Efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept injection in wet age-related macular degeneration: outcomes in the Japanese subgroup of the VIEW 2 study.

Background/aims: To evaluate efficacy and safety of intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) in Japanese patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) from the VIEW 2 trial.

Methods: In this double-masked study, patients were randomised to: 0.5 mg IVT-AFL every 4 weeks (0.

Lineage of origin in rhabdomyosarcoma informs pharmacological response.

Lineage or cell of origin of cancers is often unknown and thus is not a consideration in therapeutic approaches. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) is an aggressive childhood cancer for which the cell of origin remains debated. We used conditional genetic mouse models of aRMS to activate the pathognomonic Pax3:Foxo1 fusion oncogene and inactivate p53 in several stages of prenatal and postnatal muscle development.

Rb1 loss modifies but does not initiate alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma.

Background: Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (aRMS) is a myogenic childhood sarcoma frequently associated with a translocation-mediated fusion gene, Pax3:Foxo1a.

Methods: We investigated the complementary role of Rb1 loss in aRMS tumor initiation and progression using conditional mouse models.

Results: Rb1 loss was not a necessary and sufficient mutational event for rhabdomyosarcomagenesis, nor a strong cooperative initiating mutation.

Myf5 expression during fetal myogenesis defines the developmental progenitors of adult satellite cells.

Myf5 is a member of the muscle-specific determination genes and plays a critical role in skeletal muscle development. Whereas the expression of Myf5 during embryonic and fetal myogenesis has been extensively studied, its expression in progenitors that will ultimately give rise to adult satellite cells, the stem cells responsible for muscle repair, is still largely unexplored. To investigate this aspect, we have generated a mouse strain carrying a CreER coding sequence in the Myf5 locus.

Is there any difference in human pupillary reaction to acupuncture between light- and dark-adaptive conditions?

Objectives: To determine if acupuncture stimulation elicits a pupillary response under light adaptation and whether there is any difference in the pupillary response between light and dark adaptation environments during acupuncture stimulation.

Methods: The participants consisted of 55 healthy individuals who had no known eye diseases or pupil abnormalities. Experiment 1 compared pupillary responses between acupuncture stimulation and no-stimulation groups under light adaptation.