Ophthalmology Commons^™

A Disorder-Aware Computational Framework To Identify Structurally Tractable Targets In Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy, Mak B. Djulbegovic, Nedym Hadzijahic, David J. Taylor Gonzalez, Michael Antonietti, Sidra Zafar, Ajay E. Kuriyan

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

OBJECTIVE: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) remains a major cause of failure after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair and lacks effective pharmacologic therapies. Although epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is central to PVR pathogenesis, the structural determinants governing the tractability of EMT regulators, particularly those involving intrinsic disorder, remain poorly defined. We developed a disorder-aware, artificial intelligence-enabled computational framework to evaluate EMT-associated proteins in PVR and prioritize structurally tractable regulators for structure-based targeting.

DESIGN: A computational, hypothesis-generating study employing an in silico screening and structural modeling pipeline.

SUBJECTS: No human subjects or biological specimens were included. The dataset comprised 25 EMT-associated proteins implicated in PVR, …

Eating For Healthy Eyes: The Role Of Nutrition In Ocular Health, Brianna Stroh

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The central research question of this thesis asks: How does nutrition influence ocular health overall and the impact of nutrition on the development or progression of common eye diseases? Building upon existing research in optometry/ophthalmology, nutrition science, and public health, this project examines the physiological mechanisms linking diet to eye health and evaluates how specific nutrients and dietary patterns contribute to disease prevention and visual function. This thesis employs a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed literature to evaluate the relationship between nutrition and ocular disease. Key areas of focus include the role of oxidative stress in eye disease development, the protective …

Trustworthy Multimodal Ai For Medical Imaging: Enhancing Diagnosis, Reasoning, And Human-Agent Interaction In Extended Reality, Jai Prakash Veerla

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations

The transition from traditional microscopy to digital pathology has digitized diagnostic data, yet clinical workflows remain constrained by two-dimensional screens and passive, opaque analysis tools that fail to capture the spatial complexity of biological systems. While Foundation Models now promise to reason across histology and genomics, a critical disconnect persists between the richness of this data and the limited cognitive bandwidth of clinicians, who currently lack the immersive interfaces and trustworthy agents necessary to utilize it effectively. This dissertation presents a unified framework for "Embodied Agentic AI," establishing a pipeline that augments physician capabilities through immersive visualization, robust security, and …

Enhancing Cataract Surgery Outcomes: Optimal Use Of Pre- And Post-Operative Eye Drops, Keith Skolnick M.D., Anu Valiaveedu

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

Many preoperative and postoperative cataract patients struggle with comprehending the use of prescription medication as directed. Language barriers and low health literacy levels are major factors contributing to improper use of prescriptions. To increase patients comprehension, the Fort Lauderdale Eye Institute employed an educational intervention consisting of a live presentation and an instructional video. Results found that 44% of patients were hesitant to ask questions to clinical staff, 32% felt overwhelmed, and nearly 70% lacked confidence in using their prescribed eye drops. Following the intervention, 91% of patients reported increased confidence in their medications, and most indicated that the video …

Non-Isolated Tetralogy Of Fallot (Tof+): Exome Sequencing Efficacy And Phenotypic Expansions, Julia Volpi, Xiaonan Zhao, Nichole Owen, Tia Evans, Muriel Holder-Espinasse, Nayana Lahiri, Eleanor Sherlock, Gemma Poke, Jeroen Breckpot, Koen Devriendt, Bjorn Cools, Alfredo Brusco, Giovanni Battista Ferrero, Enrico Grosso, Pradeep Vasudevan, Sara Loddo, Antonio Novelli, Maria Cristina Digilio, Aafke Engwerda, Marrit Hitzert, Alison Male, Lucy Bownass, Ruth Newbury-Ecob, Zosia Miedzybrodzka, Ruth Armstrong, Sally Ann Lynch, Gunnar Houge, Shiyi Xiong, Seema R Lalani, Jill A Rosenfeld, Pamela N Luna, Chad A Shaw, Daryl A Scott

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common cyanotic congenital heart defect (CHD). TOF may present in isolation or in conjunction with one or more non-cardiac congenital anomalies or neurodevelopmental disorders (TOF+). Uncertainty regarding the efficacy of various genetic testing strategies, and an incomplete understanding of the genetic causes of TOF+, may lead to hesitancy in recommending genetic testing, particularly, clinical exome sequencing (cES). Here, we analyzed cES data from 131 individuals with TOF+. A definitive or probable diagnosis was made for 31 individuals, yielding a diagnostic rate of 23.6% (31/131). One individual received three diagnoses. Commercially available CHD panels …

