The landscape of angiogenesis and inflammatory factors in eyes with myopic choroidal neovascularization before and after anti-VEGF injection.

Introduction: To investigate the levels of angiogenesis and inflammatory cytokines in individuals with myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) and the changes in these factors following intravitreal anti-VEGF injection.

Methods: Aqueous humor samples were gathered from eyes with mCNV, those with single macular bleeding (SMB) without mCNV in highly myopic eyes, and those with age-related cataracts. Using a multiplex bead immunoassay, we analyzed 28 angiogenesis and inflammatory factors in the aqueous humor.

Effect of Sonic hedgehog gene-modified bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on graft-induced retinal gliosis and retinal ganglion cells survival in diabetic mice.

Aim: To investigate the effects of Sonic hedgehog () gene-modified bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on graft-induced retinal gliosis and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) survival in diabetic mice.

Methods: Bone marrow-derived MSCs were genetically modified with the gene to generate a stably transfected cell line of -modified MSCs (MSC-Shh). Intravitreal injections of MSC-Shh and green fluorescent protein-modified MSCs (MSC-Gfp; control) were administered in diabetic mice.

Clinical Outcomes After Cranioplasty With Titanium Mesh, Polyetheretherketone, or Composite Bone Cement: A Retrospective Study.

Cranioplasty is a common neurosurgical procedure; however, the optimal material choice remains controversial. At the time of this writing, autologous bone, the preferred choice for primary cranioplasty, has a high incidence of complications such as infection and resorption, thus requiring frequent use of synthetic materials. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the clinical benefits of titanium mesh (Ti), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and composite bone cement (CBC) in cranioplasty to provide a clear selection basis for clinicians and patients.

Tailored Apoptotic Vesicle Delivery Platform for Inflammatory Regulation and Tissue Repair to Ameliorate Ischemic Stroke.

Apoptotic vesicles (ApoVs) hold great promise for inflammatory regulation and tissue repair. However, little effort has been dedicated to developing ApoV-based drug delivery platforms, while the insufficient targeting capability of ApoVs also limits their clinical applications. This work presents a platform architecture that integrates apoptosis induction, drug loading, and functionalized proteome regulation, followed by targeting modification, enabling the creation of an apoptotic vesicle delivery system to treat ischemic stroke.

Maternal genetic polymorphisms in the major mitotic checkpoint genes and associated with the risk of survival in abnormal chromosomal fetuses.

The genetic etiology of fetal chromosome abnormalities remains unknown, which brings about an enormous burden for patients, families, and society. The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) controls the normal procedure of chromosome disjunction and may take part in the process. The aim of this study was to explore the association between polymorphisms of rs1801368 and rs1283639804, involved in SAC and fetal chromosome abnormalities.

Post-traumatic brain injury glioma: Characteristics, report of 2 cases report and literature review.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a pathogenetic factor in glioma remains controversial, and currently there is still no clear mechanism behind post-TBI glioma. Thus, we provide two case reports of post-TBI glioma contributing power to this research, and we provide a summary of the mechanisms of post-TBI glioma through literature review.

Methods: We report two cases of brain gliomas that developed in the scar of a previous brain trauma.

Aptamer-Modified Erythrocyte Membrane-Coated pH-Sensitive Nanoparticles for c-Met-Targeted Therapy of Glioblastoma Multiforme.

Biomimetic drug delivery systems, especially red blood cell (RBC) membrane-based nanoparticle drug delivery systems (RNP), have been extensively utilized in tumor drug delivery because of their excellent biocompatibility and prolonged circulation. In this study, we developed an active targeting pH-sensitive RNP loaded with DOX by decorating an aptamer SL1 on RBC membranes (SL1-RNP-DOX) for c-Met-targeted therapy of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). SL1 could specifically bind to c-Met, which is highly expressed in GBM U87MG cells and facilitate DOX delivery to GBM cells.

Reconstruction-Assisted Feature Encoding Network for Histologic Subtype Classification of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Accurate histological subtype classification between adenocarcinoma (ADC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) using computed tomography (CT) images is of great importance to assist clinicians in determining treatment and therapy plans for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Although current deep learning approaches have achieved promising progress in this field, they are often difficult to capture efficient tumor representations due to inadequate training data, and in consequence show limited performance. In this study, we propose a novel and effective reconstruction-assisted feature encoding network (RAFENet) for histological subtype classification by leveraging an auxiliary image reconstruction task to enable extra guidance and regularization for enhanced tumor feature representations.

