1.Focal Dermal Hypoplasia (Goltz Syndrome): A Case Report Showing a Wide Variety of Systemic and Oral Manifestations
Átila Vinícius VITOR NOBRE ; Mário Taba JÚNIOR ; Alfredo Ribeiro SILVA ; Sérgio Luís SCOMBATTI DE SOUZA, ; Ana Carolina FRAGOSO MOTTA
Annals of Dermatology 2022;34(4):291-296
Focal dermal hypoplasia (FDH), also known as Goltz syndrome, consists of an unusual genodermatosis that affects tissues of ectodermal and mesodermal origin and various organs and systems, especially skin, bones, eyes, and oral cavity. While systemic manifestations of FDH have been well documented, the oral manifestations have not been extensively discussed. We present a 22-year-old female patient with history of FDH that showed a variety of systemic and oral manifestations. FDH was diagnosed at birth based on cutaneous alterations. Extra and intraoral examination showed facial asymmetry, lip and perioral atrophy, upper lip papilloma, malocclusion, enamel hypoplasia, and gingival hyperplasia. Mucosal lesions, periodontal diseases, and malocclusion were treated by oral surgery, periodontal therapy and orthodontic treatment, respectively. Although FDH is an uncommon syndrome, health professionals should be aware of its systemic and oral manifestations to establish an early diagnosis and adequate treatment.
2.Human Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells as a Model for Drug Screening and Pre-Clinical Assays Compared to ARPE-19 Cell Line
Carolina Reis OLIVEIRA ; Mayara Rodrigues Brandão de PAIVA ; Marcela Coelho Silva RIBEIRO ; Gracielle Ferreira ANDRADE ; Juliana Lott CARVALHO ; Dawidson Assis GOMES ; Márcio NEHEMY ; Sílvia Ligório FIALHO ; Armando SILVA-CUNHA ; Alfredo Miranda de GÓES
International Journal of Stem Cells 2021;14(1):74-84
Background and Objectives:
Eye diseases have a high socioeconomic impact on society and may be one of the fields in which most stem cell-related scientific accomplishments have been achieved recently. In this context, human Pluripotent Stem Cell (hPSC) technology arises as an important tool to produce and study human Embryonic Stem cell derived-Retinal Pigmented Epithelial Cells (hES-RPE) for several applications, such as cell therapy, disease modeling, and drug screening. The use of this technology in pre-clinical phases attends to the overall population desire for animal-free product development. Here, we aimed to compare hES-RPE cells with ARPE-19, one of the most commonly used retinal pigmented epithelial immortalized cell lines.
Methods:
and Results: Functional, cellular and molecular data obtained suggest that hES-RPE cells more closely resembles native RPEs compared to ARPE-19. Furthermore, hES-RPE revealed an interesting robustness when cultured on human Bruch’s membrane explants and after exposure to Cyclosporine (CSA), Sirolimus (SRL), Tacrolimus (TAC), Leflunomide (LEF) and Teriflunomide (TER). On these conditions, hES-RPE cells were able to survive at higher drug concentrations, while ARPE-19 cell line was more susceptible to cell death.
Conclusions
Therefore, hES-RPEs seem to have the ability to incur a broader range of RPE functions than ARPE-19 and should be more thoroughly explored for drug screening.