Clinical and pathologic characterization of a mouse model of graded limbal stem cell deficiency.

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is a clinically challenging eye disease caused by damage to limbal stem cells (LSCs). Currently, the international consensus classifies LSCD into three clinical stages based on the disease severity. However, no existing animal models attempt to replicate the varying degrees of LSCD observed in clinical cases.

Evaluation of Corneal Nerve Regeneration After Minimally Invasive Corneal Neurotization.

Purpose: To evaluate the corneal nerve regeneration after minimally invasive corneal neurotization (MICN) and to further clarify the recovery patterns of sensory and trophic functions of the corneal nerves.

Design: A retrospective cohort study based in the Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital.

Methods: Eighteen patients (18 eyes) who underwent MICN for neurotrophic keratopathy due to intracranial surgery was conducted to analyze their follow-up data at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months after surgery.

A Sandwich-Like Oral Mucosa Graft-Conjunctiva In Situ-Dermis-Fat Graft for Reconstruction of the Anophthalmic Socket with Ocular Infection History.

Introduction: A novel technique of using a sandwich-like structure, namely, an oral mucosa graft (OMG)-conjunctiva in situ-dermis-fat graft (DFG) (OMG-C-DFG), to reconstruct a contracted and low-capacity anophthalmic socket for a patient with ocular infection history was evaluated.

Methods: This was retrospective case study of four patients (cases) who underwent anophthalmic socket reconstruction surgery in which the OMG-C-DFG technique was applied. The procedures were performed in the Department of Ophthalmology at the Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine (Shanghai, China).

Clinical Outcomes of Minimally Invasive Corneal Neurotization After Cerebellopontine Angle Neurosurgical Procedures.

Purpose: To report 12 patients with neurotrophic keratopathy due to the trigeminal nerve injury after intracranial tumor surgeries underwent minimally invasive corneal neurotization and evaluate the outcomes of corneal reinnervation.

Methods: Twelve patients (12 eyes) with neurotrophic keratopathy caused by the trigeminal nerve injury after intracranial surgeries received minimally invasive corneal neurotization. All the preoperative central corneal sensation was under 5 mm, and minimally invasive corneal neurotization was performed over 6 months after the intracranial surgery.

Subconjunctival Injection of Regulatory T Cells Potentiates Corneal Healing Via Orchestrating Inflammation and Tissue Repair After Acute Alkali Burn.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of locally delivered regulatory T cells (Tregs) on acute corneal wound healing after alkali burn.

Methods: After corneal alkali burn, the mice were injected subconjunctivally with regulatory T cells (Tregs) isolated from syngeneic mice. The wound healing process was monitored by clinical manifestation, flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Y-27632 Promotes the Repair Effect of Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived Endothelial Progenitor Cells on Corneal Endothelial Wound Healing.

Purpose: To investigate the proliferation of umbilical cord blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells (UCB EPCs) and the differentiation efficiency toward corneal endothelial cell (CEC)-like cells induced by rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor Y-27632 and to determine the most effective strategy for repairing corneal endothelium injuries in rabbits.

Methods: UCB EPCs were cultured in Endothelial Cell Growth Medium-2 (EGM-2) media or conditioned media (CM) from human CECs, with and without the addition of Y-27632. Bromo-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunocytochemistry and cell counting kit-8 assays were used to examine the proliferation of the cells.

Exploitation of human mesenchymal stromal cell derived matrix towards the structural and functional restoration of the ocular surface.

Conjunctival restoration is indispensable to help maintain the ocular surface microenvironment by secreting lubricative mucins. However, conventional amniotic membrane transplantation therapy has many limitations in its application due to risks involved with disease transmission and alloreactivity. As decellularized tissues have been frequently used for tissue engineering and adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) have been acknowledged for their low immunogenicity, we fabricated a decellularized matrix of adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (DMA) to study the therapeutic potential of DMA in healing conjunctival defects.

PTEN Inhibition Accelerates Corneal Endothelial Wound Healing through Increased Endothelial Cell Division and Migration.

