Search results for "Ocular"
showing 10 items of 1219 documents
Vital dyes in macular hole surgery
2021
Currently, surgical techniques, such as internal limiting membrane peeling, are used widely for macular holes, macular puckers, epiretinal membranes, diabetic macular edema, retinal detachment, retinal vein occlusions, vitreomacular traction, optic pit maculopathy, and Terson syndrome. This study aimed to highlight any differences regarding visual acuity and ocular tomography coherence changes after staining the internal limiting membrane with dilutions of Brilliant Blue G vs. lutein/zeaxanthin-based dyes. This study involved 30 eyes of 30 patients who had undergone posterior pole vitrectomy for idiopathic stage 4 macular hole. The study lot was divided in two subgroups, 15 eyes colored wit…
Cilia - The sensory antennae in the eye
2017
Cilia are hair-like projections found on almost all cells in the human body. Originally believed to function merely in motility, the function of solitary non-motile (primary) cilia was long overlooked. Recent research has demonstrated that primary cilia function as signalling hubs that sense environmental cues and are pivotal for organ development and function, tissue hoemoestasis, and maintenance of human health. Cilia share a common anatomy and their diverse functional features are achieved by evolutionarily conserved functional modules, organized into sub-compartments. Defects in these functional modules are responsible for a rapidly growing list of human diseases collectively termed cil…
Autoimmune polyglandular diseases.
2019
Autoimmune polyglandular diseases (APD) are defined as the presence of two autoimmune -induced endocrine failures. With respect to the significant morbidity and potential mortality of APD, the diagnostic objective is to detect APD at an early stage, with the advantage of less frequent complications, effective therapy and better prognosis. This requires that patients at risk be regularly screened for subclinical endocrinopathies prior to clinical manifestation. Regarding the time interval between manifestation of first and further endocrinopathies, regular and long-term follow-up is warranted. Quality of life and psychosocial status are poor in APD patients and involved relatives. Familial c…
Differential glutamatergic and GABAergic contributions to the tetrad effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol revealed by cell-type-specific reconstitution…
2020
Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive ingredient of Cannabis sativa, exerts its actions through the endocannabinoid system by stimulation of the cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor. The widespread distribution of this receptor in different neuronal cell types and the plethora of functions that is modulated by the endocannabinoid system explain the versatility of the effects of THC. However, the cell types involved in the different THC effects are still not fully known. Conditional CB1 receptor knock-out mice were previously used to identify CB1 receptor subpopulations that are "necessary" for the tetrad effects of a high dose of THC: hypothermia, hypolocomotion, catalepsy and …
Modulation of information processing by AMPA receptor auxiliary subunits
2020
AMPA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs) are key molecules of neuronal communication in our brain. The discovery of AMPAR auxiliary subunits, such as proteins of the TARP, CKAMP and CNIH families, fundamentally changed our understanding of how AMPAR function is regulated. Auxiliary subunits control almost all aspects of AMPAR function in the brain. They influence AMPAR assembly, composition, structure, trafficking, subcellular localization and gating. This influence has important implications for synapse function. In the present review, we first discuss how auxiliary subunits affect the strength of synapses by modulating number and localization of AMPARs in synapses as well as their glutamate…
Metal homeostasis regulators suppress FRDA phenotypes in a drosophila model of the disease
2016
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), the most commonly inherited ataxia in populations of European origin, is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a decrease in frataxin levels. One of the hallmarks of the disease is the accumulation of iron in several tissues including the brain, and frataxin has been proposed to play a key role in iron homeostasis. We found that the levels of zinc, copper, manganese and aluminum were also increased in a Drosophila model of FRDA, and that copper and zinc chelation improve their impaired motor performance. By means of a candidate genetic screen, we identified that genes implicated in iron, zinc and copper transport and metal detoxification can restore frataxin def…
Interactions between odorants and glutathione transferases in the human olfactory cleft
2020
AbstractXenobiotic metabolizing enzymes and other proteins, including odorant-binding proteins located in the nasal epithelium and mucus, participate in a series of processes modulating the concentration of odorants in the environment of olfactory receptors (ORs) and finely impact odor perception. These enzymes and transporters are thought to participate in odorant degradation or transport. Odorant biotransformation results in 1) changes in the odorant quantity up to their clearance and the termination of signaling and 2) the formation of new odorant stimuli (metabolites). Enzymes, such as cytochrome P450 and glutathione transferases (GSTs), have been proposed to participate in odorant clea…
Chemical probes to potently and selectively inhibit endocannabinoid cellular reuptake
2017
The extracellular effects of the endocannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol are terminated by enzymatic hydrolysis after crossing cellular membranes by facilitated diffusion. The lack of potent and selective inhibitors for endocannabinoid transport has prevented the molecular characterization of this process, thus hindering its biochemical investigation and pharmacological exploitation. Here, we report the design, chemical synthesis, and biological profiling of natural product-derived N-substituted 2,4-dodecadienamides as a selective endocannabinoid uptake inhibitor. The highly potent (IC50 = 10 nM) inhibitor N-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)ethyl amide (WOBE437) exerted pronounced canna…
Diversity in AMPA receptor complexes in the brain.
2017
AMPA receptor (AMPAR) complexes comprise four of the AMPAR subunits GluA1-4 and several additional interacting proteins. Subunit composition determines AMPAR function. However, AMPAR function depends to a large extent also on interacting proteins, which influence trafficking to the cell surface, activity-dependent subcellular localization and gating of AMPARs. In this review we report about recent findings on the diversity of AMPAR complexes that allow us to better understand functional properties of native receptors in the brain.
The Small Heat Shock Protein α-Crystallin B Shows Neuroprotective Properties in a Glaucoma Animal Model
2017
Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to irreversible retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss and is one of the main causes of blindness worldwide. The pathogenesis of glaucoma remains unclear, and novel approaches for neuroprotective treatments are urgently needed. Previous studies have revealed significant down-regulation of α-crystallin B as an initial reaction to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), followed by a clear but delayed up-regulation, suggesting that this small heat-shock protein plays a pathophysiological role in the disease. This study analyzed the neuroprotective effect of α-crystallin B in an experimental animal model of glaucoma. Significant IOP elevation induced b…