One-Step Synthesis of Versatile Antimicrobial Nano-Architected Implant Coatings for Hard and Soft Tissue Healing.

Dental implant failure remains a prevalent problem around the globe. The integration of implants at the interface of soft and hard tissues is complex and susceptible to instability and infections. Modifications to the surface of titanium implants have been developed to improve the performance, yet insufficient integration and biofilm formation remain major problems. Introducing nanostructures on the surface to augment the implant-tissue contact holds promise for facilitated implant integration; however, current coating processes are limited in their versatility or costs. We present a highly modular single-step approach to produce multicomponent porous bioactive nanostructured coatings on implants. Inorganic nanoparticle building blocks with complex compositions and architectures are synthesized in situ and deposited on the implants in a single step using scalable liquid-feed flame spray pyrolysis. We present hybrid coatings based on ceria and bioglass, which render the implant surfaces superhydrophilic, promote cell adhesion, and exhibit antimicrobial properties. By modifications to the bioglass/ceria nanohybrid composition and architecture that prevent biomineralization, the coating can instead be tailored toward soft tissue healing. The one-step synthesis of nano-architected tissue-specific coatings has great potential in dental implantology and beyond.

Pitfalls and uncertain prognosis in pathological diagnosis of psammomatous melanotic schwannoma.

A 20-year-old woman presenting with a pelvic mass identified as a psammomatous melanotic schwannoma (PMS) with atypical histological features was later found to have family history of cardiac myxomas consistent with Carney's complex. The BRAF V600E mutation was absent in the tumor.

Biallelic Mutations in CRB1 Underlie Autosomal Recessive Familial Foveal Retinoschisis.

PURPOSE: To identify the genetic cause of autosomal recessive familial foveal retinoschisis (FFR). METHODS: A female sibship with FFR was identified (Family-A; 17 and 16 years, respectively); panel based genetic sequencing (132 genes) and comparative genome hybridization (142 genes) were performed. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed on both siblings using the Illumina-HiSeq-2500 platform. A sporadic male (Family-B; 35 years) with FFR underwent WES using Illumina NextSeq500. All three affected subjects underwent detailed ophthalmologic evaluation including fundus photography, autofluorescence imaging, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), and full-field electroretinogram (ERG). RESULTS: Panel-based genetic testing identified two presumed disease causing variants in CRB1 (p.Gly123Cys and p.Cys948Tyr) in Family-A sibship; no deletion or duplication was detected. WES analysis in the sibship identified nine genes with two or more shared nonsynonymous rare coding sequence variants; CRB1 remained a strong candidate gene, and CRB1 variants segregated with the disease. WES in Family-B identified two presumed disease causing variants in CRB1 (p.Ile167_Gly169del and p.Arg764Cys) that segregated with the disease phenotype. Distance visual acuity was 20/40 or better in all three affected except for the left eye of the older subject (Family-B), which showed macular atrophy. Fundus evaluation showed spoke-wheel appearance at the macula in five eyes. The SD-OCT showed macular schitic changes in inner and outer nuclear layers in all cases. The ERG responses were normal in all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report to implicate CRB1 as the underlying cause of FFR. This phenotype forms the mildest end of the spectrum of CRB1-related diseases.

Sox10 is superior to S100 in the diagnosis of meningioma.

Meningiomas are the most common primary cranial tumor arising in the central nervous system and its coverings, constituting 35.5% of primary brain tumors. Schwannomas account for 8.3% of primary neoplasms of the central nervous system. Occasionally these tumors can show overlapping morphology, most conspicuously in the fibrous variant of meningioma. In such cases, immunohistochemistry can help to establish a definitive diagnosis. Currently S100 is the most commonly used immunohistochemical stain to show neural crest differentiation in tumors. This may lead to potential misclassification of meningeal tumors, as up to 70% of fibrous meningiomas can show S100 expression. Our study sought to determine if Sox10 would prove a more specific alternative to S100 in cases of meningioma when the differential diagnosis includes schwannoma. We compared the mRNA expression of S100B and Sox10 using the publicly available GSE16581 meningioma dataset. We then studied Sox10 and S100 protein expression using immunohistochemistry in 147 cases of meningioma using tissue microarrays (TMA) and 19 cases of fibrous meningioma using full cross-sections (FCS). Sox10 and S100B mRNA expression in GSE16581 showed no significant correlation in meningothelial tumors (r=-0.002, P=0.989). By immunohistochemistry, S100 was positive in 14/19 (73.7%) of FCSs and 71/147 (48.3%) of TMA tumors, whereas Sox10 (protein name) was positive in only 1/19 (5.3%) of FCSs and 3/147 (2.0%) of TMA tumors. In summary, Sox10 is superior to S100 in the differential diagnosis of schwannoma and meningioma.