Transcriptomic landscape of quiescent and proliferating human corneal stromal fibroblasts.

This study analyzed the transcriptional changes in primary human corneal stromal fibroblasts (hCSFs) grown under quiescent (serum-free) and proliferating (serum-supplemented) culture conditions to identify genes, pathways, and protein‒protein interaction networks influencing corneal repair and regeneration. Primary hCSFs were isolated from donor human corneas and maintained in serum-free or serum-laden conditions. RNA was extracted from confluent cultures using Qiagen kit and subjected to RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis. Differential gene expression (DGE) and pathway enrichment analyses were conducted using DESeq2 and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), respectively. Protein‒protein interaction (PPI) networks were created exploiting the STRING database and analyzed with Cytoscape and the cytoHubba plugin. RNA-seq revealed 5,181 genes that were significantly differentially expressed/changed among the 18,812 annotated genes (p value ˂0.05). A cutoff value of a log2-fold change of ±1.5 or greater was used to identify 674 significantly upregulated and 771 downregulated genes between quiescent and proliferating hCSFs. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant changes in genes linked to cell cycle regulation, inflammatory, and oxidative stress response pathways, such as E2F Targets, G2M Checkpoint, and MYC Targets, TNFA signaling via NF-kB, and oxidative phosphorylation. Protein-protein interaction network analysis highlighted critical hub genes. The FGF22, CD34, ASPN, DPT, LUM, FGF10, PDGFRB, ECM2, DCN, VEGFD, OMD, OGN, ANGPT1, CDH5, and PRELP were upregulated, whereas genes linked to cell cycle regulation and mitotic progression, such as BUB1, TTK, KIF23, KIF11, BUB1B, DLGAP5, NUSAP1, CCNA2, CCNB1, BIRC5, CDK1, KIF20A, AURKB, KIF2C, and CDCA8, were downregulated. The RNA sequences and gene count files have been submitted to the Gene Expression Omnibus (accession # GSE260476). Our study provides a comprehensive information on the transcriptional and molecular changes in hCSFs under quiescent and proliferative conditions and highlights key pathways and hub genes.

Mapping hippocampal and thalamic atrophy in epilepsy: A 7-T magnetic resonance imaging study.

OBJECTIVE: Epilepsy patients are often grouped together by clinical variables. Quantitative neuroimaging metrics can provide a data-driven alternative for grouping of patients. In this work, we leverage ultra-high-field 7-T structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to characterize volumetric atrophy patterns across hippocampal subfields and thalamic nuclei in drug-resistant focal epilepsy. METHODS: Forty-two drug-resistant epilepsy patients and 13 controls with 7-T structural neuroimaging were included in this study. We measured hippocampal subfield and thalamic nuclei volumetry, and applied an unsupervised machine learning algorithm, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), to estimate atrophy patterns across the hippocampal subfields and thalamic nuclei of patients. We studied the association between predefined clinical groups and the estimated atrophy patterns. Additionally, we used hierarchical clustering on the LDA factors to group patients in a data-driven approach. RESULTS: In patients with mesial temporal sclerosis (MTS), we found a significant decrease in volume across all ipsilateral hippocampal subfields (false discovery rate-corrected p [pFDR] < .01) as well as in some ipsilateral (pFDR < .05) and contralateral (pFDR < .01) thalamic nuclei. In left temporal lobe epilepsy (L-TLE) we saw ipsilateral hippocampal and some bilateral thalamic atrophy (pFDR < .05), whereas in right temporal lobe epilepsy (R-TLE) extensive bilateral hippocampal and thalamic atrophy was observed (pFDR < .05). Atrophy factors demonstrated that our MTS cohort had two atrophy phenotypes: one that affected the ipsilateral hippocampus and one that affected the ipsilateral hippocampus and bilateral anterior thalamus. Atrophy factors demonstrated posterior thalamic atrophy in R-TLE, whereas an anterior thalamic atrophy pattern was more common in L-TLE. Finally, hierarchical clustering of atrophy patterns recapitulated clusters with homogeneous clinical properties. SIGNIFICANCE: Leveraging 7-T MRI, we demonstrate widespread hippocampal and thalamic atrophy in epilepsy. Through unsupervised machine learning, we demonstrate patterns of volumetric atrophy that vary depending on disease subtype. Incorporating these atrophy patterns into clinical practice could help better stratify patients to surgical treatments and specific device implantation strategies.

Quantifying hubness to predict surgical outcomes in epilepsy: Assessing resection-hub alignment in interictal intracranial EEG networks.