Chaperonin-Containing TCP1 Subunit 5 Protects Against the Effect of Mer Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Knockdown in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells by Interacting With Filamentous Actin and Activating the LIM-Kinase 1/Cofilin Pathway.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), characterized by the gradual loss of rod and cone photoreceptors that eventually leads to blindness, is the most common inherited retinal disorder, affecting more than 2.5 million people worldwide. However, the underlying pathogenesis of RP remains unclear and there is no effective cure for RP.

AIR-Net: A novel multi-task learning method with auxiliary image reconstruction for predicting EGFR mutation status on CT images of NSCLC patients.

Automated and accurate EGFR mutation status prediction using computed tomography (CT) imagery is of great value for tailoring optimal treatments to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, existing deep learning based methods usually adopt a single task learning strategy to design and train EGFR mutation status prediction models with limited training data, which may be insufficient to learn distinguishable representations for promoting prediction performance. In this paper, a novel multi-task learning method named AIR-Net is proposed to precisely predict EGFR mutation status on CT images.

Multimodal imaging and genetic analysis of adult-onset best vitelliform macular dystrophy in Chinese patients.

Compared to juvenile-onset best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD), adult-onset BVMD is not well characterized and lacks strict diagnostic criteria. The present study aimed to evaluate the clinical and genetic characteristics of four advanced-age Chinese patients with adult-onset BVMD by combining multimodal imaging and genetic analysis. The four patients (all older than 50 years) were diagnosed with adult-onset BVMD at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (Guangzhou, China).

Learning rich features with hybrid loss for brain tumor segmentation.

Background: Accurately segment the tumor region of MRI images is important for brain tumor diagnosis and radiotherapy planning. At present, manual segmentation is wildly adopted in clinical and there is a strong need for an automatic and objective system to alleviate the workload of radiologists.

Methods: We propose a parallel multi-scale feature fusing architecture to generate rich feature representation for accurate brain tumor segmentation.

Retro-orbital injection of FITC-dextran combined with isolectin B4 in assessing the retinal neovascularization defect.

Background: A reliable and effective method is required to deliver agent that can aid the in vivo imaging of retinal vessels. The aim of the present study was to evaluate retro-orbital (RO) injection of fluorescein-labeled isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-dextran) as a method of demonstrating retinal neovascularization (NV) and avascular areas in oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) mice.

Methods: Different concentrations of FITC-dextran were used to compare the efficacy of this agent in perfusing the retinal vessels.

TXNIP positively regulates the autophagy and apoptosis in the rat müller cell of diabetic retinopathy.

Aims: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) can cause vision loss in patients with diabetes. The present study evaluated the expression of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) and investigated the role of TXNIP in autophagy and apoptosis of DR.

Main Methods: Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and western blotting were used to measure the expression level of the targets.

Engineered superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for dual-modality imaging of intracranial glioblastoma via EGFRvIII targeting.

In this work, a peptide-modified, biodegradable, nontoxic, brain-tumor-targeting nanoprobe based on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) (which have been commonly used as -weighted magnetic resonance (MR) contrast agents) was successfully synthesized and applied for accurate molecular MR imaging and sensitive optical imaging. PEPHC1, a short peptide which can specifically bind to epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) that is overexpressed in glioblastoma, was conjugated with SPIONs to construct the nanoprobe. Both in vitro and in vivo MR and optical imaging demonstrated that the as-constructed nanoprobe was effective and sensitive for tumor targeting with desirable biosafety.

Size Dependency of Circulation and Biodistribution of Biomimetic Nanoparticles: Red Blood Cell Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles.

Recently, biomimetic nanoparticles, especially cell membrane-cloaked nanoparticles, have attracted increasing attention in biomedical applications, including antitumor therapy, detoxification, and immune modulation, by imitating the structure and the function of biological systems such as long circulation life in the blood. However, the circulation time of cell membrane-cloaked nanoparticles is far less than that of the original cells, greatly limiting their biomedical applications, while the underlying reasons are seldom demonstrated. In this study, the influence of particle size on the circulation and the biodistribution of red blood cell membrane-coated nanoparticles (RBC-NPs) as model biomimetic nanoparticles were investigated.

A novel end-to-end brain tumor segmentation method using improved fully convolutional networks.

