Background
Angiogenesis is the process of growing blood vessels in different body organs. Sustainability of life depends on the accuracy and abundance of this process. The cornea is a living tissue that is free of blood vessels, demonstrated by its transparency for optical clarity. The avascularity of the cornea makes it a good model to study the mechanisms that promote or inhibit angiogenesis. By comparing corneal tissue with other vascular tissues, a greater understanding of angiogenesis will occur that will eventually lead to treatment of vascular diseases such as macular degeneration, tumors, or ischemic heart disease.
Angiogenesis is primarily controlled by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) which interacts with tyrosine kinase receptors VEGFR1, VEGFR2 and VEGFR3. Growth of blood vessels occurs when the body secretes VEGF to bind to the receptors and initializes the process. The cornea expresses the soluble version of VEGFR1, which sequesters VEGF, making angiogenesis impossible. However, factors such as injury or stress remove these soluble proteins and blood vessels begin to grow as a recovery response. The ability to induce and observe corneal neovascularization is a valuable tool in studying angiogenesis. Observing the effects of VEGF receptors and other factors that interact with VEGF is crucial to the understanding of angiogenic processes; this information can later be used to treat vascular diseases.
Research Plan
The ultimate goal of this research project is to understand the specifics of VEGF and its receptors to be able to eventually prevent neovascularization. Receptors can be physically altered, which allows for more versatility in research. VEGF specifically binds to domains 2 and 3 of both VEGF...
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...mbati is both a researcher and an ophthalmologist at the John Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. His research career is dedicated to understanding angiogenesis and its different mechanisms, making significant discoveries about VEGF and its receptors. As an undergraduate researcher in his lab, Dr. Ambati will be my mentor while I will be working directly under the supervision of Dr. Nirbhai Singh, his postdoctoral research fellow. While working in this lab, I will have the opportunity to learn different lab techniques, research practices, in-depth cellular biology and much more. I want to pursue a career in science and medicine, and enjoy any opportunities to increase my knowledge in the field. I hope that my experience in this research lab will help Dr. Ambati and his team’s endeavors as well as allowing for me to increase my knowledge in many different ways.
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Atherosclerosis is a pathological condition that underlies several important adverse vascular events such as stroke, cerebrovascular disease, Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). etc. [1]. It is responsible for most of the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the Western World currently [2]. As a result of the adoption of the western life style, its prevalence is increasing all over the world and could likely reach epidemic status in the coming future [2]. Atherosclerosis is a chronic disease of the arterial wall whose underlying pathogenesis involves an imbalanced lipid metabolism and a maladaptive immune response involving chronic inflammation of the arterial wall [1]. Leukocyte trafficking shapes the disturbed equilibrium of lipid accumulation, immune responses and their clearance and homeostasis, and this leukocyte trafficking is governed by chemokines and their receptors [1]. Chemokines are a superfamily of small structurally related chemotactic cytokines, which are involved in leukocyte trafficking and activation [3]. Chemokines have been found to play major roles in selectively recruiting monocytes, neutrophils, and lymphocytes, as well as in inducing chemotaxis through the activation of G-protein-coupled receptors [4]. Additionally, chemokines and their receptors have been identified as key players in the progression of atherosclerosis, thus they are explored in order to find therapeutic targets to prevent or treat Atherosclerosis and by targeting the chemokine system various entry points for a causative treatment are offered [5]. In this essay, the role of chemokine system in atherosclerosis is visited, the strategies employed to target chemokines as a therapeutic pathway for atherosclerosis and clinical trials undertaken ...
An artery is an elastic blood vessel that transports blood away from the heart. There are two main types of arteries: pulmonary arteries and systemic arteries.
Thumbing through the pages of Business Week, the headline read Maybe Jaws Can Put the Bite on Cancer. Interested, I continued to read the short article. According to the reporter, Otis Port, researchers at California State University in Fresno say that they have isolated four substances in shark cartilage that appear to inhibit cancer (93). Curious, I continued to read the rest of the article. The chemicals block a mechanism discovered in the mid-1980s at Harvard University: Tumor cells secrete a protein called angiogenin that entices blood vessels to grow close to cancers and nourish them. The shark extracts counteract angiogenin and the tumor starves (93). I sat there pondering the concept and decided that I would further investigate this intoxicating find.
The Structure and Functions of the Arteries Arteries are blood vessels that convey blood from the heart to the tissues of the body. The arteries expand and then constrict with each beat of the heart, a rhythmic movement that may be felt as the pulse. Arteries are usually named from the part of the body that they are found, for example; brachial artery found in the arms, metacarpal artery found in the wrist; or from the organ which they supply as the hepatic artery supplies the liver, pulmonary artery brings deoxygenated blood the lungs. The facial artery is the branch of the external carotid artery that passes up over the lower jaw and supplies the superficial portion of the face; the haemorrhoidal arteries are three vessels that supply the lower end of the rectum; the intercostal arteries are the arteries that supply the space between the ribs; the lingual artery is the branch of the external carotid artery that supplies the tongue. The structure of the artery enables it to perform its function more efficiently.
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The purpose statement from my articles ( Arnetz et al., Berry at al., and Khadjehturian,) all helped to comprehensively answer both my PICOT and Clinical questions.
Segal, E. A., Cimino, A. N., Gerdes, K. E., Harmon, J. K., & Wagaman, M. (2013). A
The four main components of the eye that are responsible for producing an image are the cornea, lens, ciliary muscles and retina. Incoming light rays first encounter the cornea. The bulging shape of the cornea causes it to refract light similar to a convex lens. Because of the great difference in optical density between the air and the corneal material and because of the shape of the cornea, most of the refraction to incoming light rays takes place here. Light rays then pass through the pupil, and then onto the lens. A small amount of additional refraction takes place here as the light rays are "fine tuned" so that they focus on the retina.
Optometry involves of a combination of intricate practical skills and academia allowing the improvement of an individual’s vision as an outcome changing their quality of life. I would feel privileged to gain the opportunity to study Optometry enabling me to improve the ocular health and vision of others as it would be a valuable contribution to the society.
of the eye, this is what gives form to the eyeball. The vascular tunic has three
Cancer develops when cells in a part of the body begin to grow out of
This protects the eye from becoming dry.The Cornea, a part of the sclera, is the transparent window of the eye through which light passes. The focusing of the light begins in the cornea.Behind the Cornea is a watery fluid called the aqueous humor. This fluid fills a curved, crescent shaped space, thick in the center and thinner toward the edges. The cornea and the aqueous humor together make an outer lens that refracts, or bends, light and dire...