OBJECTIVE: Intracranial EEG can identify epilepsy-related networks in patients with focal epilepsy; however, the association between network organization and post-surgical seizure outcomes remains unclear. Hubness serves as a critical metric to assess network organization by identifying brain regions that are highly influential to other regions. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that favorable post-operative seizure outcomes are associated with the surgical removal of interictal network hubs, measured by the novel metric "Resection-Hub Alignment Degree (RHAD)." METHODS: We analyzed Phase II interictal intracranial EEG from 69 patients with epilepsy who were seizure-free (n = 45) and non-seizure-free (n = 24) 1 year post-operatively. Connectivity matrices were constructed from intracranial EEG recordings using imaginary coherence in various frequency bands, and centrality metrics were applied to identify network hubs. The RHAD metric quantified the congruence between hubs and resected/ablated areas. We used a logistic regression model, incorporating other clinical factors, and evaluated the association of this alignment regarding post-surgical seizure outcomes. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in RHAD in fast gamma (80-200 Hz) interictal network between patients with favorable and unfavorable surgical outcomes (p = .025). This finding remained similar across network definitions (i.e., channel-based or region-based network) and centrality measurements (Eigenvector, Closeness, and PageRank). The alignment between surgically removed areas and other commonly used clinical quantitative measures (seizure-onset zone, irritative zone, high-frequency oscillations zone) did not reveal significant differences in post-operative outcomes. This finding suggests that the hubness measurement may offer better predictive performance and finer-grained network analysis. In addition, the RHAD metric showed explanatory validity both alone (area under the curve [AUC] = .66) and in combination with surgical therapy type (resection vs ablation, AUC = .71). SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings underscore the role of network hub surgical removal, measured through the RHAD metric of interictal intracranial EEG high gamma networks, in enhancing our understanding of seizure outcomes in epilepsy surgery.

iEEG-recon: A fast and scalable pipeline for accurate reconstruction of intracranial electrodes and implantable devices.

OBJECTIVE: Clinicians use intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) in conjunction with noninvasive brain imaging to identify epileptic networks and target therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy cases. Our goal was to promote ongoing and future collaboration by automating the process of "electrode reconstruction," which involves the labeling, registration, and assignment of iEEG electrode coordinates on neuroimaging. We developed a standalone, modular pipeline that performs electrode reconstruction. We demonstrate our tool's compatibility with clinical and research workflows and its scalability on cloud platforms. METHODS: We created iEEG-recon, a scalable electrode reconstruction pipeline for semiautomatic iEEG annotation, rapid image registration, and electrode assignment on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Its modular architecture includes a clinical module for electrode labeling and localization, and a research module for automated data processing and electrode contact assignment. To ensure accessibility for users with limited programming and imaging expertise, we packaged iEEG-recon in a containerized format that allows integration into clinical workflows. We propose a cloud-based implementation of iEEG-recon and test our pipeline on data from 132 patients at two epilepsy centers using retrospective and prospective cohorts. RESULTS: We used iEEG-recon to accurately reconstruct electrodes in both electrocorticography and stereoelectroencephalography cases with a 30-min running time per case (including semiautomatic electrode labeling and reconstruction). iEEG-recon generates quality assurance reports and visualizations to support epilepsy surgery discussions. Reconstruction outputs from the clinical module were radiologically validated through pre- and postimplant T1-MRI visual inspections. We also found that our use of ANTsPyNet deep learning-based brain segmentation for electrode classification was consistent with the widely used FreeSurfer segmentations. SIGNIFICANCE: iEEG-recon is a robust pipeline for automating reconstruction of iEEG electrodes and implantable devices on brain MRI, promoting fast data analysis and integration into clinical workflows. iEEG-recon's accuracy, speed, and compatibility with cloud platforms make it a useful resource for epilepsy centers worldwide.

Quantitative approaches to guide epilepsy surgery from intracranial EEG.

Over the past 10 years, the drive to improve outcomes from epilepsy surgery has stimulated widespread interest in methods to quantitatively guide epilepsy surgery from intracranial EEG (iEEG). Many patients fail to achieve seizure freedom, in part due to the challenges in subjective iEEG interpretation. To address this clinical need, quantitative iEEG analytics have been developed using a variety of approaches, spanning studies of seizures, interictal periods, and their transitions, and encompass a range of techniques including electrographic signal analysis, dynamical systems modeling, machine learning and graph theory. Unfortunately, many methods fail to generalize to new data and are sensitive to differences in pathology and electrode placement. Here, we critically review selected literature on computational methods of identifying the epileptogenic zone from iEEG. We highlight shared methodological challenges common to many studies in this field and propose ways that they can be addressed. One fundamental common pitfall is a lack of open-source, high-quality data, which we specifically address by sharing a centralized high-quality, well-annotated, multicentre dataset consisting of >100 patients to support larger and more rigorous studies. Ultimately, we provide a road map to help these tools reach clinical trials and hope to improve the lives of future patients.

