New method of sudomotor function measurement to detect microvascular disease and sweat gland nerve or unmyelinated C fiber dysfunction in adults with retinopathy.

Background: Diabetes-associated microvascular complications such as retinopathy and neuropathy often lead to end-organ and tissue damage. Impaired skin microcirculation often precedes the detection of other advanced diabetic complications. The ANS-1 system contains a redesigned sympathetic skin response (ANS-1 SSR) device that measures sudomotor function, a photoplethysmography sensor, and a blood pressure device to comprehensively assess cardiac autonomic neuropathy and endothelial dysfunction.

Chronic Traumatic Giant Macular Hole Repair with Autologous Platelets.

We report on the closure of a chronic posttraumatic giant macular hole. The patient presented with decreased vision in the left eye following blunt trauma 20 years prior. His dilated fundus examination revealed a 3000 um base-diameter full thickness macular hole.

Cochlin, intraocular pressure regulation and mechanosensing.

Fluid shear modulates many biological properties. How shear mechanosensing occurs in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and is transduced into cytoskeletal change remains unknown. Cochlin is an ECM protein of unknown function.

Cochlin induced TREK-1 co-expression and annexin A2 secretion: role in trabecular meshwork cell elongation and motility.

Fluid flow through large interstitial spaces is sensed at the cellular level, and mechanistic responses to flow changes enables expansion or contraction of the cells modulating the surrounding area and brings about changes in fluid flow. In the anterior eye chamber, aqueous humor, a clear fluid, flows through trabecular meshwork (TM), a filter like region. Cochlin, a secreted protein in the extracellular matrix, was identified in the TM of glaucomatous patients but not controls by mass spectrometry.

Aqueous humor dynamics: a review.

Glaucoma is a family of optic neuropathies which cause irreversible but potentially preventable vision loss. Vision loss in most forms of glaucoma is related to elevated IOP with subsequent injury to the optic nerve. Secretion of aqueous humor and regulation of its outflow are physiologically important processes for maintaining IOP in the normal range.

Potential for transcriptional upregulation of cochlin in glaucomatous trabecular meshwork: a combinatorial bioinformatic and biochemical analytical approach.

Purpose: To determine the existence of a relatively higher abundance of potential TFs in glaucomatous trabecular meshwork (TM) that may bind putative promoter regions and affect cochlin protein expression in glaucomatous compared to normal TM.

Methods: Combinatorial bioinformatics and biochemical analyses, using human glaucomatous and normal donor tissue (n = 4 each). Biochemical analysis included electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs), filter binding assays (FBAs), coupled in vitro transcription-translation (TNT) assays and promoter mutation analysis.

Cochlin expression in anterior segment organ culture models after TGFbeta2 treatment.

Purpose: To determine the effect of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta2 treatment on intraocular pressure (IOP), outflow facility, and cochlin expression in vitro in monkey and pig organ-cultured anterior segments (MOCAS and POCAS).

Methods: MOCAS (rhesus and cynomolgus) or POCAS were infused with media containing 10 ng/mL TGFbeta2 to one segment of each pair and 0.1% BSA (vehicle) to the contralateral segment for up to 14 days at a constant rate.

Technical Brief: a novel strategy for enrichment of trabecular meshwork protease proteome.

We present a novel and simple enrichment strategy to capture trabecular meshwork (TM) protease proteome. The method relies on fractionation of TM tissue into cytosolic and nuclear extracts and subsequent affinity enrichment of proteases on peptide inhibitors. A large repertoire of available protease substrate analog peptides enables an improved capture of TM protease proteome compared to SDS-PAGE fractionation alone.

Strategies to recover proteins from ocular tissues for proteomics.

We present here the results of protein extraction from different ocular regions using different detergents. Extraction strategies used to determine optimal protein extraction included: pressure cycling and aqueous-organic phase extraction in combination with electrophoretic fractionation for anterior, posterior, and peripapillary sclera. Detergent extraction of proteins from freshly enucleated porcine eyes (n = 8) showed significant differences for different eye regions.

Cochlin in the eye: functional implications.

Aqueous humor is actively produced in the ciliary epithelium of the anterior chamber and has important functions for the eye. Under normal physiological conditions, the inflow and outflow of the aqueous humor are tightly regulated, but in the pathologic state this balance is lost. Aqueous outflow involves structures of the anterior chamber and experiences most resistance at the level of the trabecular meshwork (TM) that acts as a filter.