Advanced Interactions Of Directed Energy With Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells And Their Photochemical And Photothermal Responses, Jin B. Ha

Theses & Dissertations

Excess optical radiation can injure the retina through either rapid heat deposition (photothermal damage) or cumulative photo‑oxidative stress (photochemical damage), yet current laser‑safety limits treat these mechanisms as independent. To test that assumption, this dissertation integrated systematic wavelength, duration and temperature‑controlled laser exposures with live/dead fluorescence imaging in a melanin‑loaded hTERT‑RPE1 monolayer model. First, concurrent 447 nm (blue) and 2 µm (infra‑red) beams delivered for 200 s demonstrated a strong thermal–photochemical synergy: each beam alone was sub‑threshold (≤25 % lethality) but together produced 100 % RPE death without exceeding 50 °C, proving that modest heating markedly lowers the photon dose …

Oculomics: Current Concepts And Evidence, Zhuoting Zhu, Yueye Wang, Ziyi Qi, Wenyi Hu, Xiayin Zhang, Siegfried K Wagner, Yujie Wang, An Ran Ran, Joshua Ong, Ethan Waisberg, Mouayad Masalkhi, Alex Suh, Yih Chung Tham, Carol Y Cheung, Xiaohong Yang, Honghua Yu, Zongyuan Ge, Wei Wang, Bin Sheng, Yun Liu, Andrew G Lee, Alastair K Denniston, Peter Van Wijngaarden, Pearse A Keane, Ching-Yu Cheng, Mingguang He, Tien Yin Wong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The eye provides novel insights into general health, as well as pathogenesis and development of systemic diseases. In the past decade, growing evidence has demonstrated that the eye's structure and function mirror multiple systemic health conditions, especially in cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and kidney impairments. This has given rise to the field of oculomics-the application of ophthalmic biomarkers to understand mechanisms, detect and predict disease. The development of this field has been accelerated by three major advances: 1) the availability and widespread clinical adoption of high-resolution and non-invasive ophthalmic imaging ("hardware"); 2) the availability of large studies to interrogate associations …

Molecular Modification Of Queen Bee Acid And 10-Hydroxydecanoic Acid With Specific Tripeptides: Rational Design, Organic Synthesis, And Assessment For Prohealing And Antimicrobial Hydrogel Properties, Song Hong, Sachin B. Baravkar, Yan Lu, Abdul Razak Masoud, Qi Zhao, Weilie Zhou

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Royal jelly and medical grade honey are traditionally used in treating wounds and infections, although their effectiveness is often variable and insufficient. To overcome their limitations, we created novel amphiphiles by modifying the main reparative and antimicrobial components, queen bee acid (hda) and 10-hydroxyl-decanoic acid (hdaa), through peptide bonding with specific tripeptides. Our molecular design incorporated amphiphile targets as being biocompatible in wound healing, biodegradable, non-toxic, hydrogelable, prohealing, and antimicrobial. The amphiphilic molecules were designed in a hda(hdaa)-aa1-aa2-aa3 structural model with rational selection criteria for each moiety, prepared via Rink/Fmoc-tBu-based solid-phase peptide synthesis, and structurally verified by NMR and LC–MS/MS. …

Prognostic Impact Of Notch1 Intracellular Domain, P63, And C-Myc In Lacrimal Gland Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, Jiawei Zhao, Michelle D Williams, Mike Hernandez, Grace Kuang, Hila Goldberg, Janet Fan, Jing Ning, Renata Ferrarotto, Bita Esmaeli

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: We assessed whether NICD1 expression, c-MYC expression, and P63 expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) correlate with prognosis and high-risk clinicopathological features in lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC).

METHODS: Records of patients with lacrimal gland ACC who underwent surgery between 1998 to 2018 were reviewed. Clinicopathologic and treatment data were collected. Tumor tissues were subjected to light microscopy and IHC.

