HSC College of Pharmacy
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The HSC College of Pharmacy is committed to developing patient-centric pharmacy professionals trained in an interprofessional environment. We advocate a team health care environment coupled with optimizing health through discovery.
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Browsing HSC College of Pharmacy by Author "Akoto, Theresa"
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Item The Underlying Relationship between Keratoconus and Down Syndrome(MDPI, 2022-09-24) Akoto, Theresa; Li, Jiemin J.; Estes, Amy J.; Karamichos, Dimitrios; Liu, YutaoKeratoconus (KC) is one of the most significant corneal disorders worldwide, characterized by the progressive thinning and cone-shaped protrusion of the cornea, which can lead to severe visual impairment. The prevalence of KC varies greatly by ethnic groups and geographic regions and has been observed to be higher in recent years. Although studies reveal a possible link between KC and genetics, hormonal disturbances, environmental factors, and specific comorbidities such as Down Syndrome (DS), the exact cause of KC remains unknown. The incidence of KC ranges from 0% to 71% in DS patients, implying that as the worldwide population of DS patients grows, the number of KC patients may continue to rise significantly. As a result, this review aims to shed more light on the underlying relationship between KC and DS by examining the genetics relating to the cornea, central corneal thickness (CCT), and mechanical forces on the cornea, such as vigorous eye rubbing. Furthermore, this review discusses KC diagnostic and treatment strategies that may help detect KC in DS patients, as well as the available DS mouse models that could be used in modeling KC in DS patients. In summary, this review will provide improved clinical knowledge of KC in DS patients and promote additional KC-related research in these patients to enhance their eyesight and provide suitable treatment targets.Item Unravelling the Impact of Cyclic Mechanical Stretch in Keratoconus-A Transcriptomic Profiling Study(MDPI, 2023-04-28) Akoto, Theresa; Cai, Jingwen; Nicholas, Sarah; McCord, Hayden; Estes, Amy J.; Xu, Hongyan; Karamichos, Dimitrios; Liu, YutaoBiomechanical and molecular stresses may contribute to the pathogenesis of keratoconus (KC). We aimed to profile the transcriptomic changes in healthy primary human corneal (HCF) and KC-derived cells (HKC) combined with TGFbeta1 treatment and cyclic mechanical stretch (CMS), mimicking the pathophysiological condition in KC. HCFs (n = 4) and HKCs (n = 4) were cultured in flexible-bottom collagen-coated 6-well plates treated with 0, 5, and 10 ng/mL of TGFbeta1 with or without 15% CMS (1 cycle/s, 24 h) using a computer-controlled Flexcell FX-6000T Tension system. We used stranded total RNA-Seq to profile expression changes in 48 HCF/HKC samples (100 bp PE, 70-90 million reads per sample), followed by bioinformatics analysis using an established pipeline with Partek Flow software. A multi-factor ANOVA model, including KC, TGFbeta1 treatment, and CMS, was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs, |fold change| >/= 1.5, FDR /= 10 in >/=1 sample) in HKCs (n = 24) vs. HCFs (n = 24) and those responsive to TGFbeta1 and/or CMS. PANTHER classification system and the DAVID bioinformatics resources were used to identify significantly enriched pathways (FDR