Purpose: To investigate the role of phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) in the regulation of corneal endothelial cell (CECs) focusing on proliferation and migration, and to further evaluate the application of PTEN inhibitors in the treatment of corneal endothelial dysfunction in a rat model.

Methods: Expression of PTEN in human and rat corneal endothelium was determined by immunocytochemistry, western blotting, and ELISA. A small molecular inhibitor of PTEN, bpV(pic), was applied in the culture of human CEC cell line B4G12 and organ-cultured rat cornea in the presence of transforming growth factor beta 2 (TGF-β2).

The functions of IL-23 and IL-2 on driving autoimmune effector T-helper 17 cells into the memory pool in dry eye disease.

Long-lived memory T-helper 17 (Th17) cells actively mediate the chronic inflammation in autoimmune disorders, including dry eye disease (DED). The mechanisms responsible for the maintenance and reactivation of these cells in autoimmunity have been subject of investigation. However, the process through which memory Th17 are generated from their effector precursors remains to be elucidated.

Corneal Reinnervation and Sensitivity Recovery after Pterygium Excision.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in corneal sensitivity and subbasal nerve density after pterygium excision.

Methods: This prospective trial included 22 eyes with nasal primary pterygium and 18 controls. Corneal sensitivity was evaluated using a Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer in the nasal, superior, temporal, inferior, and center quadrants of the cornea before surgery and 10 days, 1 month, and 3months after surgery.

Degeneration of Corneal Sensation and Innervation in Patients with Facial Paralysis: A Cross-Sectional Study Using in Vivo Confocal Microscopy.

: Facial paralysis (FP) leads to diverse periocular complications which threats visual acuity and affects corneal nerve functionally and morphologically. This study aims to summarize the clinical ophthalmic outcomes, corneal sensation, and morphological alterations of subbasal nerve and dendritic cells (DCs) in patients with facial paralysis.: We performed a cross-sectional study of 48 consecutive patients with facial paralysis at one tertiary hospital.

Electrospun gelatin/PCL and collagen/PCL scaffolds for modulating responses of bone marrow endothelial progenitor cells.

The determination of potential transplantable substrates and substitution cells for corneal endothelium transplantation may compensate for the shortage of cornea donors. Appropriate biodegradable and biocompatible tissue-engineered substratum with seed cells for endothelial keratoplasty has been increasingly studied. In the present study, electrospun gelatin/polycaprolactone (PCL) and collagen/PCL scaffolds were successfully established.

Local Delivery of Regulatory T Cells Promotes Corneal Allograft Survival.

Background: Regulatory T (Treg) cell-based immunotherapies have been studied as potential cell-based modalities for promoting transplant survival. However, the efficacy of local delivery of Treg cells in corneal transplantation has not been fully elucidated. Herein, we investigated the kinetics of migration of subconjunctivally injected Treg cells and their role in promoting corneal allograft survival.

IFN-γ-Expressing Th17 Cells Are Required for Development of Severe Ocular Surface Autoimmunity.

Th17 cells are critical effectors mediating the ocular surface autoimmunity in dry eye disease (DED). Increased IFN-γ has also been implicated in DED; however, it remains unclear to what extent Th1 cells contribute to DED pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the cellular source of IFN-γ and assessed its contribution to corneal epitheliopathy in DED mice.

Tailored treatment for the management of scleral necrosis following pterygium excision.

The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of tailored treatment for the management of scleral necrosis following pterygium surgery. A series of nine cases of scleral necrosis following pterygium excision between September 2009 and September 2012 were included. In cases where ischemia was the cause of scleral necrosis, Tenon's membrane covering (TMC) surgery was performed.

Free tarsomarginal graft for large congenital coloboma repair in patients with Tessier number 10 clefts.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcome when a free tarsomarginal graft is used to repair a large congenital coloboma in patients with a Tessier number 10 cleft.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective, interventional case series. The medical records were reviewed for five children (six eyes) diagnosed as having Tessier number 10 cleft with large upper eyelid defects and symblepharon.