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World Biochem 2019 & Regenerative Medicine 2019
Journal of Genetics and Molecular Biology | Volume 3
Page 49
OF EXCELLENCE
IN INTERNATIONAL
MEETINGS
alliedacademies.comYEARS
March 25-26, 2019 | Amsterdam, Netherlands
&
BIOCHEMISTRY AND ENZYMOLOGY
World Congress on
TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE, STEM CELL RESEARCH
2
nd
Global Conference on
Joint Event on
DEVELOPMENT OF INTRAOCULAR DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLED
RELEASE OF THERAPEUTIC AGENTS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF PCO
Veronica Hidalgo-Alvarez
University of East Anglia, UK
C
ataract is the primary cause of blindness worldwide. Currently, the most effective treatment is surgery with
implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL). Even though this procedure has proven effective in restoring vision,
cataract shows a very high recurrence rate. This is due to the wound-healing response triggered by the lens epi-
thelial cells that remain in the portion of the natural lens that is left after surgery. As a result, these cells undergo
a transdifferentiation process, they encroach onto the posterior side of the IOL and deposit aberrant extracellular
matrix proteins. Consequently, a secondary cataract forms. This pathology is also known as posterior capsule
opacification (PCO). Due to the difficulties encountered when attempting to treat it, prevention of this disease
is preferable. This can be achieved by formulating IOLs with biomaterials that can modulate cell adhesion, by
including elements of design that control cell migration or by administering chemical agents that block the
signalling pathways that lead to the development of PCO. Drug delivery systems using intraocular implants as
platforms for their assembly have been developed to dispense drugs during surgery. While research on this area
has shown promising results, there are still some issues that need to be overcome, such as the premature release
of the drug. The present project aims to address these limitations by creating a hydrogel-based delivery system
formulated to release a therapeutic agent for reduction of PCO only when this disorder starts to develop. This
delivery system uses an IOL as a vehicle, thus making it minimally invasive for the patient. The drug that has been
used in this study is an anti-VEGF molecule that has been shown to reduce PCO in recently published studies. The
efficiency of this system has been evaluated through
in vitro
studies of release in a 2D cell culture system, and its
effects on the cellular responses have been assessed.
Veronica Hidalgo-Alvarez, J Genet Mol Biol 2019, Volume 3
Veronica Hidalgo-Alvarez is undertaking her PhD in Bioengineering at the University of East Anglia (UK) under the super-
vision of Aram Saeed and Michael wormstone. She graduated in 2013 with a MSc in Biotechnology from the University
of Leon (Spain). After that, she undertook a placement at the Cancer Research Centre, affiliated with the University of
Liverpool, where she worked on the detection of biomarkers for lung cancer. This was followed by a second placement
at the Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, in the same University, working on the characterization of the limbal stem
cell niche in the eye.
v.hidalgo-alvarez@uea.ac.ukBIOGRAPHY