Role of aquaporins in corneal healing post chemical injury.

Aquaporins (AQPs) are transmembrane water channel proteins that regulate the movement of water through the plasma membrane in various tissues including cornea. The cornea is avascular and has specialized microcirculatory mechanisms for homeostasis. AQPs regulate corneal hydration and transparency for normal vision. Currently, there are 13 known isoforms of AQPs that can be subclassified as orthodox AQPs, aquaglyceroporins (AQGPs), or supraquaporins (SAQPs)/unorthodox AQPs. AQPs are implicated in keratocyte function, inflammation, edema, angiogenesis, microvessel proliferation, and the wound-healing process in the cornea. AQPs play an important role in wound healing by facilitating the movement of corneal stromal keratocytes by squeezing through tight stromal matrix and narrow extracellular spaces to the wound site. Deficiency of AQPs can cause reduced concentration of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) leading to reduced epithelial proliferation, reduced/impaired keratocyte migration, reduced number of keratocytes in the injury site, delayed and abnormal wound healing process. Dysregulated AQPs cause dysfunction in osmolar homeostasis as well as wound healing mechanisms. The cornea is a transparent avascular tissue that constitutes the anterior aspect of the outer covering of the eye and aids in two-thirds of visual light refraction. Being the outermost layer of the eye, the cornea is prone to injury. Of the 13 AQP isoforms, AQP1 is expressed in the stromal keratocytes and endothelial cells, and AQP3 and AQP5 are expressed in epithelial cells in the human cornea. AQPs can facilitate wound healing through aid in cellular migration, proliferation, migration, extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and autophagy mechanism. Corneal wound healing post-chemical injury requires an integrative and coordinated activity of the epithelium, stromal keratocytes, endothelium, ECM, and a battery of cytokines and growth factors to restore corneal transparency. If the chemical injury is mild, the cornea will heal with normal clarity, but severe injuries can lead to partial and/or permanent loss of corneal functions. Currently, the role of AQPs in corneal wound healing is poorly understood in the context of chemical injury. This review discusses the current literature and the role of AQPs in corneal homeostasis, wound repair, and potential therapeutic target for acute and chronic corneal injuries.

Carbofuran pesticide toxicity to the eye.

Pesticide exposure to eyes is a major source of ocular morbidities in adults and children all over the world. Carbofuran (CF), N-methyl carbamate, pesticide is most widely used as an insecticide, nematicide, and acaricide in agriculture, forestry, and gardening. Contact or ingestion of carbofuran causes high morbidity and mortality in humans and pets. Pesticides are absorbed in the eye faster than other organs of the body and damage ocular tissues very quickly. Carbofuran exposure to eye causes blurred vision, pain, loss of coordination, anti-cholinesterase activities, weakness, sweating, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, endocrine, reproductive, and cytotoxic effects in humans depending on amount and duration of exposure. Pesticide exposure to eye injures cornea, conjunctiva, lens, retina, and optic nerve and leads to abnormal ocular movement and vision impairment. Additionally, anticholinesterase pesticides like carbofuran are known to cause salivation, lacrimation, urination, and defecation (SLUD). Carbofuran and its two major metabolites (3-hydroxycarbofuran and 3-ketocarbofuran) are reversible inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) which regulates acetylcholine (ACh), a neurohumoral chemical that plays an important role in corneal wound healing. The corneal epithelium contains high levels of ACh whose accumulation by AChE inhibition after CF exposure overstimulates muscarinic ACh receptors (mAChRs) and nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs). Hyper stimulation of mAChRs in the eye causes miosis (excessive constriction of the pupil), dacryorrhea (excessive flow of tears), or chromodacryorrhea (red tears). Recent studies reported alteration of autophagy mechanism in human cornea in vitro and ex vivo post carbofuran exposure. This review describes carbofuran toxicity to the eye with special emphasis on corneal morbidities and blindness.

Mustard gas exposure instigates retinal Müller cell gliosis.

