Project description:Pterygium is an ocular surface disease that can cause visual impairment if it progressively invades the cornea. Although many pieces of research showed that ultraviolet radiation triggers pterygium pathological progress, the underlying mechanism in pterygium remains indistinct. In this study, we used microarray to evaluate the changes of transcripts between primary pterygium and adjacent normal conjunctiva samples in China, hoping to find underlying pathways involved in pterygium progression.
Project description:Pterygium, abnormal growths of conjunctival tissue onto the cornea, are common ocular surface conditions with a high risk of recurrence after surgery and potential ophthalmic complications. The exact cause of pterygium remains unclear, and the triggers are still unknown. In this study, we investigate the epigenetic profiles of patients with pterygium, focusing on histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) and lysine 9 (H3K9) trimethylation (me3). While H3K4me3 levels showed no significant genome-wide change, they were significantly altered in genes related to development and ocular diseases. Conversely, H3K9me3 levels were markedly elevated genome-wide, particularly at the promoters of 82 genes involved in developmental pathways. Furthermore, we identify six genes, ANK2, AOAH, CBLN2, CDH8, CNTNAP4, and DPP6, with decreased gene expression correlated with substantially increased H3K9me3, suggesting their potential as biomarkers for pterygium. This study represents the first report linking histone modification to pterygium progression, providing valuable insights into therapeutic strategies and potential drug targets.
Project description:Differential expression comparing active pterygium with atrophic pterygium using data generated from the Brazilian cohort identified differentially expressed genes between the two forms of presentation of this condition
Project description:Pterygium is an ocular surface disorder with high prevalence that can lead to vision impairment. As a pathological outgrowth of conjunctiva, pterygium involves neovascularization and chronic inflammation, but its pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Over the last decade, various types of disease models have been built to study pterygium. Here, we developed a 3D multicellular in vitro pterygium model using the digital light processing (DLP)-based 3D bioprinting of human conjunctival stem cells (hCjSCs). A novel feeder-free culture system was adopted and efficiently expanded the primary hCjSCs with homogeneity, stemness and differentiation potency. The DLP-based 3D bioprinting was able to fabricate hydrogel scaffolds that support the viability and biological integrity of the encapsulated hCjSCs. The bioprinted 3D pterygium model was fabricated with hCjSCs, immune cells and vascular cells to recapitulate the disease microenvironment. Transcriptomic analysis using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) identified a distinct profile correlated to inflammation response, angiogenesis, and epithelial mesenchymal transition in the bioprinted 3D pterygium model. In addition, the pterygium signatures and disease relevance of the bioprinted model were validated with the public RNA-seq data from patient-derived pterygium tissues. By integrating the stem cell technology and 3D bioprinting, this is the first reported 3D in vitro disease model for pterygium that can be utilized by future studies towards the personalized medicine and the drug screening.
Project description:Comparison of endogenous gene expression differences between pterygium and conjunctiva tissues RNA from donor-matched pterygium and conjunctiva tissues obtained from four patients were evaluated for differences in gene expression