Currently, Shengli Mi is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Shenzhen International Graduate School of Tsinghua University. His research is focus on biomanufacturing and tissue engineering. Shengli Mi is a high-level overseas talents and is a leading talent in Shenzhen. Shengli Mi currently serves as an editorial board member of Biomaterials Translation and International Journal of Ophthalmic Research. He got 16 scientific research projects (including 3 national level projects) with a total budget exceeding 40 million RMB. In recent years, a total of 78 research papers have been published in SCI journals, such as Nature Communication, Small, Biofabrication, Lab on a chip, Cell Research, etc. Among them, 60 SCI papers have been published as first/corresponding papers. Shengli Mi was authorized 60 patents and received one provincial and ministerial level scientific and technological progress award.

Topic title: Construct artificial cornea based on bio-manufaturing technology

Abstract:

Artificial cornea is an effective treatment option for cases of severe corneal loss. In this study, we prepared a core-skirt designed artificial cornea with orthogonal microfiber grid scaffold. We fabricated PCL orthogonal microfiber grid scaffolds by a direct writing technique, and then combined them with compressed collagen (CC) to obtain a sandwich-like CC/P (where P is used to represent the PCL microfiber grid scaffold). PHEMA hydrogel and the CC/P served as the core and the skirt, respectively, with the P also serving as an intermediate between the two. The physical properties of the artificial cornea, including the morphology, the mechanical properties and the light transmittance, were evaluated. SEM images showed an effective connection and a lack of phase separation at the interface between the core and the skirt, and the skirt formed a highly porous scaffold that promoted tissue bio-integration. In addition, we used the skirt structure to construct a corneal tissue model containing two cells types: corneal stromal stem cells (CSSCs) and mouse hippocampal neurons. The results showed that the cells could grow and differentiate well, and the orthogonal microfiber grid scaffold fibers were good guides for the structural growth of CSSCs and neuronal axons