A newly rediscovered subclass of noncoding RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs), is produced by a back-splicing mechanism with a covalently closed loop structure. They not only serve as the sponge for microRNAs (miRNAs) and proteins but also regulate gene expression and epigenetic modification, translate into peptides, and generate pseudogenes. Dysregulation of circRNA expression has opened a new chapter in the etiology of various human disorders, including cancer and cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and ocular diseases. Recent studies recognized the vital roles that circRNAs played in the pathogenesis of various eye diseases, highlighting circRNAs as promising biomarkers for diagnosis and assessment of progression and prognosis. Interventions targeting circRNAs provide insights for developing novel treatments for these ocular diseases. This review summarizes our current perception of the properties, biogenesis, and functions of circRNAs and the development of circRNA researches related to ophthalmologic diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity, glaucoma, corneal neovascularization, cataract, pterygium, proliferative vitreoretinopathy, retinoblastoma, and ocular melanoma.

Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) is the most common complication resulting from cataract surgery and limits the long-term postoperative visual outcome. Using Nd:YAG laser-assisted posterior capsulotomy for the clinical treatment of symptomatic PCO increases the risks of complications, such as glaucoma, retinal diseases, uveitis, and intraocular lens (IOL) pitting. Therefore, finding how to prevent PCO development is the subject of active investigations. As a replacement organ, the IOL is implanted into the lens capsule after cataract surgery, but it is also associated with the occurrence of PCO. Using IOL as a medium for PCO prophylaxis is a more facile and efficient method that has demonstrated various clinical application prospects. Thus, scientists have conducted a lot of research on new intraocular lens fabrication methods, such as optimizing IOL materials and design, and IOL surface modification (including plasma/ultraviolet/ozone treatment, chemical grafting, drug loading, coating modification, and layer-by-layer self-assembly methods). This paper summarizes the research progress for different types of intraocular lenses prepared by different surface modifications, including anti-biofouling IOLs, enhanced-adhesion IOLs, micro-patterned IOLs, photothermal IOLs, photodynamic IOLs, and drug-loading IOLs. These modified intraocular lenses inhibit PCO development by reducing the residual intraoperative lens epithelial cells or by regulating the cellular behavior of lens epithelial cells. In the future, more works are needed to improve the biosecurity and therapeutic efficacy of these modified IOLs.

Breast cancer is a major global health problem with high incidence and case fatality rates. The use of magnetoliposomes has been suggested as an effective therapeutic approach because of their good specificity for cancers. In this study, we developed two novel magnetoliposomes, namely, Gemcitabine-containing magnetoliposome (GML) and Oxaliplatin-containing magnetoliposome (OML). These magnetoliposomes were combined (CGOML) was used to treat breast cancer under an external magnetic field. Biosafety test results showed that GML and OML were biologically safe to blood cells and did not adversely affect the behavior of mice. Pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution studies indicated that both magnetoliposomes exhibited stable structures and persisted at the target area under an external magnetic field. Cell and animal experiments revealed that CGOML can markedly suppress the growth of MCF-7 cells, and only the CGOML group can minimize the tumor size among all the groups. Finally, CGOML can significantly inhibit MCF-7cell growth both in vitro and vivo by activating the apoptotic signaling pathway of MCF-7 cells.

Background: Femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) combined with implantable collamer lenses (ICLs) extraction has been shown to be a feasible method for patients developing cataracts after the ICL implantation. All reported cases had shallow vaults, ranging from 47 μm (μm) to 100 μm. We report for the first time, a case in which the FLACS was performed on the "0" vault eye. Case presentation: A 38-year-old man with anterior subcapsular cataracts underwent the FLACS combined with ICLs extraction 6 years after ICLs implantation in both eyes. In his left eye, the ICL touched the anterior capsule, existing "0" vault. During the capsulotomy, cavitation bubbles were trapped in the shallow space beneath the ICL, developing from small bubbles into big ones, which resulted in the incomplete capsulotomy. Comparatively, in the right eye, the ICL vault was measured 72 μm, and the capsulotomy was complete and no big cavitation bubbles formed. In both eyes, capsulotomy zones were manually assigned to the anterior capsule surface in the process of laser identification. However, the nuclear pre-fragmentations were unsuccessful in both eyes. Other steps of surgeries were performed uneventfully. Depending on the design of monovision, the uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) was 20/32, and the near uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) was 20/25 in both eyes postoperatively. Conclusions: This case suggested that the surgeon should pay attention to the incomplete laser capsulotomy when using a femtosecond laser in cataractous cases with "0" vaulted ICLs, and manual adjustment was required in the process of laser identification.

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