Autologous Induced Stem-Cell-Derived Retinal Cells for Macular Degeneration.

We assessed the feasibility of transplanting a sheet of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) in a patient with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. The iPSCs were generated from skin fibroblasts obtained from two patients with advanced neovascular age-related macular degeneration and were differentiated into RPE cells. The RPE cells and the iPSCs from which they were derived were subject to extensive testing. A surgery that included the removal of the neovascular membrane and transplantation of the autologous iPSC-derived RPE cell sheet under the retina was performed in one of the patients. At 1 year after surgery, the transplanted sheet remained intact, best corrected visual acuity had not improved or worsened, and cystoid macular edema was present. (Funded by Highway Program for Realization of Regenerative Medicine and others; University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry [UMIN-CTR] number, UMIN000011929 .).

tRNADB-CE 2011: tRNA gene database curated manually by experts.

We updated the tRNADB-CE by analyzing 939 complete and 1301 draft genomes of prokaryotes and eukaryotes, 171 complete virus genomes, 121 complete chloroplast genomes and approximately 230 million sequences obtained by metagenome analyses of 210 environmental samples. The 287 102 tRNA genes in total, and thus two times of the tRNA genes compiled previously, are compiled, in which sequence information, clover-leaf structure and results of sequence similarity and oligonucleotide-pattern search can be browsed. In order to pool collective knowledge with help from any experts in the tRNA research field, we included a column to which comments can be added on each tRNA gene. By compiling tRNAs of known prokaryotes with identical sequences, we found high phylogenetic preservation of tRNA sequences, especially at a phylum level. Furthermore, a large number of tRNAs obtained by metagenome analyses of environmental samples had sequences identical to those found in known prokaryotes. The identical sequence group, therefore, can be used as phylogenetic markers to clarify the microbial community structure of an ecosystem. The updated tRNADB-CE provided functions, with which users can obtain the phylotype-specific markers (e.g. genus-specific markers) by themselves and clarify microbial community structures of ecosystems in detail. tRNADB-CE can be accessed freely at http://trna.nagahama-i-bio.ac.jp.

tRNADB-CE: tRNA gene database curated manually by experts.

We constructed a new large-scale database of tRNA genes by analyzing 534 complete genomes of prokaryotes and 394 draft genomes in WGS (Whole Genome Shotgun) division in DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank and approximately 6.2 million DNA fragment sequences obtained from metagenomic analyses. This exhaustive search for tRNA genes was performed by running three computer programs to enhance completeness and accuracy of the prediction. Discordances of assignment among three programs were found for approximately 4% of the total of tRNA gene candidates obtained from these prokaryote genomes analyzed. The discordant cases were manually checked by experts in the tRNA experimental field. In total, 144,061 tRNA genes were registered in the database 'tRNADB-CE', and the number of the genes was more than four times of that of the genes previously reported by the database from analyses of complete genomes with tRNAscan-SE program. The tRNADB-CE allows for browsing sequence information, cloverleaf structures and results of similarity searches among all tRNA genes. For each of the complete genomes, the number of tRNA genes for individual anticodons and the codon usage frequency in all protein genes and the positioning of individual tRNA genes in each genome can be browsed. tRNADB-CE can be accessed freely at http://trna.nagahama-i-bio.ac.jp.