RESULTS: Of 43 patients treated during the study period, 21 had archived tumor tissue available and were included. The median age at diagnosis was 47 years, and 13 patients (62%) were male. Thirteen patients (62%) had T2 disease, and none …

Ocular Gene Transfer In The Spotlight: Implications Of Newspaper Content For Clinical Communications, Shelly Benjaminy, Tania M. Bubela

Office of the Provost

Background: Ocular gene transfer clinical trials are raising hopes for blindness treatments and attracting media attention. News media provide an accessible health information source for patients and the public, but are often criticized for overemphasizing benefits and underplaying risks of novel biomedical interventions. Overly optimistic portrayals of unproven interventions may influence public and patient expectations; the latter may cause patients to downplay risks and over-emphasize benefits, with implications for informed consent for clinical trials. We analyze the news media communications landscape about ocular gene transfer and make recommendations for improving communications between clinicians and potential trial participants in light of …

Understanding The Treatment Paradigm And The Sequencing Of Antiglaucoma Fixed-Dose Combinations In A Tertiary Center In South India, Ronnie George, Praggya Mishra, Balekudaru Shantha, Lingam Vijaya, Nitin Maksane, Neha Gurha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: To analyze the medical management of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) and the placement of fixed-drug combination drugs (FDC) in the treatment paradigm at a tertiary eye care center in South India.

METHODS: Retrospective study (January 2011-December 2015) of newly diagnosed POAG and OHT patients (≥18 years) with ≥5 years follow-up. Primary outcome included percentage use of different antiglaucoma drugs (at initiation) and FDCs at the first, second, and third progression (sequencing). Secondary outcomes: Percentage discontinuation for different FDCs, efficacy parameters (decrease in intraocular pressure (IOP)/visual field), adverse events, and the median number of antiglaucoma medications …

Ciliary Tip Actin Dynamics Regulate Photoreceptor Outer Segment Integrity, Roly Megaw, Abigail Moye, Zhixian Zhang, Fay Newton, Fraser Mcphie, Laura C Murphy, Lisa Mckie, Feng He, Melissa K Jungnickel, Alex Von Kriegsheim, Peter A Tennant, Chloe Brotherton, Christine Gurniak, Alecia K Gross, Laura M Machesky, Theodore G Wensel, Pleasantine Mill

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

As signalling organelles, cilia regulate their G protein-coupled receptor content by ectocytosis, a process requiring localised actin dynamics to alter membrane shape. Photoreceptor outer segments comprise an expanse of folded membranes (discs) at the tip of highly-specialised connecting cilia, into which photosensitive GPCRs are concentrated. Discs are shed and remade daily. Defects in this process, due to mutations, cause retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Whilst fundamental for vision, the mechanism of photoreceptor disc generation is poorly understood. Here, we show membrane deformation required for disc genesis is driven by dynamic actin changes in a process akin to ectocytosis. We show RPGR, a …

Dynamic Visual Acuity, Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex, And Visual Field In National Football League (Nfl) Officiating: Physiology And Visualization Engineering For 3d Virtual On-Field Training, Joshua Ong, Nicole V Carrabba, Ethan Waisberg, Nasif Zaman, Hamza Memon, Nicholas Panzo, Virginia A Lee, Prithul Sarker, Ashtyn Z Vogt, Noor Laylani, Alireza Tavakkoli, Andrew G Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The ability to make on-field, split-second decisions is critical for National Football League (NFL) game officials. Multiple principles in visual function are critical for accuracy and precision of these play calls, including foveation time and unobstructed line of sight, static visual acuity, dynamic visual acuity, vestibulo-ocular reflex, and sufficient visual field. Prior research has shown that a standardized curriculum in these neuro-ophthalmic principles have demonstrated validity and self-rated improvements in understanding, confidence, and likelihood of future utilization by NFL game officials to maximize visual performance during officiating. Virtual reality technology may also be able to help optimize understandings of specific …

Retinal Dystrophies Associated With Peripherin-2: Genetic Spectrum And Novel Clinical Observations In 241 Patients, Rachael C. Heath Jeffery, Jennifer A. Thompson, Johnny Lo, Enid S. Chelva, Sean Armstrong, Jose S. Pulido, Rebecca Procopio, Andrea L. Vincent, Lorenzo Bianco, Maurizio Battaglia Parodi, Lucia Ziccardi, Giulio Antonelli, Lucilla Barbano, João P. Marques, Sara Geada, Ana L. Carvalho, Wei C. Tang, Choi M. Chan, Camiel J. F. Boon, Jonathan Hensman, Ta-Ching Chen, Chien-Yu Lin, Pei-Lung Chen, Ajoy Vincent, Anupreet Tumber, Elise Heon, John R. Grigg, Robyn V. Jamieson, Elisa E. Cornish, Benjamin M. Nash, Shyamanga Borooah, Lauren N. Ayton, Alexis Ceecee Britten-Jones, Thomas L. Edwards, Jonathan B. Ruddle, Abhishek Sharma, Rowan G. Porter, Tina M. Lamey, Terri L. Mclaren, Samuel Mclenachan, Danial Roshandel, Fred K. Chen

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical, electrophysiological and genetic spectrum of inherited retinal diseases associated with variants in the PRPH2 gene.

