# Engineering Tunable Biomimetic Adhesive Hydrogel to Deliver and Enhance MSC Function for Corneal Regeneration

> **NIH EY R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2026 · $527,987

## Abstract

Project Summary
Corneal diseases pose a significant public health challenge in the United States, often leading to vision
impairment and decreased quality of life. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) delivery to the cornea after a severe
injury has shown promise by accelerating repair and significantly suppressing inflammation. However, a major
bottleneck in developing MSC therapy for corneal repair is the lack of effective delivery methods. Moreover,
optimizing the dosage and timing of MSC therapy is crucial for achieving therapeutic outcomes while minimizing
side effects. MSCs must also survive and integrate into corneal tissue to exert their therapeutic effects. To date,
MSCs have been delivered via surface injection, fibrin gel, or as a sheet on an amniotic membrane. However,
these methods are limited by poor MSC survival and/or rapid matrix degradation. To address these issues, we
propose the development of adhesive hydrogels that can effectively encapsulate and release MSCs in a
sustained manner while having similar biomechanics as the corneal tissue. Our platform composed of a single
hybrid polymeric structure with tunable variables to generate two distinct mechanical properties and degradation
rates: 1) a soft/controlled degradable adhesive hydrogel to function as a bandage containing MSCs that release
secreted factors for promoting corneal epithelial regeneration and 2) a strong/highly adhesive hydrogel that can
adhere to corneal stromal defects and simultaneously serves as a stromal replacement while providing a platform
for the delivery of MSCs to promote repair of stromal injuries/ulcerations. Our proposed biomaterial is a
photocurable adhesive composite hydrogel based on chemically modified gelatin and hyaluronic acid (HA),
encapsulated with MSCs. First, gelatin will be dual-functionalized with methacrylic anhydride (MA) and
phenylboronic acid (PBA) to control mechanical properties and promote tissue adhesion. The incorporation of
methacrylate HA derivatives in

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11276657
- **Project number:** 1R01EY038446-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Nasim  Annabi; ALI R DJALILIAN; Reza  Dana
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** EY
- **Fiscal year:** 2026
- **Award amount:** $527,987
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2026-05-01T00:00:00 → 2030-04-30T00:00:00

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11276657

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11276657, Engineering Tunable Biomimetic Adhesive Hydrogel to Deliver and Enhance MSC Function for Corneal Regeneration (1R01EY038446-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-07-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11276657. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*