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a chemical warfare agent (CWA) that causes severe eye pain, photophobia, excessive lacrimation, corneal and ocular surface defects, and blindness. However, SM's effects on retinal cells are relatively meager. This study investigated the role of SM toxicity on Müller glial cells responsible for cellular architecture, inner blood-retinal barrier maintenance, neurotransmitter recycling, neuronal survival, and retinal homeostasis. Müller glial cells (MIO-M1) were exposed to SM analog, nitrogen mustard (NM), at varying concentrations (50-500 µM) for 3 h, 24 h, and 72 h. Müller cell gliosis was evaluated using morphological, cellular, and biochemical methods. Real-time cellular integrity and morphological evaluation were performed using the xCELLigence real-time monitoring system. Cellular viability and toxicity were measured using TUNEL and PrestoBlue assays. Müller glia hyperactivity was calculated based on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin immunostaining. Intracellular oxidative stress was measured using DCFDA and DHE cell-based assays. Inflammatory markers and antioxidant enzyme levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). AO/Br and DAPI staining further evaluated DNA damage, apoptosis, necrosis, and cell death. Inflammasome-associated Caspase-1, ASC, and NLRP3 were studied to identify mechanistic insights into NM toxicity in Müller glial cells. The cellular and morphological evaluation revealed the Müller glia hyperactivity after NM exposure in a dose- and time-dependent manner. NM exposure caused significant oxidative stress and enhanced cell death at 72 h. A significant increase in antioxidant indices was observed at the lower concentrations of NM. Mechanistically, we found that NM-treated MIO-M1 cells increased caspase-1 levels that activated NLRP3 inflammasome-induced production of IL-1ß and IL-18, and elevated Gasdermin D (GSDMD) expression, a crucial component actuating pyroptosis. In conclusion, NM-induced Müller cell gliosis via increased oxidative stress results in caspase-1-dependent activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and cell death driven primarily by pyroptosis.

Toxicological effects of ocular acrolein exposure to eyelids in rabbits in vivo.

Acrolein is a highly reactive volatile toxic chemical that injures the eyes and many organs. It has been used in wars and terrorism for wounding masses on multiple occasions and is readily accessible commercially. Our earlier studies revealed acrolein's toxicity to the cornea and witnessed damage to other ocular tissues. Eyelids play a vital role in keeping eyes mobile, moist, lubricated, and functional utilizing a range of diverse lipids produced by the Meibomian glands located in the upper and lower eyelids. This study sought to investigate acrolein's toxicity to eyelid tissues by studying the expression of inflammatory and lipid markers in rabbit eyes in vivo utilizing our reported vapor-cap model. The study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committees and followed ARVO guidelines. Twelve New Zealand White Rabbits were divided into 3 groups: Naïve (group 1), 1-min acrolein exposure (group 2), or 3-min acrolein exposure (group 3). The toxicological effects of acrolein on ocular health in live animals were monitored with regular clinical eye exams and intraocular pressure measurements and eyelid tissues post-euthanasia were subjected to H&E and Masson's trichrome histology and qRT-PCR analysis. Clinical eye examinations witnessed severely swollen eyelids, abnormal ocular discharge, chemosis, and elevated intraocular pressure (p < 0.001) in acrolein-exposed eyes. Histological studies supported clinical findings and exhibited noticeable changes in eyelid tissue morphology. Gene expression studies exhibited significantly increased expression of inflammatory and lipid mediators (LOX, PAF, Cox-2, and LTB4; p < 0.001) in acrolein-exposed eyelid tissues compared to naïve eyelid tissues. The results suggest that acrolein exposure to the eyes causes acute damage to eyelids by altering inflammatory and lipid mediators in vivo.

Differential gene expression and protein-protein interaction network profiling of sulfur mustard-exposed rabbit corneas employing RNA-seq data and bioinformatics tools.

Sulfur mustard (SM) ocular exposure severely damages the cornea and causes vision impairment. At present, no specific therapy exists to mitigate SM-induced corneal injury and vision loss. This study performed transcriptome profiling of naïve, SM-damaged, and SM-undamaged rabbit corneas using RNA-seq analysis and bioinformatic tools to gain a better mechanistic understanding and develop SM-specific medical countermeasures. The mRNA profiles of rabbit corneas 4 weeks post SM vapor exposure were generated using Illumina-NextSeq deep sequencing (Gene Expression Omnibus accession # GSE127708). The RNA sequences of naïve (n = 4), SM-damaged (n = 5), and SM-undamaged (n = 5) corneas were subjected to differential expression (DE) analysis after quality control profiling with FastQC. DE analysis was performed using HISAT2, StringTie, and DESeq2. The log2(FC)±2 and adjusted p˂0.05 were chosen to identify the most relevant genes. A total of 5930 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (upregulated: 3196, downregulated: 2734) were found in SM-damaged corneas compared to naïve corneas, whereas SM-undamaged corneas showed 1884 DEGs (upregulated: 1029, downregulated: 855) compared to naïve corneas. DE profiling of SM-damaged corneas to SM-undamaged corneas revealed 985 genes (upregulated: 308, downregulated: 677). The DE profiles were subsequently subjected to signaling pathway enrichment, and protein‒protein interactions (PPIs) were analyzed. Pathway enrichment was performed for the genes associated with cellular apoptosis, death, adhesion, migration, differentiation, proliferation, extracellular matrix, and tumor necrosis factor production. To identify novel targets, we narrowed the pathway analysis to upregulated and downregulated genes associated with cell proliferation and differentiation, and PPI networks were developed. Furthermore, protein targets associated with cell differentiation and proliferation that may play vital roles in corneal fibrosis and wound healing post SM injury were identified.