METHODS: A total of 241 patients from 168 families across 15 sites in 9 countries with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in PRPH2 were included. Records were reviewed for age at symptom onset, visual acuity, full-field ERG, fundus colour photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and SD-OCT. Images were graded into six phenotypes. Statistical analyses were performed to determine genotype-phenotype correlations.

RESULTS: The median age at symptom onset was 40 years (range, 4-78 years). FAF phenotypes included normal (5%), butterfly pattern dystrophy, …

Impact Of Obesity And Age On Mouse Corneal Innervation At The Epithelial-Stromal Interface, Justin A Courson, Rolando E Rumbaut, Alan R Burns

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: The corneal epithelium is the most highly innervated structure in the body. Previously, we reported a novel event whereby stromal axons fuse with basal epithelial cells, limiting nerve penetration into the epithelium. Although corneal-epithelial nerves undergo changes in sensitivity and distribution throughout life and in response to an obesogenic diet, it is unknown if neuronal-epithelial cell fusion is altered. Here, we sought to determine if neuronal-epithelial cell fusion frequency correlates with obesogenic diet consumption and age.

METHODS: Corneas were collected from C57BL/6 mice and evaluated for neuronal-epithelial cell fusion frequency using serial block-face scanning electron microscopy. To assess the …

Visual Outcome And Ocular Complications In Patients With Lacrimal Gland Carcinoma After Eye-Sparing Surgery And Adjuvant Radiation Therapy, Zhenyang Zhao, Steven Jay Frank, Jing Ning, Jiawei Zhao, Xinyang Jiang, Xin A Wang, Amy C Schefler, Ehab Hanna, Amy Moreno, Brandon Gunn, Renata Ferrarotto, Bita Esmaeli

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: We report visual outcomes and ocular complications in patients with lacrimal gland carcinoma who had eye-sparing surgery followed by radiotherapy.

Methods: This review included consecutive patients with lacrimal gland carcinoma who underwent eye-sparing surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiation therapy between 2007 and 2018. Clinical data, including details of ophthalmological examinations and radiation treatment were reviewed.

Results: The study included 23 patients, 15 males and 8 females, with median age 51 years. Twenty patients (87%) received intensity-modulated proton therapy; 3 (13%) received intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Nineteen patients (83%) received concurrent chemotherapy. After a median follow-up time of 37 months …

Unraveling The Intraday Variations In The Tear Fluid Proteome, Garrett Jones, Jeremy Altman, Saleh Ahmed, Tae Jin Lee, Wenbo Zhi, Shruti Sharma, Ashok Sharma

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Tear fluid is a complex and dynamic biological fluid that plays essential roles in maintaining ocular homeostasis and protecting against the external environment. Owing to the small sample volume, studying the tear proteome is challenging. However, advances in high-resolution mass spectrometry have expanded tear proteome profiling, revealing >500 unique proteins. Tears are emerging as a noninvasive source of biomarkers for both ocular and systemic diseases; nevertheless, intraday variability of proteins in tear fluid remains questionable. This study investigates intraday variations in the tear fluid proteome to identify stable proteins that could act as candidate biomarkers.

METHODS: Tear samples from …

Centriole And Transition Zone Structures In Photoreceptor Cilia Revealed By Cryo-Electron Tomography, Zhixian Zhang, Abigail R Moye, Feng He, Muyuan Chen, Melina A Agosto, Theodore G Wensel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Primary cilia mediate sensory signaling in multiple organisms and cell types but have structures adapted for specific roles. Structural defects in them lead to devastating diseases known as ciliopathies in humans. Key to their functions are structures at their base: the basal body, the transition zone, the "Y-shaped links," and the "ciliary necklace." We have used cryo-electron tomography with subtomogram averaging and conventional transmission electron microscopy to elucidate the structures associated with the basal region of the "connecting cilia" of rod outer segments in mouse retina. The longitudinal variations in microtubule (MT) structures and the lumenal scaffold complexes connecting them …

Orbital And Periocular Complications In Patients With Sinonasal Tumours With Orbital Invasion, Jiawei Zhao, Xinyang Jiang, Ehab Hanna, Shirley Y Su, Amy Moreno, Brandon Gunn, Steven Jay Frank, Renata Ferrarotto, Jing Ning, Bita Esmaeli

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and associated risk factors of orbital/periocular complications in patients with sinonasal tumour with orbital invasion managed with eye-sparing treatments.

