Table 1.

Summary of advantages and disadvantages of various alternative scaffolds for transplantation.

Scaffolds	Advantages	Disadvantages
Keratin	good transparency; good mechanical strength; good availability	limited elasticity; no in vivo data; no data regarding clinical efficacy; cannot incorporate cells within
Silk fibroin	non-immunogenic; degrades in vivo; biocompatible; good transparency; good mechanical strength; well characterised (already used as a suture material); good surface for hLE cell expansion in vitro	costly to produce; no data regarding clinical efficacy; cannot incorporate cells within
Siloxane hydrogel	good mechanical properties good transparency well characterised (already used as contact lenses) good surface for hLE cell expansion in vitro clinical data is encouraging	cannot incorporate cells within
Fibrin	good mechanical properties; degrades in vivo; good surface for hLE cell expansion in vitro; clinical data is encouraging; could potentially be an autologous therapy	reported transparencies vary; risk of disease transmission; cannot incorporate cells within; some evidence to suggest that hLE differentiation is promoted on fibrin
Thermo reversible polymers	good surface for hLE cell expansion in vitro; simple process to harvest hLE cell sheet	hLE must be transplanted as a sheet, surgically complex; cannot incorporate cells within
Nanofibre scaffolds	good mechanical properties; good transparency; good surface for hLE cell expansion in vitro; may degrade in vivo	no data regarding clinical efficacy; mechanical properties may change throughout hLE culture period; cannot incorporate cells within
Chitosan hydrogels	well characterised (already used as wound dressing); good mechanical properties	limited transparency; cannot incorporate cells within; methods used to improve mechanical properties may increase cytotoxicity