Computational Retinal Microvascular Biomarkers from an OCTA Image in Clinical Investigation.

Retinal structural and functional changes in humans can be manifestations of different physiological or pathological conditions. Retinal imaging is the only way to directly inspect blood vessels and their pathological changes throughout the whole body non-invasively. Various quantitative analysis metrics have been used to measure the abnormalities of retinal microvasculature in the context of different retinal, cerebral and systemic disorders.

Retinal safety and toxicity study of artesunate and .

Background: Artesunate (ART), a member of the artemisinin family, possesses multi-properties, including anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, and anti-tumor. ART was recently reported to show anti-neovascularization effect on the cornea, iris, and retina. Compared to the expensive anti-VEGF treatment, this versatile, economical treatment option is attractive in the ophthalmic field.

Assigning functionality to cysteines by base editing of cancer dependency genes.

Covalent chemistry represents an attractive strategy for expanding the ligandability of the proteome, and chemical proteomics has revealed numerous electrophile-reactive cysteines on diverse human proteins. Determining which of these covalent binding events affect protein function, however, remains challenging. Here we describe a base-editing strategy to infer the functionality of cysteines by quantifying the impact of their missense mutation on cancer cell proliferation.

Optical coherence tomography angiography in retinitis pigmentosa: A narrative review.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of inherited retinal disorders characterized by progressive rod and cone photoreceptor degeneration. Changes in retinal vasculature have long been associated with RP. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a novel imaging technology that enables noninvasive visualization of the retinal and choroidal microvasculature.

In depth understanding of retinitis pigmentosa pathogenesis through optical coherence tomography angiography analysis: a narrative review.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the most recognized inherited retinal disorder involving progressive photoreceptors degeneration which eventually causes blindness. However, the pathogenesis of RP is still unclear, making it difficult to establish satisfying treatments. Evidence have been found to support the theory that vascular dysfunction is associated with the progression of RP.

Development of a Water Matrix Certified Reference Material for Volatile Organic Compounds Analysis in Water.

Water matrix certified reference material (MCRM) of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is used to provide quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) during the analysis of VOCs in water. In this research, a water MCRM of 28 VOCs was developed using a "reconstitution" approach by adding VOCs spiking, methanol solution into pure water immediately prior to analysis. The VOCs spiking solution was prepared gravimetrically by dividing 28 VOCs into seven groups, then based on ISO Guide 35, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to investigate the homogeneity and long-term stability.

Effect of Lingqi Huangban granule plus intravitreal ranibizumab on macular edema induced by retinal vein occlusion: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Lingqi Huangban granule (LQHB) plus intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of macular edema (ME) induced by retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Methods: A prospective, randomized controlled study was conducted. A total of 60 subjects with RVO induced ME were randomized into control group (CG) (30 eyes) and LQHB group (LQHBG) (30 eyes).

Intervention of artemisinin in macular edema associated with retinal vein occlusion: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Artemisinin was discovered to be highly effective antimalarial drugs shortly after the isolation of the parent artemisinin in 1971 in China. It is derived from extracts of sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) and are well established for the treatment of malaria. Recently, artemisinin has been shown that it might have therapeutic value for several other diseases.

More than anti-malarial agents: therapeutic potential of artemisinins in neurodegeneration.

Artemisinin, also called qinghaosu, is originally derived from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua), which is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Artemisinin and its derivatives (artemisinins) have been widely used for many years as anti-malarial agents, with few adverse side effects. Interestingly, evidence has recently shown that artemisinins might have a therapeutic value for several other diseases beyond malaria, including cancers, inflammatory diseases, and autoimmune disorders.

Caveolae-Mediated Endocytosis as a Novel Mechanism of Resistance to Trastuzumab Emtansine (T-DM1).

Trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that has demonstrated clinical benefit for patients with HER2 metastatic breast cancer; however, its clinical activity is limited by inherent or acquired drug resistance. The molecular mechanisms that drive clinical resistance to T-DM1, especially in HER2 tumors, are not well understood. We used HER2 cell lines to develop models of T-DM1 resistance using a cyclical dosing schema in which cells received T-DM1 in an "on-off" routine until a T-DM1-resistant population was generated.

Regulation of pluripotency and self- renewal of ESCs through epigenetic-threshold modulation and mRNA pruning.

Embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency requires bivalent epigenetic modifications of key developmental genes regulated by various transcription factors and chromatin-modifying enzymes. How these factors coordinate with one another to maintain the bivalent chromatin state so that ESCs can undergo rapid self-renewal while retaining pluripotency is poorly understood. We report that Utf1, a target of Oct4 and Sox2, is a bivalent chromatin component that buffers poised states of bivalent genes.

Streptococcus mutans protein synthesis during mixed-species biofilm development by high-throughput quantitative proteomics.

Biofilms formed on tooth surfaces are comprised of mixed microbiota enmeshed in an extracellular matrix. Oral biofilms are constantly exposed to environmental changes, which influence the microbial composition, matrix formation and expression of virulence. Streptococcus mutans and sucrose are key modulators associated with the evolution of virulent-cariogenic biofilms.

Constrained de novo sequencing of conotoxins.