Methods: A retrospective case series of patients with primary sinonasal tumour with orbital invasion from January 2008 to December 2018. Patient factors were compared between the following groups: (1)patients with orbital/periocular complications versus those who did not and (2) patients who needed secondary oculoplastic surgical procedures versus those who did not.

Results: Out of 80 patients, 48 had eye-sparing surgery, 8 had orbital exenteration and 24 were managed non-surgically. The …

High-Throughput Screening Of Fda-Approved Drugs For Protecting Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Against Er Stress Induced Cell Death: Implications For Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Shaima Ali Jawarneh

Wayne State University Theses

Purpose: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly population, characterized by the degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The link between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and AMD is well established, however FDA-approved medications for the treatment of AMD caused by unregulated ER stress are limited and have potential side effects. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive screening of the FDA-approved drug library in order to identify potential candidates that could be repurposed in order to protect against the degeneration and death of RPE cells due to ER stress.

Methods: …

Gaze Transition Entropy As A Measure Of Attention Allocation In A Dynamic Workspace Involving Automation, Zixin Cui, Tetsuya Sato, Austin Jackson, Sampath Jayarathna, Makoto Itoh, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology Faculty Publications

Real-world work environments require operators to perform multiple tasks with continual support from an automated system. Eye movement is often used as a surrogate measure of operator attention, yet conventional summary measures such as percent dwell time do not capture dynamic transitions of attention in complex visual workspace. This study analyzed eye movement data collected in a controlled a MATB-II task environment using gaze transition entropy analysis. In the study, human subjects performed a compensatory tracking task, a system monitoring task, and a communication task concurrently. The results indicate that both gaze transition entropy and stationary gaze entropy, measures of …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of The Archaeal Proteasome To Alleviate Protein-Misfolding Retinopathy, Celine Brooks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nearly all neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) and some eye diseases are characterized by the presence of misfolded and aggregated proteins. The ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) is responsible for degrading the majority of proteins including misfolded and aggregated proteins. However, in NDs the performance of the UPS is impaired, and this impairment partially comes from these protein aggregates inhibiting the proteasome. This inhibition leads to an accumulation of protein aggregates, more proteasomal inhibition, and fewer chaperones for newly synthesized proteins, triggering a collapse in proteostasis, which is thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of NDs. Consequently, stimulating proteasome function is being investigated …

Nanobomb Optical Coherence Elastography In Multilayered Phantoms, Maryam Hatami, Dmitry Nevozhay, Manmohan Singh, Alexander Schill, Paul Boerner, Salavat Aglyamov, Konstantin Sokolov, Kirill V Larin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Many tissues are composed of layered structures, and a better understanding of the changes in the layered tissue biomechanics can enable advanced guidance and monitoring of therapy. The advent of elastography using longitudinally propagating shear waves (LSWs) has created the prospect of a high-resolution assessment of depth-dependent tissue elasticity. Laser activation of liquid-to-gas phase transition of dye-loaded perfluorocarbon (PFC) nanodroplets (a.k.a., nanobombs) can produce highly localized LSWs. This study aims to leverage the potential of photoactivation of nanobombs to incudce LSWs with very high-frequency content in wave-based optical coherence elastography (OCE) to estimate the elasticity gradient with high resolution. In …

The Neuroimmune Regulation And Potential Therapeutic Strategies Of Optic Pathway Glioma, Khushboo Irshad, Yu-Kai Huang, Paul Rodriguez, Jung Lo, Benjamin E Aghoghovwia, Yuan Pan, Kun-Che Chang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Optic pathway glioma (OPG) is one of the causes of pediatric visual impairment. Unfortunately, there is as yet no cure for such a disease. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and the potential therapeutic strategies may help to delay the progression of OPG and rescue the visual morbidities. Here, we provide an overview of preclinical OPG studies and the regulatory pathways controlling OPG pathophysiology. We next discuss the role of microenvironmental cells (neurons, T cells, and tumor-associated microglia and macrophages) in OPG development. Last, we provide insight into potential therapeutic strategies for treating OPG and promoting axon regeneration.

