Epigenetic Modifications and Therapy in Uveitis.

Uveitis is a sight-threatening intraocular inflammation, and the exact pathogenesis of uveitis is not yet clear. Recent studies, including multiple genome-wide association studies (GWASs), have identified genetic variations associated with the onset and progression of different types of uveitis, such as Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease and Behcet's disease (BD). However, epigenetic regulation has been shown to play key roles in the immunoregulation of uveitis, and epigenetic therapies are promising treatments for intraocular inflammation.

Tumor Microenvironmental Competitive Endogenous RNA Network and Immune Cells Act as Robust Prognostic Predictor of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is malignant hematologic tumors with frequent recurrence and cause high mortality. Its fate is determined by abnormal intracellular competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network and extracellular tumor microenvironment (TME). This study aims to build a ceRNA network related to AML TME to explore new prognostic and therapeutic targets.

Reconstruction of auto-tissue-engineered lamellar cornea by dynamic culture for transplantation: a rabbit model.

To construct an auto-tissue-engineered lamellar cornea (ATELC) for transplantation, based on acellular porcine corneal stroma and autologous corneal limbal explants, a dynamic culture process, which composed of a submersion culture, a perfusion culture and a dynamic air-liquid interface culture, was performed using appropriate parameters. The results showed that the ATELC-Dynamic possessed histological structure and DNA content that were similar to native lamellar cornea (NLC, p>0.05).

Clinical efficacy of surgical removal of deep corneal plant foreign bodies.

Purpose: To describe a technique for removing deep corneal plant foreign bodies.

Methods: Twelve patients (7 males and 5 females, aged 5 to 56 years) with plant foreign bodies embedded in the deep cornea were treated between July 2011 and December 2012. The course of disease ranged from 1 to 11 d.

ES micro-environment enhances stemness and inhibits apoptosis in human limbal stem cells via the maintenance of telomerase activity.

Our previous work had found that telomerase rejuvenated in the cytoplasm of corneal epithelial cells cultured in embryonic stem cell-conditioned medium, the functional properties of stem-like corneal epithelial cells can be enhanced by co-culturing with embryonic stem cells (ESCs) via activation of the integrinβ1-FAK-PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. The goal of this study was to explore the potential molecular mechanisms of the ES micro-environment that enhance the stem cell-like phenotype and inhibit apoptosis in human limbal stem cells (LSC). The LSC were cultured in different media, either CnT-20 medium or CnT-20 +20% ES culture supernatant (ESC-CM).

Comparative study of the effects of recombinant human epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor on corneal epithelial wound healing and neovascularization in vivo and in vitro.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on corneal wound healing and neovascularization (CNV).

Methods: The positive effects of 10 ng/ml rhEGF and bFGF on the proliferation of corneal epithelial cells (SD-HCEC1s), rabbit keratocyte cells (RKCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as well as the effects on the migration capacity on HUVECs were observed. An animal central corneal wound and CNV model was established in rabbits.

[Study on the treatment of dry eye with Loteprednol Etabonate].

Objective: To observe the efficacy and safety of 0.5% Loteprednol Etabonate ophthalmic suspension in the treatment of moderate dry eye.

Methods: Totally 34 dry eye patients (68 eyes) in grade 2 or grade 3 (DEWS standard) enrolled in our hospital from March 2009 to September 2010 were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group (Loteprednol Etabonate Group) and the control group (Cyclosporine A, CsA group).

Construction of the recellularized corneal stroma using porous acellular corneal scaffold.

Acellular porcine cornea stroma (APCS) prepared using pancreatic phospholipase A(2) was proven to be promising corneal scaffold. However, its dense ultrastructure provides insufficient space that prevents the seeded cells from organizing into a functional tissue. In this report, freezing dry APCS (FD-APCS) biomaterials containing pores with different sizes were fabricated at different pre-freezing temperatures of -10, -80 or -198°C, and the percentage of large pores (equivalent circle diameter ≥10 μm) was 93.