Construction of a cell perfusion apparatus to model the dynamic 3D culture of the human trabecular meshwork

PROJECT NUMBER: 21

AUTHOR: Tanner Toussaint, Chemical and Biological Engineering

MENTOR: Melissa Krebs, Chemical and Biological Engineering | MENTOR: Matthew Osmond, Chemical and Biological Engineering

ABSTRACT

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Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and 80 million individuals worldwide are expected to be affected with glaucoma by 2020. Increased intraocular pressure (IOP) is thought to be due mainly to defects in aqueous humor drainage. The main component of this drainage system is the trabecular meshwork. This research project investigated the use of a 3D scaffold system in a perfusion bioreactor to model the trabecular meshwork, with future applications in cell studies and drug screening. Initially, the perfusion apparatus with scaffolds was assembled and perfused simply with water to measure a steady state pressure drop. A relatively constant steady state pressure drop of 10 mmHg was achieved over many trials using collagen scaffolds with large, unaligned pores. The next goal of the project will be to show a steady pressure increase throughout the system due to the presence of human Trabecular Meshwork (hTM) cells. Being able to accurately model glaucoma in vitro would provide an excellent drug screening platform to reduce the number of experiments required in animals prior to clinical trials. If our in vitro model can closely reflect the trabecular meshwork behavior in vivo, our ultimate results should be consistent with those under physiological conditions.

VISUAL PRESENTATION

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

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Tanner Toussaint is a junior in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering with a minor in Biomedical Engineering. His work is for Dr. Krebs in her CBEN lab, more specifically in the tissue engineering area. The research he has been working on is to accurately model glaucoma in vitro using cell perfusion. Before COVID-19, test results were promising, showing that eye conditions were being mimicked by the apparatus. This is the research that will continue in the Fall.