Characterization of C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5 in the cornea and role in the inflammatory response after corneal injury.

C-X-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CXCR5) regulates inflammatory responses in ocular and non-ocular tissues. However, its expression and role in the cornea are still unknown. Here, we report the expression of CXCR5 in human cornea in vitro and mouse corneas in vivo, and its functional role in corneal inflammation using C57BL/6J wild-type (CXCR5+/+) and CXCR5-deficient (CXCR5-/-) mice, topical alkali injury, clinical eye imaging, histology, immunofluorescence, PCR, qRT-PCR, and western blotting. Human corneal epithelial cells, stromal fibroblasts, and endothelial cells demonstrated CXCR5 mRNA and protein expression in PCR, and Western blot analyses, respectively. To study the functional role of CXCR5 in vivo, mice were divided into four groups: Group-1 (CXCR5+/+ alkali injured cornea; n = 30), Group-2 (CXCR5-/- alkali injured cornea; n = 30), Group-3 (CXCR5+/+ naïve cornea; n = 30), and Group-4 (CXCR5-/- naïve cornea; n = 30). Only one eye was wounded with alkali. Clinical corneal evaluation and imaging were performed before and after injury. Mice were euthanized 4 h, 3 days, or 7 days after injury, eyes were excised and used for histology, immunofluorescence, and qRT-PCR. In clinical eye examinations, CXCR5-/- mouse corneas showed ocular health akin to the naïve corneas. Alkali injured CXCR5+/+ mouse corneas showed significantly increased mRNA (p < 0.001) and protein (p < 0.01 or p < 0.0001) levels of the CXCR5 compared to the naïve corneas. Likewise, alkali injured CXCR5-/- mouse corneas showed remarkably amplified inflammation in clinical eye exams in live animals. The histological and molecular analyses of these corneas post euthanasia exhibited markedly augmented inflammatory cells in H&E staining and significant CD11b + cells in immunofluorescence (p < 0.01 or < 0.05); and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα; p < 0.05), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2; p < 0.0001), interleukin (IL)-1ß (p < 0.0001), and IL-6 (p < 0.0001 or < 0.01) mRNA expression compared to the CXCR5+/+ mouse corneas. Interestingly, CXCR5-/- alkali injured corneas also showed altered mRNA expression of fibrotic alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA; p > 0.05) and angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF; p < 0.01) compared to the CXCR5+/+ alkali injured corneas. In summary, the CXCR5 gene is expressed in all three major layers of the cornea and appears to influence corneal inflammatory and repair events post-injury in vivo. More studies are warranted to tease the mechanistic role of CXCR5 in corneal inflammation and wound healing.

Resting state functional connectivity demonstrates increased segregation in bilateral temporal lobe epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common type of focal epilepsy. An increasingly identified subset of patients with TLE consists of those who show bilaterally independent temporal lobe seizures. The purpose of this study was to leverage network neuroscience to better understand the interictal whole brain network of bilateral TLE (BiTLE). METHODS: In this study, using a multicenter resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data set, we constructed whole-brain functional networks of 19 patients with BiTLE, and compared them to those of 75 patients with unilateral TLE (UTLE). We quantified resting-state, whole-brain topological properties using metrics derived from network theory, including clustering coefficient, global efficiency, participation coefficient, and modularity. For each metric, we computed an average across all brain regions, and iterated this process across network densities. Curves of network density vs each network metric were compared between groups. Finally, we derived a combined metric, which we term the "integration-segregation axis," by combining whole-brain average clustering coefficient and global efficiency curves, and applying principal component analysis (PCA)-based dimensionality reduction. RESULTS: Compared to UTLE, BiTLE had decreased global efficiency (p = .031), and decreased whole brain average participation coefficient across a range of network densities (p = .019). Modularity maximization yielded a larger number of smaller communities in BiTLE than in UTLE (p = .020). Differences in network properties separate BiTLE and UTLE along the integration-segregation axis, with regions within the axis having a specificity of up to 0.87 for BiTLE. Along the integration-segregation axis, UTLE patients with poor surgical outcomes were distributed in the same regions as BiTLE, and network metrics confirmed similar patterns of increased segregation in both BiTLE and poor outcome UTLE. SIGNIFICANCE: Increased interictal whole-brain network segregation, as measured by rs-fMRI, is specific to BiTLE, as well as poor surgical outcome UTLE, and may assist in non-invasively identifying this patient population prior to intracranial electroencephalography or device implantation.