Accurate brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tumor segmentation continues to be an active research topic in medical image analysis since it provides doctors with meaningful and reliable quantitative information in diagnosing and monitoring neurological diseases. Successful deep learning-based proposals have been designed, and most of them are built upon image patches. In this paper, a novel end-to-end brain tumor segmentation method is developed using an improved fully convolutional network by modifying the U-Net architecture.

Egr1 mediates retinal vascular dysfunction in diabetes mellitus via promoting p53 transcription.

Objectives: This study focused on investigating the expression and underlying molecular mechanism of early growth response 1 (Egr1) in diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: A microarray assay was applied to examine differentially expressed genes in the retina tissues of normal rats, as well as in those of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Human retinal vascular endothelial cells (HRVECs) transfected with sh-NC, sh-Egr1 or sh-Egr1+ pVax1-p53 were cultured under high-glucose conditions and then used to explore the role of Egr1 in vitro.

Erythroliposomes: Integrated Hybrid Nanovesicles Composed of Erythrocyte Membranes and Artificial Lipid Membranes for Pore-Forming Toxin Clearance.

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are the most common bacterial virulence proteins and play a significant role in the pathogenesis of bacterial infections; thus, PFTs are an attractive therapeutic target in bacterial infections. Inspired by the pore-forming process and mechanism of PFTs, we designed an integrated hybrid nanovesicle-the erythroliposome (called the RM-PL)-for PFT detoxification by fusing natural red blood cell (RBC) membranes with artificial lipid membranes. The lipid and RBC membranes were mutually beneficial when integrated into a hybrid nanovesicle structure.

Different Culture or Different Mind? Perception and Acceptance of HPV Vaccine in China and in the U.S.

Unlike the United States, where human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines have been available for decades, China recently approved its first HPV vaccines. Setting up a baseline comparison between these two countries, this study examines the influence of message framing, motivational orientation, cultural worldview, knowledge, and gender on young adults' intentions to get vaccinated. Compared to the U.

Two Paired Box 6 mutations identified in Chinese patients with classic congenital aniridia and cataract.

Congenital aniridia is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a variable degree of hypoplasia or absence of iris. It is frequently associated with keratopathy, cataract, juvenile‑onset glaucoma and foveal and optic nerve hypoplasia. Mutations in the Paired Box 6 (PAX6) gene on chromosome 11p13 have been demonstrated to cause aniridia.

Targeted next‑generation sequencing identifies two novel COL2A1 gene mutations in Stickler syndrome with bilateral retinal detachment.

Stickler syndrome is a group of inherited connective tissue disorders characterized by distinctive facial and ocular abnormalities, hearing loss and early‑onset arthritis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the genetic changes in two Chinese patients with Stickler syndrome, manifested as bilateral retinal detachment and peripheral retinal degeneration. Complete ophthalmic examinations, including best‑corrected visual acuity, slit‑lamp examination and fundus examination, were performed.

Biomimetic nanoparticles delivered hedgehog pathway inhibitor to modify tumour microenvironment and improved chemotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma.

The unique tumour microenvironment (TM) of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) including highly desmoplastic ECM and low tumour perfusion supports a considerable barrier for effective delivery of nanomedicines. Effectively modulating PDA microenvironment to enhance tumour drug delivery represents a pinpoint in the field of PDA treatment. In this study, it was the first time that biomimetic nanoparticles, which were designed in the form of erythrocyte membrane-camouflaged PLGA nanoparticles (MNP), were utilized for PDA microenvironment modulation.

Clinical and next-generation sequencing findings in a Chinese family exhibiting severe familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.

Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) is a rare hereditary retinal disorder characterized by the premature arrest of vascularization in the peripheral retina. The aim of the present study was to characterize the clinical presentations of a Chinese family affected by bilateral severe FEVR, and to identify the underlying genetic variations. One family that presented with bilateral FEVR was recruited for this study.

Genetic variations in Bestrophin‑1 and associated clinical findings in two Chinese patients with juvenile‑onset and adult‑onset best vitelliform macular dystrophy.

Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD) is a hereditary retinal disease characterized by the bilateral accumulation of large egg yolk‑like lesions in the sub‑retinal and sub‑retinal pigment epithelium spaces. Macular degeneration in BVMD can begin in childhood or adulthood. The variation in the age of onset is not clearly understood.