Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Collagen Fibrils And Proteoglycans Of Peripheral And Central Stroma Of The Keratoconus Cornea - Ultrastructure And 3d Transmission Electron Tomography, Aljoharah Alkanaan, Robert J. Barsotti, Omar Kirat, Adnan Khan, Turki Almubrad, Saeed Akhtar

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Keratoconus (KC) is a progressive corneal disorder in which vision gradually deteriorates as a result of continuous conical protrusion and the consequent altered corneal curvature. While the majority of the literature focus on assessing the center of this diseased cornea, there is growing evidence of peripheral involvement in the disease process. Thus, we investigated the organization of collagen fibrils (CFs) and proteoglycans (PGs) in the periphery and center of KC corneal stroma. Three-dimensional transmission electron tomography on four KC corneas showed the degeneration of microfibrils within the CFs and disturbance in the attachment of the PGs. Within the KC corneas, …

Depletion Of Myo/Nog Cells In The Lens Mitigates Posterior Capsule Opacification In Rabbits., Jacquelyn Gerhart, Liliana Werner, Nick Mamalis, Joseph Infanti, Colleen Withers, Fathma Abdalla, Colby Gerhart, Arturo Bravo Nuevo, Olivia Gerhart, Lori Getts, Kelly Rhodes, Jessica Bowers, Robert Getts, Mindy George-Weinstein

PCOM Scholarly Papers

Purpose: Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is a vision-impairing disease that occurs in some adults and most children after cataract surgery. Contractile myofibroblasts contribute to PCO by producing wrinkles in the lens capsule that scatter light. Myofibroblasts in the lens originate from Myo/Nog cells named for their expression of the MyoD transcription factor and bone morphogenetic protein inhibitor noggin. In this study we tested the effects of depleting Myo/Nog cells on development of PCO.

Methods: Myo/Nog cells were eliminated by injecting the G8 antibody conjugated to 3DNA nanocarriers for the cytotoxin doxorubicin (G8:3DNA:Dox) during cataract surgery in rabbits. The severity of …