Normative intracranial EEG maps epileptogenic tissues in focal epilepsy.

Planning surgery for patients with medically refractory epilepsy often requires recording seizures using intracranial EEG. Quantitative measures derived from interictal intracranial EEG yield potentially appealing biomarkers to guide these surgical procedures; however, their utility is limited by the sparsity of electrode implantation as well as the normal confounds of spatiotemporally varying neural activity and connectivity. We propose that comparing intracranial EEG recordings to a normative atlas of intracranial EEG activity and connectivity can reliably map abnormal regions, identify targets for invasive treatment and increase our understanding of human epilepsy. Merging data from the Penn Epilepsy Center and a public database from the Montreal Neurological Institute, we aggregated interictal intracranial EEG retrospectively across 166 subjects comprising >5000 channels. For each channel, we calculated the normalized spectral power and coherence in each canonical frequency band. We constructed an intracranial EEG atlas by mapping the distribution of each feature across the brain and tested the atlas against data from novel patients by generating a z-score for each channel. We demonstrate that for seizure onset zones within the mesial temporal lobe, measures of connectivity abnormality provide greater distinguishing value than univariate measures of abnormal neural activity. We also find that patients with a longer diagnosis of epilepsy have greater abnormalities in connectivity. By integrating measures of both single-channel activity and inter-regional functional connectivity, we find a better accuracy in predicting the seizure onset zones versus normal brain (area under the curve = 0.77) compared with either group of features alone. We propose that aggregating normative intracranial EEG data across epilepsy centres into a normative atlas provides a rigorous, quantitative method to map epileptic networks and guide invasive therapy. We publicly share our data, infrastructure and methods, and propose an international framework for leveraging big data in surgical planning for refractory epilepsy.

Corneal fibrosis abrogation by a localized AAV-mediated inhibitor of differentiation 3 (Id3) gene therapy in rabbit eyes in vivo.

Previously we found that inhibitor of differentiation 3 (Id3) gene, a transcriptional repressor, efficiently inhibits corneal keratocyte differentiation to myofibroblasts in vitro. This study evaluated the potential of adeno-associated virus 5 (AAV5)-mediated Id3 gene therapy to treat corneal scarring using an established rabbit in vivo disease model. Corneal scarring/fibrosis in rabbit eyes was induced by alkali trauma, and 24 h thereafter corneas were administered with either balanced salt solution AAV5-naked vector, or AAV5-Id3 vector (n = 6/group) via an optimized reported method. Therapeutic effects of AAV5-Id3 gene therapy on corneal pathology and ocular health were evaluated with clinical, histological, and molecular techniques. Localized AAV5-Id3 gene therapy significantly inhibited corneal fibrosis/haze clinically from 2.7 to 0.7 on the Fantes scale in live animals (AAV5-naked versus AAV5-Id3; p < 0.001). Furthermore, AAV5-Id3 treatment significantly reduced profibrotic gene mRNA levels: α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) (2.8-fold; p < 0.001), fibronectin (3.2-fold; p < 0.001), collagen I (0.8-fold; p < 0.001), and collagen III (1.4-fold; p < 0.001), as well as protein levels of α-SMA (23.8%; p < 0.001) and collagens (1.8-fold; p < 0.001). The anti-fibrotic activity of AAV5-Id3 is attributed to reduced myofibroblast formation by disrupting the binding of E-box proteins to the promoter of α-SMA, a transforming growth factor-ß signaling downstream target gene. In conclusion, these results indicate that localized AAV5-Id3 delivery in stroma caused no clinically relevant ocular symptoms or corneal cellular toxicity in the rabbit eyes.

Evaluation of CRISPR/Cas9 mediated TGIF gene editing to inhibit corneal fibrosis in vitro.

