitreous given the material’s biocompatibility, makes it useful for many other biomedical applications.” said Prof Loh Xian Jun, Executive Director at IMRE A*STAR.

The thermogel is currently being commercialized by Vitreogel Innovations Inc, an A*STAR spin-off focused on developing polymer-based therapies for ophthalmological indications.

Vitreogel Innovations Inc is an ISO 13485 (Medical Device Quality System) accredited company that produces clinical grade versions of polymers for first-in-man clinical trials.

Based on this work, the team will continue to test the safety and efficacy of this polymer for repair of retinal detachment and prevention of PVR using additional pre-clinical disease models.

Through their work, the team aims to engineer the next generation of polymers with targeted chemical modifications to obtain specific cellular behaviors and identify alternative applications of thermogels beyond ophthalmology. (ANI)

(This is an unedited story and auto-generated from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not modify or edit the content content)

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