Cheeklift With and Without Posterior Lamellar Spacer Grafts for Treatment of Lower Eyelid Retraction.

Background: To compare outcomes of lower eyelid retraction repair using a subperiosteal midface lifting technique with and without posterior lamellar grafts.

Methods: Charts of patients undergoing a sub-periosteal midface lift for treatment of lower eyelid retraction using 4 techniques for posterior lamellar reconstruction were reviewed. Thirty patients were included in each of the groups: midface with hard palate graft (HPG), midface lift with acellular cadaveric graft (ADG), midface lift with retractor disinsertion (RD) and midface lift alone (NG).

Frmpd1 Facilitates Trafficking of G-Protein Transducin and Modulates Synaptic Function in Rod Photoreceptors of Mammalian Retina.

Trafficking of transducin (Gα) in rod photoreceptors is critical for adaptive and modulatory responses of the retina to varying light intensities. In addition to fine-tuning phototransduction gain in rod outer segments (OSs), light-induced translocation of Gα to the rod synapse enhances rod to rod bipolar synaptic transmission. Here, we show that the rod-specific loss of Frmpd1 (FERM and PDZ domain containing 1), in the retina of both female and male mice, results in delayed return of Gα from the synapse back to outer segments in the dark, compromising the capacity of rods to recover from light adaptation.

Targeted deletion of an NRL- and CRX-regulated alternative promoter specifically silences FERM and PDZ domain containing 1 (Frmpd1) in rod photoreceptors.

Regulation of cell type-specific gene expression is critical for generating neuronal diversity. Transcriptome analyses have unraveled extensive heterogeneity of transcribed sequences in retinal photoreceptors because of alternate splicing and/or promoter usage. Here we show that Frmpd1 (FERM and PDZ domain containing 1) is transcribed from an alternative promoter specifically in the retina.

Genomes of ubiquitous marine and hypersaline Hydrogenovibrio, Thiomicrorhabdus and Thiomicrospira spp. encode a diversity of mechanisms to sustain chemolithoautotrophy in heterogeneous environments.

Chemolithoautotrophic bacteria from the genera Hydrogenovibrio, Thiomicrorhabdus and Thiomicrospira are common, sometimes dominant, isolates from sulfidic habitats including hydrothermal vents, soda and salt lakes and marine sediments. Their genome sequences confirm their membership in a deeply branching clade of the Gammaproteobacteria. Several adaptations to heterogeneous habitats are apparent.

Pias3 is necessary for dorso-ventral patterning and visual response of retinal cones but is not required for rod photoreceptor differentiation.

Protein inhibitor of activated Stat 3 (Pias3) is implicated in guiding specification of rod and cone photoreceptors through post-translational modification of key retinal transcription factors. To investigate its role during retinal development, we deleted exon 2-5 of the mouse gene, which resulted in complete loss of the Pias3 protein. mice did not show any overt phenotype, and retinal lamination appeared normal even at 18 months.

SnoN/SkiL, a TGFβ signaling mediator: a participant in autophagy induced by arsenic trioxide.

Effective treatment of cancer cells with chemotherapeutic drugs relies on their ability to induce cell death, making the discovery of their mechanisms of action crucial. Arsenic trioxide (As(2)O(3)), used in the treatment of promyelocytic leukemia (PML), triggers cell death in several solid tumor cell lines including ovarian carcinomas. While As(2)O(3) is remarkably cytotoxic in human ovarian cancer cells, its mechanism of action is poorly understood.