Autologous serum eye drops in dry eye disease: Preferred practice pattern guidelines.

Autologous serum eye drops provide lubrication and promote epithelial healing. They have been successfully used in the management of ocular surface disorders such as dry eye disease, persistent epithelial defects and neurotrophic keratopathy for many decades. A great deal of variation in the methods of preparation of autologous serum eye drops, the end concentration and the duration of use exists in published literature. In this review, simplified recommendations for preparation, transport, storage and use of autologous serum are described. Evidence for the use of this modality in aqueous deficient dry eye disease is summarized, along with expertise-based rationale.

A novel biodegradable polymer scaffold for in vitro growth of corneal epithelial cells.

The shortage of donor corneal tissue worldwide has led to extensive research for alternate corneal equivalents utilizing tissue engineering methods. We conducted experiments using Poly D, L lactic acid polymer along with a copolymer (Eudragit) in varying concentrations to create a biodegradable scaffold suitable for in vitro growth of corneal epithelial stem cells. It was found that stable, spherical, and porous microparticles can be prepared by combining PDLLA and Eudragit RL100 polymers in the ratio of 90:10 and 70:30. The microparticles can then be fused to form scaffold membranes with porous architecture and good water retention capacity at room temperature using methanol, which can withstand handling during transplantation procedures. The scaffolds made using a 70:30 ratio were found to be suitable for the promotion of growth of laboratory corneal epithelial stem cell lines (SIRC cell lines). This innovation can pave way for further developments in corneal stem cell research and growth, thus providing for viable laboratory-derived corneal substitutes.

Repeated phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) followed by PTK with photorefractive keratectomy for anterior granular corneal dystrophy.

Two preteen siblings with the anterior-stromal variant of granular corneal dystrophy type 1 underwent multiple phototherapeutic keratectomies (PTK) (due to recurrences of the dystrophy) with progressively increasing hyperopia after each procedure. The last procedure performed was an additional photorefractive keratectomy along with the PTK which led to a decrease in the hyperopia with better refractive outcomes. The addition of mitomycin C may have led to a delay in the recurrence of the dystrophy.

A New Strategy for Reporting Specific Protein Binding Events at Aqueous-Liquid Crystal Interfaces in the Presence of Non-Specific Proteins.

Aqueous-liquid crystal (LC) interfaces offer promise as responsive interfaces at which biomolecular recognition events can be amplified into macroscopic signals. However, the design of LC interfaces that distinguish between specific and non-specific protein interactions remains an unresolved challenge. Herein, we report the synthesis of amphiphilic monomers, dimers, and trimers conjugated to sulfonamide ligands via triazole rings, their assembly at aqueous-LC interfaces, and the orientational response of LCs to the interactions of carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) and serum albumin with the oligomer-decorated LC interfaces. Of six oligomers synthesized, only dimers without amide methylation were found to assemble at aqueous interfaces of nematic 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) to induce perpendicular LC orientations. At dimer-decorated LC interfaces, we found that concentrations of CAII less than 4 µM did not measurably perturb the LC but prevented non-specific adsorption and penetration of serum albumin into the dimer-decorated interface that otherwise triggered bright, globular LC optical domains. These experiments and others (including competitive adsorption of CAII, BSA, and lysozyme) support our hypothesis that specific binding of CAII to the dimer prevents LC anchoring transitions triggered by non-specific adsorption of serum albumin. We illustrate the utility of the approach by reporting (i) the relative activity of two small-molecule inhibitors (6-ethoxy-2-benzothiazolesulfonamide and benzenesulfonamide) of CAII to sulfonamide and (ii) proteolytic digestion of a protein (CAII) by thermolysin. Overall, the results in this paper provide new insight into the interactions of proteins at aqueous-LC interfaces and fresh ideas for either blocking non-specific interactions of proteins at surfaces or reporting specific binding events at LC interfaces in the presence of non-specific proteins.