Progress in construction of mouse models to investigate the pathogenesis and immune therapy of human hematological malignancy.

Hematological malignancy is a disease arisen by complicate reasons that seriously endangers human health. The research on its pathogenesis and therapies depends on the usage of animal models. Conventional animal model cannot faithfully mirror some characteristics of human features due to the evolutionary divergence, whereas the mouse models hosting human hematological malignancy are more and more applied in basic as well as translational investigations in recent years.

Chemiexcitation and melanin in photoreceptor disc turnover and prevention of macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration, Stargardt disease, and their mouse model are characterized by accelerated accumulation of the pigment lipofuscin, derived from photoreceptor disc turnover in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE); lipofuscin accumulation and retinal degeneration both occur earlier in albino mice. Intravitreal injection of superoxide (O) generators reverses lipofuscin accumulation and rescues retinal pathology, but neither the target nor mechanism is known. Here we show that RPE contains thin multi-lamellar membranes (TLMs) resembling photoreceptor discs, which associate with melanolipofuscin granules in pigmented mice but in albinos are 10-fold more abundant and reside in vacuoles.

Human growth hormone supplement promotes human lymphohematopoietic cell reconstitution in immunodeficient mice.

To investigate the potential of human growth hormone (hGH) to improve human hematopoietic reconstitution in humanized mice. Immunodeficient mice were conditioned by total body irradiation and transplanted with human CD34 fetal liver cells. Peripheral blood, spleen and bone marrow were harvested, and levels of human lymphohematopoietic cells were determined by flow cytometry.

Quantitative analysis of retinal intermediate and deep capillary plexus in patients with retinal deep vascular complex ischemia.

Aim: To quantitatively analyze the retinal intermediate and deep capillary plexus (ICP and DCP) in patients with retinal deep vascular complex ischemia (RDVCI), using 3D projection artifacts removal (3D PAR) optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods: RDVCI patients and gender- and age-matched healthy controls were assessed and underwent OCTA examinations. The parafoveal vessel density (PFVD) of retinal deep vascular complex (DVC), ICP, and DCP were analyzed, and the percentage of reduction (PR) of PFVD was calculated.

Humanized Rodent Models for Cancer Research.

As one of the most popular laboratory animal models, rodents have been playing crucial roles in mechanistic investigations of oncogenesis as well as anticancer drug or regimen discoveries. However, rodent tumors show different or no responses to therapies against human cancers, and thus, in recent years, increased attention has been given to mouse models with xenografted or spontaneous human cancer cells. By combining with the human immune system (HIS) mice, these models have become more sophisticated and robust, enabling exploration of human cancer immunology and immunotherapy.

Multimodal Imaging in Fibrinous Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Compared with Exudative Maculopathy.

Aims: To analyze ocular fundus characteristics of patients finally diagnosed with fibrinous central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) using multimodal imaging and compare the characteristics with images of other confusable exudative maculopathies.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records from 189 patients with CSC and found records on 16 patients with fibrinous CSC. Some of these 16 patients were misdiagnosed with another exudative maculopathy and were treated inappropriately.

Upregulation of SLAMF3 on human T cells is induced by palmitic acid through the STAT5-PI3K/Akt pathway and features the chronic inflammatory profiles of type 2 diabetes.

Metabolic stress-induced low-grade chronic inflammation plays an important role in the development of insulin-resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Emerging evidence highlights the importance of directly elucidating T-cell activation under the obesity-induced metabolic stress condition, as T cells primed under such conditions were found to acquire a unique phenotype and function. Herein, we found a significant upregulation of signaling lymphocytic activation molecule family member 3 (SLAMF3) expression on T cells from T2D patients compared to those of healthy controls.

New species of the snakefly genus Mongoloraphidia (Raphidioptera: Raphidiidae) from China.

Two new snakefly species of the family Raphidiidae are described from China: Mongoloraphidia lini sp. nov. and Mongoloraphidia triangulata sp.

Discovery of a new species of Inocelliidae (Insecta: Raphidioptera) in an altitude of nearly 3500 m in China.

A new snakefly species of the family Inocelliidae is described from China: Inocellia occidentalis sp. nov. The new species belongs to the Inocellia crassicornis species group.