RETINAL OXIMETRY IS ALTERED IN EYES WITH CHOROIDAL MELANOMA BUT NOT IN EYES WITH CHOROIDAL NEVI.

Purpose: To compare retinal vessel oxygenation in eyes with an untreated choroidal nevus or choroidal melanoma.

Methods: The affected and fellow eye of patients with an untreated choroidal nevus (n = 42) or choroidal melanoma (n = 45) were investigated using noninvasive retinal oximetry (Oxymap T1). Oxygen saturation of arterioles (ArtSat) and venules (VenSat) was determined, together with the arteriovenous difference (AV-difference).

Bevacizumab and intraocular tumors: an intriguing paradox.

Purpose: Bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), was originally developed as an anti-tumor treatment. In ocular oncology, it is being used to treat macular edema due to radiation retinopathy, but it may also be useful for the treatment of primary uveal melanoma (UM) or its metastases. We determined the effect of bevacizumab on the growth of B16F10 cells inside the eye and on B16F10 and UM cells cultured in vitro.

Anti-angiogenic therapy in uveal melanoma.

For several decades, targeting of tumor-related vessels has been regarded as a potential anticancer therapy. Such anti-angiogenic therapy is based on the assumption that a tumor cannot grow beyond the limits of diffusion (about 1-2 mm) of oxygen and nutrients from capillaries, unless angiogenesis takes place. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in angiogenesis, regulating vasopermeability as well as the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells.

Macrophages in uveal melanoma and in experimental ocular tumor models: Friends or foes?

Macrophages belong to the innate immune system and as such constitute one of the first barriers against infection. They play an important role in wound healing, in inflammation and in angiogenesis, but are also essential in the first stage of a "danger response". After scavenging debris, they can digest cellular proteins into smaller pieces, and protein-derived peptides can subsequently be presented to the immune system.

Regulation of VEGF-A in uveal melanoma.

Purpose: Blood vessels are important constituents of intraocular uveal melanoma (UM), but whether angiogenesis is regulated by environmental factors such as ischemia or by genetic mechanisms is not known. This study was undertaken to examine the regulation of the proangiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A).

Methods: Cell lines and primary tumors were tested for expression of VEGF-A, under normoxic and hypoxic conditions, using quantitative PCR, ELISA, WST-1 viability, and in-cell Western experiments.

Triamcinolone acetonide and anecortave acetate do not stimulate uveal melanoma cell growth.

Purpose: Radiotherapy-induced radiation retinopathy can develop in over 40% of eyes treated for uveal melanoma. Triamcinolone acetonide (TA) and anecortave acetate (AA) can be used to treat radiation retinopathy. It is not known whether TA or AA has any effect on potentially still viable uveal melanoma cells in the choroid after radiotherapy.

Tuning the hydrophilicity of gold nanoparticles templated in star block copolymers.

We report on a simple procedure to tune the hydrophilicity of hybrid gold nanoparticles. The nanoparticles have been prepared in the core of a poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PCL) five-arm star block copolymer. A hydrophilic corona was then added to these hybrid gold nanoparticles by direct chemisorption of trithiocarbonate-containing poly(acrylic acid) chains.

Star-block copolymers as templates for the preparation of stable gold nanoparticles.

Gold nanoparticles of improved stability against aggregation were prepared using poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PEO-b-PCL) star-block copolymers. A five-arm star-shaped macroinitiator (PEO) was utilized for the automated parallel controlled ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone to prepare a series of PEO-b-PCL star-block copolymers with a constant PEO core linked to PCL blocks of variable length. The PEO core was swelled with KAuCl4 in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and gold nanoparticles were subsequently obtained by reduction with NaBH4.