Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Implications Of Long Non-Coding Rnas In The Pathogenesis Of Diabetic Retinopathy: A Novel Epigenetic Paradigm., Saumik Biswas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the rising incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), there is an urgent need for novel therapies. Presently, several altered metabolic pathways have been implicated in the pathogenesis of DR. Recent advances in genomic technologies have identified considerable epigenetic alterations that also contribute to DR progression. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs; >200 nucleotides), critical regulators of gene expression, are aberrantly expressed in DR and have not been comprehensively characterized. Our microarray analyses using human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs) revealed thousands of differentially expressed lncRNAs following high glucose (HG) exposure, with profound increases in the lncRNAs MALAT1 and HOTAIR. Using multiple techniques, …

Modulation Of Inflammation Driven Wound Healing After Glaucoma Surgery, James J. Armstrong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Dysregulated wound healing contributes to most currently unanswered ophthalmological morbidity. Opacification and structure altering contractures compromise the delicate ocular anatomy upon which ocular function and healthy vision are reliant. Glaucoma filtration surgery, corneal stromal injury, proliferative vitreoretinopathy and age-related macular degeneration are major contributors to ocular morbidity – all with myofibroblast transdifferentiation and pathognomonic scarring activity at their core.

This thesis aims to revaluate the means by which dysregulated ocular wound healing is combated with evidence describing a novel strategy to mitigate its effects. A translational approach was used. An initial retrospective analysis of over ten thousand glaucoma surgeries found …