Corneal wound healing is influenced by many factors including transcriptional co-repressors and co-activators. Interactions of co-activators and co-repressors with Smads influence mechanistic loop facilitating transcription of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), a key profibrotic gene, in corneal repair. The role of a transcriptional repressor, 5'TG3'-interacting factor (TGIF), in the regulation of α-SMA and myofibroblast formation in the cornea was shown previously by our group. This study tested a hypothesis if TGIF1 gene editing via CRISPR/Cas9 can ease myofibroblast formation in the cornea using an in vitro model. Primary human corneal stromal fibroblasts (hCSFs) generated from donor corneas received gene-editing plasmid facilitating loss (CRISPR/Cas9 knockout) or gain (CRISPR activation) of TGIF function by UltraCruz transfection reagent. Phase-contrast microscopy, immunoblotting, immunocytochemistry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to measure levels of myofibroblast profibrotic genes (α-SMA, fibronectin, Collagen-I, and Collagen-IV) in hCSFs lacking or overexpressing TGIF1 after growing them in± transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-ß1) under serum-free conditions. The CRISPR-assisted TGIF1 activation (gain of function) in hCSFs demonstrated significantly decreased myofibroblast formation and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein levels of profibrotic genes. Conversely, CRISPR/Cas9-assisted TGIF knockdown (loss of function) in hCSFs demonstrated no significant change in the levels of myofibroblast formation or profibrotic genes under similar conditions. These results suggest that TGIF gene-editing approach can be employed to modulate the transcriptional activity of α-SMA in controlling pathological and promoting physiological wound healing in an injured cornea.

Time-dependent in situ structural and cellular aberrations in rabbit cornea in vivo after mustard gas exposure.

An array of corneal pathologies collectively called mustard gas keratopathy (MGK) resulting from ocular exposure to sulfur mustard (SM) gas are the most prevalent chemical warfare injury. MGK involves chronic ocular discomfort that results in vision impairment. The etiology of MGK remains unclear and poorly understood primarily due to a lack of scientific data regarding structural and cellular changes in different layers of the cornea altered by mustard vapor exposure in vivo. The goals of this study were to (a) characterize time-dependent changes in different layers of corneal epithelium, stroma, and endothelium in live animals in situ by employing state-of-the-art multimodal clinical ophthalmic imaging techniques and (b) determine if SM-induced acute changes in corneal cells could be rescued by a topical eye drop (TED) treatment using in an established rabbit in vivo model. Forty-five New Zealand White Rabbit eyes were divided into four groups (Naïve, TED, SM, and SM + TED). Only one eye was exposed to SM (200 mg-min/m3 for 8 min), and each group had three time points with six eyes each (Table-1). TED was topically applied twice a day for seven days. Clinical eye examinations and imaging were performed in live rabbits with stereo, Slit-lamp, HRT-RCM3, and Spectralis microscopy system. Fantes grading, fluorescein staining, Schirmer's tests, and applanation tonometry were conducted to measure corneal haze, ocular surface aberrations, tears, and intraocular pressure respectively. H&E and PSR staining were used for histopathological cellular changes in the cornea. In vivo confocal and OCT imaging revealed significant changes in structural and morphological appearance of corneal epithelium, stroma, and endothelium in vivo in SM-exposed rabbit corneas in a time-dependent manner compared to naïve cornea. Also, SM-exposed eyes showed loss of corneal transparency characterized by increased stromal thickness and light-scattering myofibroblasts or activated keratocytes, representing haze formation in the cornea. Neither naive nor TED-alone treated eyes showed any structural, cellular, and functional abnormalities. Topical TED treatment significantly reduced SM-induced abnormalities in primary corneal layers. We conclude that structural and cellular changes in primary corneal layers are early pathological events contributing to MGK in vivo, and efficient targeting of them with suitable agents has the potential to mitigate SM ocular injury.

Collagen matrix perturbations in corneal stroma of Ossabaw mini pigs with type 2 diabetes.

Purpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder that affects over 450 million people worldwide. DM is characterized by hyperglycemia, causing severe systemic damage to the heart, kidneys, skin, vasculature, nerves, and eye. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) constitutes 90% of clinical cases and is the most common cause of blindness in working adults. Also, about 70% of T2DM patients show corneal complications including delayed wound healing, often described as diabetic keratopathy (DK). Despite the increasing severity of DM, the research on DK is bleak. This study investigated cellular morphology and collagen matrix alterations of the diabetic and non-diabetic corneas collected from Ossabaw mini pigs, a T2DM animal model with a "thrifty genotype." Methods: Pig corneas were collected from six-month-old Ossabaw miniature pigs fed on a western diet (WD) for ten weeks. The tissues were processed for immunohistochemistry and analyzed using hematoxylin and eosin staining, Mason Trichrome staining, Picrosirus Red staining, Collage I staining, and TUNEL assay. mRNA was prepared to quantify fibrotic gene expression using quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was performed to evaluate stromal fibril arrangements to compare collagen dynamics in WD vs. standard diet (SD) fed Ossabaw pig corneas. Results: Ossabaw mini pigs fed on a WD for 10 weeks exhibit classic symptoms of metabolic syndrome and hyperglycemia seen in T2DM patients. We observed significant disarray in cornea stromal collagen matrix in Ossabaw mini pigs fed on WD compared to the age-matched mini pigs fed on a standard chow diet using Masson Trichome and Picrosirius Red staining. Furthermore, ultrastructure evaluation using TEM showed alterations in stromal collagen fibril size and organization in diabetic corneas compared to healthy age-matched corneas. These changes were accompanied by significantly decreased levels of Collagen IV and increased expression of matrix metallopeptidase 9 in WD-fed pigs. Conclusions: This pilot study indicates that Ossabaw mini pigs fed on WD showed collagen disarray and altered gene expression involved in wound healing, suggesting that corneal stromal collagens are vulnerable to diabetic conditions.