Stem Cell Technology For Age Related Macular Degeneration Intervention, Laura Valdez

Research Symposium

Retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) cells are located between the choroid and photoreceptors within the eye and are essential to provide nutrients from blood to rods and cones, as well retinoids of the visual cycle. Vision loss and various ocular diseases are attributable to the degeneration or dysfunction of the RPE cells, leading to blindness.One of the major ocular problem from RPE dysfunction is macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be frequently diagnosed in patients over the age of 60. In the early stages of AMD, some symptoms may not be noticeable but will lead to vision loss in both …

Spatial Organization Of The Mouse Retina At Single Cell Resolution By Merfish, Jongsu Choi, Jin Li, Salma Ferdous, Qingnan Liang, Jeffrey R Moffitt, Rui Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The visual signal processing in the retina requires the precise organization of diverse neuronal types working in concert. While single-cell omics studies have identified more than 120 different neuronal subtypes in the mouse retina, little is known about their spatial organization. Here, we generated the single-cell spatial atlas of the mouse retina using multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH). We profiled over 390,000 cells and identified all major cell types and nearly all subtypes through the integration with reference single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. Our spatial atlas allowed simultaneous examination of nearly all cell subtypes in the retina, revealing …

Fibrosis-The Tale Of H3k27 Histone Methyltransferases And Demethylases, Morgan D. Basta, Svetlana Petruk, Alexander Mazo, Janice L. Walker

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Fibrosis, or excessive scarring, is characterized by the emergence of alpha-smooth muscle actin (αSMA)-expressing myofibroblasts and the excessive accumulation of fibrotic extracellular matrix (ECM). Currently, there is a lack of effective treatment options for fibrosis, highlighting an unmet need to identify new therapeutic targets. The acquisition of a fibrotic phenotype is associated with changes in chromatin structure, a key determinant of gene transcription activation and repression. The major repressive histone mark, H3K27me3, has been linked to dynamic changes in gene expression in fibrosis through alterations in chromatin structure. H3K27-specific homologous histone methylase (HMT) enzymes, Enhancer of zeste 1 and 2 …

Association Of Second-Generation Antiandrogens With Cognitive And Functional Toxic Effects In Randomized Clinical Trials: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Malgorzata K Nowakowska, Rachel M Ortega, Mackenzie R Wehner, Kevin T Nead

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: The use of second-generation antiandrogens (AAs) in the treatment of prostate cancer is increasing. Retrospective evidence suggests an association between second-generation AAs and adverse cognitive and functional outcomes, but further data from prospective trials are needed.

Objective: To examine whether evidence from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in prostate cancer supports an association between second-generation AAs and cognitive or functional toxic effects.

Data sources: PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus (inception to September 12, 2022).

Study selection: Randomized clinical trials of second-generation AAs (abiraterone, apalutamide, darolutamide, or enzalutamide) among individuals with prostate cancer that reported cognitive toxic effects, asthenic toxic effects (eg, …

Test-Retest Reliability Of Virtual Reality Devices In Quantifying For Relative Afferent Pupillary Defect, Prithul Sarker, Nasif Zaman, Joshua Ong, Phani Paladugu, Molly Aldred, Ethan Waisberg, Andrew G Lee, Alireza Tavakkoli

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The swinging flashlight test (SFT) is one of the most prominent clinical tests for detecting the relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD). A positive RAPD localizes the lesion to the affected afferent pupil pathway and is a critical part of any ophthalmic exam. Testing for an RAPD, however, can be challenging (especially when small), and there is significant intrarater and interrater variability.

Methods: Prior studies have shown that the pupillometer can improve the detection and measurement of RAPD. In our previous research, we have demonstrated an automatic SFT by utilizing virtual reality (VR), named VR-SFT. We applied our methods to …

An Ocular Th1 Immune Response Promotes Corneal Nerve Damage Independently Of The Development Of Corneal Epitheliopathy, Alexia Vereertbrugghen, Manuela Pizzano, Florencia Sabbione, Irene Angelica Keitelman, Carolina Maiumi Shiromizu, Douglas Vera Aguilar, Federico Fuentes, Cintia S De Paiva, Mirta Giordano, Analía Trevani, Jeremías G Galletti

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Proper sight is not possible without a smooth, transparent cornea, which is highly exposed to environmental threats. The abundant corneal nerves are interspersed with epithelial cells in the anterior corneal surface and are instrumental to corneal integrity and immunoregulation. Conversely, corneal neuropathy is commonly observed in some immune-mediated corneal disorders but not in others, and its pathogenesis is poorly understood. Here we hypothesized that the type of adaptive immune response may influence the development of corneal neuropathy. To test this, we first immunized OT-II mice with different adjuvants that favor T helper (Th)1 or Th2 responses. Both Th1-skewed mice (measured …