Preliminary proteomic analysis of human tears in lacrimal adenoid cystic carcinoma and pleomorphic adenoma.

AIM: To detect proteomic differences in tears between adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and pleomorphic adenoma (PA). METHODS: Tear samples were collected from 4 patients with ACC, 5 with PA, and 4 control cases. Label-free analysis and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) were used to screen and validate the tear proteome. Gene Ontology (GO) annotation and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were conducted for bioinformatics analysis. RESULTS: In total, 1059 proteins in tear samples were identified by label-free analysis. Between ACC and PA, 415 differentially expressed proteins were detected. Based on the GO annotation, enzyme regulator activity and serine-type endopeptidase inhibitor activity in the molecular function category, blood microparticle and extracellular matrix in the cellular component category, and response to nutrient levels in the biological process category were most predominant. By KEGG pathway annotation, the different proteins between ACC and PA mainly participated in complement and coagulation cascades, amoebiasis, African trypanosomiasis and cholesterol metabolism. Eight proteins with mostly significant differences were verified by PRM, and five proteins with more than 10-fold increases in ACC compared with PA, including integrin ß, α-2-macroglobulin, epididymal secretory sperm binding protein Li 78p, RAB5C, and complement C5, were identified. CONCLUSION: The combined tools of label-free analysis and PRM are very effective and efficient, especially for samples such as tears. Some proteomic differences in tears between ACC and PA are identified and these protein candidates may be specific biomarkers for future exploration.

Lacrimal sac lymphoma: a case series and literature review.

AIM: To study the clinical and pathological characteristics of the lacrimal sac lymphoma, which is rare but it is the major type of non-epithelial malignant tumor in the lacrimal sac region. METHODS: Sixty-four cases of malignant lacrimal sac tumors in our hospital from 1986 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Eight cases of lacrimal sac lymphoma were carefully reviewed. RESULTS: There were five mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas, one diffused large B-cell lymphoma, one NK/T cell lymphoma, and one mantle cell lymphoma. All eight patients represented symptoms of epiphora with swelling in the lacrimal sac for a certain period of time and showed no signs of systemic involvement at the first time of clinical visits. They had received either chemotherapy or radiotherapy after surgery. Long-term follow-up (from 11 to 220mo) showed that, except one patient with MALT lymphoma died for unknown reasons at 104mo after surgery, the other 7 patients were all alive with no signs of local recurrence, neither in other organs. CONCLUSION: Non-epithelial malignant tumors of the lacrimal sac are rare and lymphoma is the major subtype.

Calpastatin participates in the regulation of cell migration in BAP1-deficient uveal melanoma cells.

AIM: To detect how BRCA-associated protein 1 (BAP1) regulates cell migration in uveal melanoma (UM) cells. METHODS: Wound healing and transwell assays were performed to detect UM cell migration abilities. Protein chip, immunoprecipitations and surface plasmon resonance analyses were applied to identify BAP1 protein partners. Western blot and calpain activity assays were used to test the expression and function of calpastatin (CAST). RESULTS: CAST protein was confirmed as a new BAP1 protein partner, and loss of BAP1 reduced the expression and function of CAST in UM cells. The overexpression of CAST rescued the cell migration phenotype caused by BAP1 loss. CONCLUSION: BAP1 interacts with CAST in UM cells, and CAST and its subsequent calpain pathway may mediate BAP1-related cell migration regulation.

[Present status on studies of differentiation into retinal neurons and pigmented cell from induced pluripotent stem cells].

Somatic cells could be induced into pluripotent stem (iPS) cells through transferring special genes (Oct4, Sox2, c-myc and Klf4). This has brought a revolutionary change in stem cell study and application. The generation of iPS cells has great potential and enormous significance as it can resolve some insurmountable problems in stem cells research, such as ethical dilemma, immune rejection, etc. Because of these characteristics, it plays an important role in the repair of various tissues and organs. Rapid progress in this field during the past 3 years convinced us that iPS cells will be more and more applicable in tissue engineering. The present paper reviews the progress of pre-clinical study on iPS cells in the treatment of retinal and optic nerve diseases.

[Changes of neuroglia cells in human glaucoma and animal model of experimental glaucoma].

Glaucoma is one of the major ocular diseases that lead to blindness. It is characterized by optic disk cupping and visual field loss. Glaucoma is a multifactorial group of diseases with many different causes but one common endpoint, progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells. Hence most studies of glaucoma focused on retinal ganglion cells and their nosogenesis. But recent studies have showed that neuroglia cells, as another major kind of cells of nerve system, also undergo an activation process in glaucoma. Their activation is closely connected with the changes of retinal ganglion cells as well as the development of the disease. Therefore, more and more attention is focused on the changes of these cells. This review is a summary about the recent studies on the pathological changes of these four different kinds of neuroglia cells in human glaucoma and in several animal models of experimental glaucoma.