Review
Abstract
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of visual loss in the elderly, with increasing prevalence due to increasing life expectancy. While the introduction of anti-VEGF therapy has improved outcomes, there are still major unmet needs and gaps in the understanding of underlying biological processes. These include early, intermediate, and atrophic disease stages. Recent studies have assessed therapeutic approaches addressing various disease-associated pathways, including complement inhibitors. Drug-delivery aspects are also relevant, as many agents have to be administered repeatedly. Herein, relevant pathogenetic factors and underlying mechanisms as well as recent and potential therapeutic approaches are reviewed.
Authors
Frank G. Holz, Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, Monika Fleckenstein
Abstract
It is increasingly evident that cancer results from altered organ homeostasis rather than from deregulated control of single cells or groups of cells. This applies especially to epithelial cancer, the most common form of human solid tumors and a major cause of cancer lethality. In the vast majority of cases, in situ epithelial cancer lesions do not progress into malignancy, even if they harbor many of the genetic changes found in invasive and metastatic tumors. While changes in tumor stroma are frequently viewed as secondary to changes in the epithelium, recent evidence indicates that they can play a primary role in both cancer progression and initiation. These processes may explain the phenomenon of field cancerization, i.e., the occurrence of multifocal and recurrent epithelial tumors that are preceded by and associated with widespread changes of surrounding tissue or organ “fields.”
Authors
G. Paolo Dotto
Abstract
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) receptors mediate a plethora of physiological phenomena in the brain and the periphery. Additionally, serotonergic dysfunction has been implicated in nearly every neuropsychiatric disorder. The effects of serotonin are mediated by fourteen GPCRs. Both the therapeutic actions and side effects of commonly prescribed drugs are frequently due to nonspecific actions on various 5-HT receptor subtypes. For more than 20 years, the search for clinically efficacious drugs that selectively target 5-HT receptor subtypes has been only occasionally successful. This review provides an overview of 5-HT receptor pharmacology and discusses two recent 5-HT receptor subtype–selective drugs, lorcaserin and pimavanserin, which target the 5HT2C and 5HT2A receptors and provide new treatments for obesity and Parkinson’s disease psychosis, respectively.
Authors
Herbert Y. Meltzer, Bryan L. Roth
Abstract
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an emerging interventional therapy for well-screened patients with specific treatment-resistant neuropsychiatric diseases. Some neuropsychiatric conditions, such as Parkinson disease, have available and reasonable guideline and efficacy data, while other conditions, such as major depressive disorder and Tourette syndrome, have more limited, but promising results. This review summarizes both the efficacy and the neuroanatomical targets for DBS in four common neuropsychiatric conditions: Parkinson disease, Tourette syndrome, major depressive disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Based on emerging new research, we summarize novel approaches to optimization of stimulation for each neuropsychiatric disease and we review the potential positive and negative effects that may be observed following DBS. Finally, we summarize the likely future innovations in the field of electrical neural-network modulation.
Authors
Nolan R. Williams, Michael S. Okun
Abstract
Schizophrenia is strongly familial yet rarely (if ever) exhibits classical Mendelian inheritance patterns. The advent of large-scale genotyping and sequencing projects has yielded large data sets with higher statistical power in an effort to uncover new associations with schizophrenia. Here, we review the challenges in dissecting the genetics of schizophrenia and provide an update of the current understanding of the underlying genomics. We discuss the breadth of susceptibility alleles, including those that may occur with low frequency and high disease risk, such as the 22q11.2 hemideletion, as well as alleles that may occur with greater frequency but convey a lower risk of schizophrenia, such as variants in genes encoding subunits of the voltage-gated L-type calcium channel. Finally, we provide an overview of the clinical implications for the diagnosis and treatment of schizophrenia based on progress in understanding the underlying genetic basis.
Authors
Paola Giusti-Rodríguez, Patrick F. Sullivan
Abstract
Since the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by molecular cloning almost a quarter of a century ago, unprecedented at the time because the virus had never been grown in cell culture or detected serologically, there have been impressive strides in many facets of our understanding of the natural history of the disease, the viral life cycle, the pathogenesis, and antiviral therapy. It is apparent that the virus has developed multiple strategies to evade immune surveillance and eradication. This Review covers what we currently understand of the temporal and spatial immunological changes within the human innate and adaptive host immune responses that ultimately determine the outcomes of HCV infection.
Authors
Hugo R. Rosen
Abstract
Immunological and neural synapses share properties such as the synaptic cleft, adhesion molecules, stability, and polarity. However, the mismatch in scale has limited the utility of these comparisons. The discovery of phosphatase micro-exclusion from signaling elements in immunological synapses and innate phagocytic synapses define a common functional unit at a common sub-micron scale across synapse types. Bundling of information from multiple antigen receptor microclusters by an immunological synapse has parallels to bundling of multiple synaptic inputs into a single axonal output by neurons, allowing integration and coincidence detection. Bonafide neuroimmune synapses control the inflammatory reflex. A better understanding of the shared mechanisms between immunological and neural synapses could aid in the development of new therapeutic modalities for immunological, neurological, and neuroimmunological disorders alike.
Authors
Michael L. Dustin
Abstract
Tissues of the CNS, such as the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord, may be affected by a range of insults including genetic, autoimmune, infectious, or neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. The immune system is involved in the pathogenesis of many of these, either by causing tissue damage or alternatively by responding to disease and contributing to repair. It is clearly vital that cells of the immune system patrol the CNS and protect against infection. However, in contrast to other tissues, damage caused by immune pathology in the CNS can be irreparable. The nervous and immune systems have, therefore, coevolved to permit effective immune surveillance while limiting immune pathology. Here we will consider aspects of adaptive immunity in the CNS and the retina, both in the context of protection from infection as well as cancer and autoimmunity, while focusing on immune responses that compromise health and lead to significant morbidity.
Authors
David C. Wraith, Lindsay B. Nicholson
Abstract
Neurobiologists and immunologists study concepts often signified with identical terminology. Scientists in both fields study a structure known as the synapse, and each group analyzes a subject called memory. Is this a quirk of human language, or are there real similarities between these two physiological systems? Not only are the linguistic concepts expressed in the words “synapse” and “memory” shared between the fields, but the actual molecules of physiologic importance in one system play parallel roles in the other: complement, the major histocompatibility molecules, and even “neuro”-transmitters all have major impacts on health and on disease in both the brain and the immune system. Not only are the same molecules found in diverse roles in each system, but we have learned that there is real “hard-wired” crosstalk between nerves and lymphoid organs. This issue of the JCI highlights some of the lessons learned from experts who are working at this scintillating intersection between immunology and neuroscience.
Authors
Lawrence Steinman
Abstract
Immune responses in the CNS are common, despite its perception as a site of immune privilege. These responses can be mediated by resident microglia and astrocytes, which are innate immune cells without direct counterparts in the periphery. Furthermore, CNS immune reactions often take place in virtual isolation from the innate/adaptive immune interplay that characterizes peripheral immunity. However, microglia and astrocytes also engage in significant cross-talk with CNS-infiltrating T cells and other components of the innate immune system. Here we review the cellular and molecular basis of innate immunity in the CNS and discuss what is known about how outcomes of these interactions can lead to resolution of infection, neurodegeneration, or neural repair depending on the context.
Authors
Richard M. Ransohoff, Melissa A. Brown
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ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)