Safety and efficacy of topical vs intracanalicular corticosteroids for the prevention of postoperative inflammation after cataract surgery.

Purpose: To compare the safety and efficacy of topical prednisolone and intracanalicular dexamethasone ophthalmic insert for the prevention of postoperative inflammation after cataract surgery.

Setting: Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Design: Retrospective consecutive case series.

Repeatability and comparability of keratometry measurements obtained with swept-source optical coherence and combined dual Scheimpflug-Placido disk-based tomography.

Purpose: To assess the repeatability of keratometric measurements obtained using a reflectance and swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) based biometer and to compare these values with those obtained with a dual Scheimpflug-Placido (S-P) disk-based tomographer/topographer.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.

Design: Prospective consecutive case series.

Combination Antivascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Modified Panretinal Photocoagulation in Management of Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: This work evaluates the effects of combined intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) and modified panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) for management of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Methods: This retrospective case series included 37 eyes of 33 patients with high-risk PDR. Anti-VEGF injections (≥ 2) were followed by modified, midperipheral PRP performed in 2 or more sessions.

Pluripotent Stem Cells as Models of Retina Development.

The ability of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) to differentiate into retinal tissue has led to many attempts to direct this process to yield specific retinal cell types. The ability to do so would greatly impact both the study of normal retina development in model systems that can be precisely controlled and the generation of a homogeneous population of cells optimized for transplantation in cell replacement therapy. Thus far, many reviews have focused on the translational potential of PSC retinal studies.

Generation of Photoreceptor Precursors from Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.

Embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation can be used to model development and to produce transplantable cells of the desired phenotype. ESCs can reproducibly generate retinal cells but the derivation of photoreceptor precursors is variable and depends on an array of exogenous factors and intrinsic cell-cell interactions. In this work, we have defined the use of exogenous signaling factors, dissociation, and adherent versus 3-dimensional (3D) conditions on the derivation of retinal cells from pluripotent mouse ESCs.

Activin Signals through SMAD2/3 to Increase Photoreceptor Precursor Yield during Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation.

In vitro differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into retinal fates can be used to study the roles of exogenous factors acting through multiple signaling pathways during retina development. Application of activin A during a specific time frame that corresponds to early embryonic retinogenesis caused increased generation of CRX photoreceptor precursors and decreased PAX6 retinal progenitor cells (RPCs). Following activin A treatment, SMAD2/3 was activated in RPCs and bound to promoter regions of key RPC and photoreceptor genes.

Carcinogen-specific mutations in preferred Ras-Raf pathway oncogenes directed by strand bias.

Carcinogen exposures inscribe mutation patterns on cancer genomes and sometimes bias the acquisition of driver mutations toward preferred oncogenes, potentially dictating sensitivity to targeted agents. Whether and how carcinogen-specific mutation patterns direct activation of preferred oncogenes remains poorly understood. Here, mouse models of breast cancer were exploited to uncover a mechanistic link between strand-biased mutagenesis and oncogene preference.