De novo peptide sequencing by mass spectrometry (MS) can determine the amino acid sequence of an unknown peptide without reference to a protein database. MS-based de novo sequencing assumes special importance in focused studies of families of biologically active peptides and proteins, such as hormones, toxins, and antibodies, for which amino acid sequences may be difficult to obtain through genomic methods. These protein families often exhibit sequence homology or characteristic amino acid content; yet, current de novo sequencing approaches do not take advantage of this prior knowledge and, hence, search an unnecessarily large space of possible sequences.

The exopolysaccharide matrix modulates the interaction between 3D architecture and virulence of a mixed-species oral biofilm.

Virulent biofilms are responsible for a range of infections, including oral diseases. All biofilms harbor a microbial-derived extracellular-matrix. The exopolysaccharides (EPS) formed on tooth-pellicle and bacterial surfaces provide binding sites for microorganisms; eventually the accumulated EPS enmeshes microbial cells.

Worker honeybee brain proteome.

A large-scale mapping of the worker honeybee brain proteome was achieved by MudPIT. We identified 2742 proteins from forager and nurse honeybee brain samples; 17% of the total proteins were found to be differentially expressed by spectral count sampling statistics and a G-test. Sequences were compared with the EuKaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG) catalog set using BLASTX and then categorized into the major KOG categories of most similar sequences.

Characterization of the human submandibular/sublingual saliva glycoproteome using lectin affinity chromatography coupled to multidimensional protein identification technology.

In-depth analysis of the salivary proteome is fundamental to understanding the functions of salivary proteins in the oral cavity and to reveal disease biomarkers involved in different pathophysiological conditions, with the ultimate goal of improving patient diagnosis and prognosis. Submandibular and sublingual glands contribute saliva rich in glycoproteins to the total saliva output, making them valuable sources for glycoproteomic analysis. Lectin-affinity chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry-based shotgun proteomics was used to explore the submandibular/sublingual (SM/SL) saliva glycoproteome.

Differential proteomic analysis of mammalian tissues using SILAM.

Differential expression of proteins between tissues underlies organ-specific functions. Under certain pathological conditions, this may also lead to tissue vulnerability. Furthermore, post-translational modifications exist between different cell types and pathological conditions.

Pharmacological inhibition of BMK1 suppresses tumor growth through promyelocytic leukemia protein.

BMK1 is activated by mitogens and oncogenic signals and, thus, is strongly implicated in tumorigenesis. We found that BMK1 interacted with promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML), and inhibited its tumor-suppressor function through phosphorylation. Furthermore, activated BMK1 notably inhibited PML-dependent activation of p21.

Proteomic analysis provides insights on venom processing in Conus textile.

Conus species of marine snails deliver a potent collection of toxins from the venom duct via a long proboscis attached to a harpoon tooth. Conotoxins are known to possess powerful neurological effects and some have been developed for therapeutic uses. Using mass-spectrometry based proteomics, qualitative and quantitative differences in conotoxin components were found in the proximal, central and distal sections of the Conus textile venom duct suggesting specialization of duct sections for biosynthesis of particular conotoxins.

Biological and structural basis for Aha1 regulation of Hsp90 ATPase activity in maintaining proteostasis in the human disease cystic fibrosis.

The activator of Hsp90 ATPase 1, Aha1, has been shown to participate in the Hsp90 chaperone cycle by stimulating the low intrinsic ATPase activity of Hsp90. To elucidate the structural basis for ATPase stimulation of human Hsp90 by human Aha1, we have developed novel mass spectrometry approaches that demonstrate that the N- and C-terminal domains of Aha1 cooperatively bind across the dimer interface of Hsp90 to modulate the ATP hydrolysis cycle and client activity in vivo. Mutations in both the N- and C-terminal domains of Aha1 impair its ability to bind Hsp90 and stimulate its ATPase activity in vitro and impair in vivo the ability of the Hsp90 system to modulate the folding and trafficking of wild-type and variant (DeltaF508) cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) responsible for the inherited disease cystic fibrosis (CF).

Shotgun protein identification and quantification by mass spectrometry in neuroproteomics.

Shotgun proteomics is based on identification and quantification of peptides from digested proteins using tandem mass spectrometry. In this chapter, we discuss computational methods to analyze tandem mass spectra of peptides, including database searching, de novo peptide sequencing, hybrid approaches, library searching, and unrestricted modification search. A special focus is given to database searching programs, since they are the most widely used.

Quantitative analysis of age specific variation in the abundance of human female parotid salivary proteins.

Human saliva is a protein-rich, easily accessible source of potential local and systemic biomarkers to monitor changes that occur under pathological conditions; however, little is known about the changes in abundance associated with normal aging. In this study, we performed a comprehensive proteomic profiling of pooled saliva collected from the parotid glands of healthy female subjects, divided into two age groups 1 and 2 (20-30 and 55-65 years old, respectively). Hydrophobic charge interaction chromatography was used to separate high- from low-abundance proteins prior to characterization of the parotid saliva using multidimensional protein identification technology (MudPIT).

Shotgun protein identification and quantification by mass spectrometry.

Shotgun proteomics is based on identification and quantification of peptides from digested proteins using tandem mass spectrometry. In this chapter, we discuss computational methods to analyze tandem mass spectra of peptides, including database searching, de novo peptide sequencing, hybrid approaches, library searching, and unrestricted modification search. A special focus is given to database searching programs since they are most widely used.