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Abstract Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is the most common complication of cataract surgery, and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation is the standard of care for cataract patients. Induction of postoperative epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) in residual lens epithelial cells (LEC) is the main mechanism by which PCO forms. Previous studies have shown that IOLs made with different materials have varying incidence of PCO. The aim of this paper was to study the interactions between human (h)LEC and polymer substrates. Polymers and copolymers of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and 3‐methacryloxypropyl tris(trimethylsiloxy)silane (TRIS) were synthesized and evaluated due to the clinical use of these materials as ocular biomaterials and implants. The chemical properties of the polymer surfaces were evaluated by contact angle, and polymer stiffness and roughness were measured using atomic force microscopy. In vitro studies showed the effect of polymer mechanical properties on the behavior of hLECs. Stiffer polymers increased α‐smooth muscle actin expression and induced cell elongation. Hydrophobic and rough polymer surfaces increased cell attachment. These results demonstrate that attachment of hLECs on different surfaces is affected by surface properties in vitro, and evaluating these properties may be useful for investigating prevention of PCO.
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This content will become publicly available on December 4, 2025
Polyuniverse: generation of a large-scale polymer library using rule-based polymerization reactions for polymer informatics
We collected extensive small molecule compounds from GDB-17, GDB-13, and PubChem and selected polymerization reaction pathways for eight types of polymers, to generate hundreds of quadrillions of hypothetical polymer structures.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2332276
- PAR ID:
- 10571092
- Publisher / Repository:
- RSC
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Digital Discovery
- Volume:
- 3
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 2635-098X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2465 to 2478
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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