A bioactivity-enhanced thermosensitive amnion-derived hydrogel with sustained IGF-1 release: A multitargeted and efficient strategy for corneal injury repair.

Authors

Mengzhen Xie, Ao Li, Xiuli Sun, Jianying Liu, Yanlin Wei, Hengye Yang, Shihao Chen, Xingxia Zhong, Daping Quan, Xipeng Guan, Lei Tian, Ying Jie

Published in

Bioactive materials. Volume 68. Pages 794-813. Epub Sep 16, 2026.

Abstract

Corneal alkali burn (CAB) remains difficult to treat because rapid tear clearance limits topical drug exposure, while the injured cornea develops a complex microenvironment involving inflammation, neovascularization, fibrosis, epithelial barrier loss, and impaired nerve repair. Here, we developed a human amniotic membrane-derived thermosensitive hydrogel (hAMgel) and loaded it with insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to create a bioactive sustained-release system (IGF1@hAMgel) for CAB repair. The hAMgel transformed from a flowable precursor into a semi-transparent film on the ocular surface within 1-2 min and IGF1@hAMgel released approximately 90% of loaded IGF-1 over 24 h, with corneal IGF-1 concentration peaking at 2 h post-dose (378.5 pg/mg protein) and remaining detectable over 24 h, supporting sustained topical exposure. In a rat CAB model, IGF1@hAMgel accelerated epithelial healing, reducing the fluorescein-stained area from 31.34 ± 2.83% in controls to 16.78 ± 2.87% at day 1. By day 14, IGF1@hAMgel reduced corneal opacity (0.67 ± 0.52 vs. 4.00 ± 0.00), resolved edema with central corneal thickness approaching baseline (187.7 ± 16.31 μm vs. 178.3 ± 5.89 μm), suppressed neovascularization (CD31-positive area 4.46 ± 1.69% vs. 24.33 ± 2.07%), and promoted corneal nerve regeneration. Proteomic analysis showed that hAMgel retained abundant extracellular matrix(ECM) components, including collagens, Lumican, and fibronectin, together with repair-related and immunomodulatory proteins. These findings identify IGF1@hAMgel as a sutureless, eye-drop-like bioactive ECM platform that integrates growth-factor delivery with amnion-derived reparative cues for multitargeted ocular surface repair.

PMID:
42781431
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Sep 2026.

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