Proportion of people with diabetic retinopathy and macular oedema varies by ethnicity in a tertiary retinal clinic in Australia: findings from the Liverpool Eye and Diabetes Study (LEADS).

Objective: There are limited data on the influence of ethnicity on diabetic retinopathy (DR). We sought to determine the distribution of DR by ethnic group in Australia.

Design: Clinic-based cross-sectional study.

Profile of a population-based diabetic macular oedema study: the Liverpool Eye and Diabetes Study (Sydney).

Purpose: The population prevalence of diabetic macular oedema (DME) is unclear. Previous estimates have depended on photographic grading of clinically significant macular oedema, which is subjective and has resulted in widely varying estimates. With the advent of optical coherence tomography (OCT), the presence and severity of DME can now be assessed objectively and accurately.

Sequential allocation and global pattern of movement of the definitive endoderm in the mouse embryo during gastrulation.

During mouse gastrulation, endoderm cells of the dorsal foregut are recruited ahead of the ventral foregut and move to the anterior region of the embryo via different routes. Precursors of the anterior-most part of the foregut and those of the mid- and hind-gut are allocated to the endoderm of the mid-streak-stage embryo, whereas the precursors of the rest of the foregut are recruited at later stages of gastrulation. Loss of Mixl1 function results in reduced recruitment of the definitive endoderm, and causes cells in the endoderm to remain stationary during gastrulation.

Regionalization of cell fates and cell movement in the endoderm of the mouse gastrula and the impact of loss of Lhx1(Lim1) function.

Investigation of the developmental fates of cells in the endodermal layer of the early bud stage mouse embryo revealed a regionalized pattern of distribution of the progenitor cells of the yolk sac endoderm and the embryonic gut. By tracing the site of origin of cells that are allocated to specific regions of the embryonic gut, it was found that by late gastrulation, the respective endodermal progenitors are already spatially organized in anticipation of the prospective mediolateral and anterior-posterior destinations. The fate-mapping data further showed that the endoderm in the embryonic compartment of the early bud stage gastrula still contains cells that will colonize the anterior and lateral parts of the extraembryonic yolk sac.

Cited1 is required in trophoblasts for placental development and for embryo growth and survival.

Cited1 is a transcriptional cofactor that interacts with Smad4, estrogen receptors alpha and beta, TFAP2, and CBP/p300. It is expressed in a restricted manner in the embryo as well as in extraembryonic tissues during embryonic development. In this study we report the engineering of a loss-of-function Cited1 mutation in the mouse.

Conserved requirement of Lim1 function for cell movements during gastrulation.

To investigate Lim1 function during gastrulation, we used transcript depletion through DEED antisense oligonucleotides in Xenopus and cell transplantation in mice. Xenopus embryos depleted of Lim1 lack anterior head structures and fail to form a proper axis as a result of a failure of gastrulation movements, even though mesodermal cell identities are specified. Similar disruption of cell movements in the mesoderm is also observed in Lim1(-/-) mice.

Introduction of cell markers into germ layer tissues of the mouse gastrula by whole embryo electroporation.

We have optimized the technique of electroporation for introducing genetic markers into cells of the gastrulating mouse embryo to follow cell fates, tissue movement, and lineage differentiation. Using a plate-needle electrode combination and specific route of plasmid delivery, labeling could be targeted to discrete regions of the epiblast or the endoderm of the late gastrula. Among the various types of fluorescent and chromogenic reporter constructs tested, those driven by CMV promoter are efficient and strong expression can be detected as soon as 2-3 h after electroporation.