The landscape of GPCR in the skin epidermal stem cells: From the basic to the clinical.

Skin, as the body's largest organ, acts as the primary defense mechanism against infection and injury. The maintenance of skin health heavily relies on the regulation of epidermal stem cells, crucial for ensuring epidermal homeostasis, hair regeneration, and the repair of epidermal injuries. Recent studies have placed a growing emphasis on G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) in the context of understanding epidermal stem cells, uncovering its significant role in determining their fate.

A pilot trial of the iPad tablet computer as a portable device for visual acuity testing.

We evaluated the accuracy of an app for the iPad tablet computer (Eye Chart Pro) as a portable method of visual acuity (VA) testing. A total of 120 consecutive patients (240 eyes) underwent visual acuity test with an iPad 2 and a conventional light-box chart. The logMAR VA results from the iPad were significantly higher than those from the light-box (P < 0.

Rac1 modulates the vitreous-induced plasticity of mesenchymal movement in retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Background: The vitreous has been shown to induce epithelial-mesenchymal transdifferentiation because it induces fibroblast-like morphology, enhanced migration and invasion in retinal pigment epithelial cells in proliferative vitreoretinopathy. Rac1 is the principal mediator of cell migration. In the current study, the relationship between Rac1 and cell migration, and invasion in vitreous-transformed retinal pigment epithelial cells was investigated using NSC23766, a specific inhibitor of Rac guanosine-5'-triphosphatase activity, and the involvement of a Rac1 guanosine-5'-triphosphatase-dependent pathway was detected.