Novel insights into gene therapy in the cornea.

Corneal disease remains a leading cause of impaired vision world-wide, and advancements in gene therapy continue to develop with promising success to prevent, treat and cure blindness. Ideally, gene therapy requires a vector and gene delivery method that targets treatment of specific cells or tissues and results in a safe and non-immunogenic response. The cornea is a model tissue for gene therapy due to its ease of clinician access and immune-privileged state. Improvements in the past 5-10 years have begun to revolutionize the approach to gene therapy in the cornea with a focus on adeno-associated virus and nanoparticle delivery of single and combination gene therapies. In addition, the potential applications of gene editing (zinc finger nucleases [ZNFs], transcription activator-like effector nucleases [TALENs], Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/Associated Systems [CRISPR/Cas9]) are rapidly expanding. This review focuses on recent developments in gene therapy for corneal diseases, including promising multiple gene therapy, while outlining a practical approach to the development of such therapies and potential impediments to successful delivery of genes to the cornea.

Focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures are associated with widespread network abnormality in temporal lobe epilepsy.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to identify whether the whole-brain structural network alterations in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures (FBTCS) differ from alterations in patients without FBTCS. METHODS: We dichotomized a cohort of 83 drug-resistant patients with TLE into those with and without FBTCS and compared each group to 29 healthy controls. For each subject, we used diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to construct whole-brain structural networks. First, we measured the extent of alterations by performing FBTCS-negative (FBTCS-) versus control and FBTCS-positive (FBTCS+) versus control comparisons, thereby delineating altered subnetworks of the whole-brain structural network. Second, by standardizing each patient's networks using control networks, we measured the subject-specific abnormality at every brain region in the network, thereby quantifying the spatial localization and the amount of abnormality in every patient. RESULTS: Both FBTCS+ and FBTCS- patient groups had altered subnetworks with reduced fractional anisotropy and increased mean diffusivity compared to controls. The altered subnetwork in FBTCS+ patients was more widespread than in FBTCS- patients (441 connections altered at t > 3, p < .001 in FBTCS+ compared to 21 connections altered at t > 3, p = .01 in FBTCS-). Significantly greater abnormalities-aggregated over the entire brain network as well as assessed at the resolution of individual brain areas-were present in FBTCS+ patients (p < .001, d = .82, 95% confidence interval = .32-1.3). In contrast, the fewer abnormalities present in FBTCS- patients were mainly localized to the temporal and frontal areas. SIGNIFICANCE: The whole-brain structural network is altered to a greater and more widespread extent in patients with TLE and FBTCS. We suggest that these abnormal networks may serve as an underlying structural basis or consequence of the greater seizure spread observed in FBTCS.

Quantification of brain proton longitudinal relaxation (T1 ) in lithium-treated and lithium-naïve patients with bipolar disorder in comparison to healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Proton longitudinal relaxation (T1 ) is a quantitative MRI-derived tissue parameter sensitive to myelin, macromolecular, iron and water content. There is some evidence to suggest that cortical T1 is elevated in bipolar disorder and that lithium administration reduces cortical T1 . However, T1 has not yet been quantified in separate groups containing lithium-treated patients, lithium-naïve patients, and matched healthy controls. METHODS: Euthymic patients with bipolar disorder receiving lithium (n = 18, BDL) and those on other medications but naïve to lithium (n = 20, BDC) underwent quantitative T1 mapping alongside healthy controls (n = 18, HC). T1 was compared between groups within the cortex, white matter and subcortical structures using regions of interest (ROI) derived from the Desikan-Killiany atlas. Effect sizes for each ROI were computed for BDC vs BDL groups and Bipolar Disorder vs HC groups. RESULTS: No significant differences in T1 were identified between BDL and BDC groups when corrected for multiple comparisons. Patients with bipolar disorder had significantly higher mean T1 in a range of ROIs compared to healthy controls, including bilateral motor, somatosensory and superior temporal regions, subcortical structures and white matter. CONCLUSIONS: The higher T1 values observed in the patients with bipolar disorder may reflect abnormal tissue microstructure. Whilst the precise mechanism remains unknown, these findings may have a basis in differences in myelination, macromolecular content, iron and water content between patients and controls.