Purpose: To detect early diabetic damage in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with no diabetic retinopathy (NDR) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to evaluate OCT as a clinical test. Methods: Thirty-two patients with NDR (n = 32) were enrolled. We examined retinal and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness using OCT. Two healthy normal populations were also enrolled for the retinal thickness (n = 48) and RNFL thickness (n = 34). Both OCT measurements were obtained in four areas (temporal, superior, nasal and inferior). The receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to evaluate the predictor variables. Results: Comparing the normal and NDR eyes, retinal thickness significantly increased (p = 0.03) and RNFL thickness significantly decreased (p = 0.02) in the superior areas. The area under the ROC curve was 0.65 for the superior retinal thickness and 0.63 for the superior RNFL thickness. Conclusions: Both OCT measurements can detect early retinal damage in NDR patients.
When eyes with pathologic myopia were excluded, the axial length of the eye was found not to influence the average retinal thickness in the macular area.
We isolated Comamonas sp. strain E6, which utilizes terephthalate (TPA) as the sole carbon and energy source via the protocatechuate (PCA) 4,5-cleavage pathway. Two almost identical TPA degradation gene clusters, tphR I C I A2 I A3 I B I A1 I and tphR II C II A2 II A3 II B II A1 II , were isolated from this strain. Based on amino acid sequence similarity, the genes tphR, tphC, tphA2, tphA3, tphB, and tphA1 were predicted to code, respectively, for an IclR-type transcriptional regulator, a periplasmic TPA binding receptor, the large subunit of the oxygenase component of TPA 1,2-dioxygenase (TPADO), the small subunit of the oxygenase component of TPADO, a 1,2-dihydroxy-3,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-dicarboxylate (DCD) dehydrogenase, and a reductase component of TPADO. The growth of E6 on TPA was not affected by disruption of either tphA2 I or tphA2 II singly; however, the tphA2 I tphA2 II double mutant no longer grew on TPA, suggesting that both TPADO genes are involved in TPA degradation. Introduction of a plasmid carrying tphR II C II A2 II A3 II B II A1 II conferred the TPA utilization phenotype on Comamonas testosteroni IAM 1152, which is able to grow on PCA but not on TPA. Disruption of either tphR II or tphC II on this plasmid resulted in the loss of the growth of IAM 1152 on TPA, suggesting that these genes are essential to convert TPA to PCA in E6. The genes tphA1 II , tphA2 II , tphA3 II , and tphB II were expressed in Escherichia coli, and the resultant cell extracts containing TphA1 II , TphA2 II , and TphA3 II converted TPA in the presence of NADPH into a product which was transformed to PCA by TphB II . On the basis of these results, TPADO was strongly suggested to be a two-component dioxygenase which consists of the terminal oxygenase component (TphA2 and TphA3) and the reductase (TphA1), and tphB codes for the DCD dehydrogenase.Protocatechuate (PCA) is an important intermediate metabolite in the bacterial degradation of various aromatic compounds, including vanillate, hydroxybenzoates, and phthalates. There are three recognized catabolic pathways for the degradation of PCA: the PCA 2,3-cleavage (9), PCA 3, and PCA 4,20) pathways. Previously, we characterized the genes and enzymes involved in the PCA 4,5-cleavage pathway of Sphingomonas paucimobilis SYK-6, a well-characterized degrader of lignin-derived compounds (14,15,21,22). During the course of the study on the PCA 4,5-cleavage pathway genes, one of the intermediate metabolites, 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate (PDC), was found to be useful as a starting material for the production of biodegradable PDC polyamides and polyesters (29,30). PDC production from lignin is expected to serve as a new process to exploit lignin as an abundant aromatic bioresource. In addition, PDC production via PCA from various petrochemical aromatic compounds, including phthalate isomers, may also be valuable for the production of biodegradable polymers from petrochemical materials. Terephthalate (TPA) is largely used for the production of polyethylene terephthalate and may be a good...
The keratin intermediate filament network is abundant in epithelial cells, but its function in the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity is unclear. Here, we show that Albatross complexes with Par3 to regulate formation of the apical junctional complex (AJC) and maintain lateral membrane identity. In nonpolarized epithelial cells, Albatross localizes with keratin filaments, whereas in polarized epithelial cells, Albatross is primarily localized in the vicinity of the AJC. Knockdown of Albatross in polarized cells causes a disappearance of key components of the AJC at cell–cell borders and keratin filament reorganization. Lateral proteins E-cadherin and desmoglein 2 were mislocalized even on the apical side. Although Albatross promotes localization of Par3 to the AJC, Par3 and ezrin are still retained at the apical surface in Albatross knockdown cells, which retain intact microvilli. Analysis of keratin-deficient epithelial cells revealed that keratins are required to stabilize the Albatross protein, thus promoting the formation of AJC. We propose that keratins and the keratin-binding protein Albatross are important for epithelial cell polarization.
We evaluated the retinal electrophysiologic function in both the detached and attached areas of eyes with retinal detachment, and assessed the functional recovery of these areas after surgery by quantifying the results obtained from multifocal electroretinograms. Multifocal electroretinographic recordings and central 0 degrees to 30 degrees visual field tests were performed preoperatively and 2 weeks 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively in 12 patients with unilateral retinal detachment. Each patient's response to the multifocal electroretinogram and the visual field test was classified into two groups: group A, the response from the attached area; and group B, that from the detached retinal area. Individual mean deviation and percentage mean deviation were calculated for each group. All retinal detachments were successfully reattached by the conventional scleral buckling method. The retinal sensitivity in the visual field test of all the patients in group B greatly improved. However, the percentage mean deviation in the response density of the multifocal electroretinogram in group B was -81% preoperatively and -63% at 6 months postoperatively. Thus, the improvement was confined within narrow limits. The response density of the multifocal electroretinogram in group A was very low, and never improved beyond -50% of percentage mean deviation. In the eyes with retinal detachment, clectroretinogram response in both the attached and detached areas was more disturbed than predicted by means of the visual field test during the course of this study.
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