• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.81-90
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• 2004

Sialic acid containing glycosphingolipids (gangliosides) have been implicated in the regulation of various biological phenomena such as atherosclerosis. Recent report suggeststhat exogenously supplied disialoganglioside (GD3) serves a dual role in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) proliferation and apoptosis. However, the role of the GD3 synthase gene in VSMC responses has not yet been elucidated. To determine whether a ganglioside is able to modulate VSMC growth. the effect of overexpression of the GD3 synthase gene on DNA synthesis was examined. The results show that the overexpression of this gene has a potent inhibitory effect on DNA synthesis and ERK phosphorylation in cultured VSMC in the presence of PDGF. The suppression of the GD3 synthase gene was correlated with the down-regulation of cyclinE/CDK2. the up-regulation of the CDK inhibitor p21 and blocking of the p27 inhibition,whereas up-regulation of p53 as the result of GD3 synthase gene expression was not observed. Consistently, blockade of GD3 function with anti-GD3 antibody reversed VSMC proliferation and cell cycle proteins. The expression of the CD3 synthase gene also led to the inhibition of TNF--induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression in VSMC as determined by zymography and immunoblot. Furthermore, GD3 synthase gene expression strongly decreased MMP-9 promoteractivlty in response to TNF-. This inhibition was characterized by the down-regulation of MMP-9,which was Iranscriptionally regulated at NF-B and activation protein-1 (AP-1) sites in the MMP-9promoter Finally, the overexpression of MMP-9 in GD3 synthase transfectant cells rescued VSMC proliferation. However MMP-2 overexpression was not affected the cell proliferation. These findings suggest that the fl13 synthase gene represents a physiological modulator of VSMC responses that may contribute to plaque instability in atherosclerosis.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2006

Gadolinium chloride ($GdCl_{3}$) was known to block Kupffer cells and generally its toxicity study based on blocking these cells. Therefore, $GdCl_{3}$ frequently used to study toxic mechanisms of hepatotoxicants inducing injury through Kupffer cells. We also tried to investigate the effect of $GdCl_{3}\;on\;CCl_{4}$ toxicity, typical hepatotoxicants. Administration of $GdCl_{3}$ to mice significantly suppressed AST (asparatate amino transferase), ALT (alanine amino transferase) levels which were increased by $CCl_{4}$ treatment. However, $GdCl_{3}$ didn't inhibit the phagocytotic activity of Kupffer cells. Malondialdehyde (MDA) is a good indicator of the degree of lipid peroxidation. In this study, MDA increased by $GdCl_{3}$ administration not by $CCl_{4}$. To understand the toxicity of $GdCl_{3}$, we analyzed global gene expression profile of mice liver after acute $GdCl_{3}$ injection. Four hundred fifty two genes were differentially expressed with more than 2-fold in at least one time point among 3 hr, 6 hr, and 24 hr. Several genes involved in fibrogenesis regulation. Several types of pro-collagens (Col1a2, Col5a2, Col6a3, and Col13a1) and tissue inhibitor of metal-loproteinase1 (TIMP1) were up regulated during all the time points. Genes related to growth factors, chemokines, and oxidative stress, which were known to control fibrogenesis, were significantly changed. In addition, $GdCl_{3}$ induced abnormal regulation between lipid synthesis and degradation related genes. These data will provide the information about influence of $GdCl_{3}$ to hepatotoxicity.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.347-356
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• 2020

Gangliosides are glycolipids in which oligosaccharide is combined with sialic acids. Our previous studies have suggested an interplay between ganglioside GD1a/GT1b and meiotic maturation capacity in porcine oocyte maturation. Furthermore, ganglioside GD1a and GT1b are known for its antioxidant activity, but it is still unclear whether possible antioxidant role of GD1a and GT1b is involved in porcine embryos development competence during in vitro culture (IVC). Here, the effects of ganglioside GD1a and GT1b on the embryonic developmental competence during in vitro culture of porcine were investigated. The effects of ganglioside GD1a and GT1b on the expression of ST3GAL2 were confirmed during embryos development (2-cell, 4-cell, 8-cell and blastocyst) using immunofluorescent staining (IF). As a result, the fluorescent expression of ST3GAl2 was higher in embryos at 4-8 cells stage than blastocysts. Blastocyst development rate significantly increased in only 0.1 μM GD1a and GT1b treated groups compared with control group. To investigate the cellular apoptosis, we analyzed TUNEL assay. In case of only 0.1 μM GD1a and GT1b treated groups, the total number of cells in blastocyst compared with control group, but there was no significant difference in the rate of apoptotic cells. We identified the intracellular ROS levels using DCF-DA staining. According to the result, ROS production significantly decreased in blastocysts derived from the 0.1 μM GD1a and GT1b treated groups. These results suggest that ganglioside GD1a and GT1b improve the developmental competence of porcine embryos via reduction of intracellular ROS during preimplantation stage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05b
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• pp.171-176
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• 1997

UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$fuel has been sintered to study the effect of powder property and sintering atmospheres on densification and microstructure. Three types of powders have been used; AUC-UO$_2$ powder and ADU-UO$_2$ powder were mixed with Gd$_2$O$_3$ Powder, and co-milled AUC-UO$_2$ and Gd$_2$O$_3$ powder. UO$_2$-(2, 5, 10)wt% Gd$_2$O$_3$pellets have been sintered at 168$0^{\circ}C$ for 4 hours in the mixture of H$_2$ and $CO_2$ gases, of which oxygen potential has been controlled by the ratio of $CO_2$ to H$_2$ gas. Densities of UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$ fuel pellets are quite dependent on powder types, and UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$ fuel using co-milled UO$_2$ powder yields the highest density. A long range homogeneity of Gd is determined by powder mixing. As the oxygen potential of sintered atmosphere increases, the sintered densities of UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$ pellets decrease but grain size increases. In addition, (U, Gd)O$_2$ solid solution becomes more homogeneous. The UO$_2$-Gd$_2$O$_3$fuel having adequate density and homogeneous microstructure can be fabricated by co-milling powder and by high oxygen potential.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2000

The new green $Al_3GdB_4O_{12}:Tb^{3+} and red Al_3GdB_4O_{12}:Eu_{3+}$ phosphors were synthesized and then characterized their optical properties for PDP application. And also the photoluminescence properties of these phosphors were compared with the commercial green $Zn_2SiO_4:Mn^{2+} and (Y,Gd)BO_3: Eu^{3+}$ red PDP phosphors. The phosphors were synthesized by solid state reaction at 115$0^{\circ}C$ for 4hr. It was found that the emitting brightness of $Al_3GdB_4O_{12}:Tb^{3+}$(15mol%) green phosphor under 147nm excitation was higher than that of commercial $Zn_2SiO_4: Mn^{2+}$ green PDP phosphor. However, the color coordinate of this new green phosphor was inferior to the commercial one. On the other hand, the emitting intensity of $Al_3GdB_4O_{12}:Eu^{3+}$(15mol%) red phosphor was smaller than the $commercial(Y,Gd)BO_3: Eu^{3+}$ red one, but the CIE coordinate was slightly improved. The excitation spectrum showed that $Al_3GdB_4O_{12}$ phosphors had a strong excitation band at $\lambda=160nm$ associated with the host absorption. And the photoluminance excitation (PLE) intensity in VUV range for $Al_3GdB_4O_{12}:Tb^{3+}$ green phosphor was higher than that of $Zn_2SiO_4: Mn^{2+}$, but the PLE intensity of $Al_3GdB_4O_{12}:Eu^{3+}$ red phosphor was smaller than $(Y,Gd)BO_3: Eu^{3+}$.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.303-309
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• 2004

Pyrochlores were known as promising materials for the immobilization of radioactive actinide. Accordingly, we synthesized pyrochlores with Gd$_2$Ti$_2$$O_7$ and Gd$_2$Zr$_2$$O_7$compositions by sintering method, and studied its properties and phase relations in Gd-Ti-O and Gd-Zr-O system. The mixed powders were pressed into pellets under 200-400 kgf/cm$^2$ at room temperature. and then sintered at 1000-1$600^{\circ}C$ for 0.5-40 hours. The synthesized samples were analyzed and were identified with XRD and SEM/EDS analyses. The optimal synthetic conditions of pyrochlores with Gd$_2$Ti$_2$$O_7$composition were at 140$0^{\circ}C$/0.5hrs, 130$0^{\circ}C$/3hrs and 120$0^{\circ}C$/20hrs. Its chemical composition was $Gd_{2.0-2.1}$$Ti_{1.9-2.0}$$O_7$ and similar to the stoichiometric composition without any relationship in temperature and atmosphere. The optimal synthetic conditions of pyrochlores with $Gd_{2}$$Zr_{2}$$O_7$composition were at 155$0^{\circ}C$/40hrs and 1$600^{\circ}C$/30hrs. The compositions of pyrochlore synthesized from these optimal conditions were irregular with $Gd_{1.5-2.4}$$Zr_{1.7-2.4}$$O_7$. Such heterogeneity indicates that the reaction rate of pyrochlore with Gd$_2$Zr$_2$$O_7$composition is very low, and then its equilibrium state could not be attained even for 40 hours which was the longest sintering time in this research.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2001

Purpose : The water exchange rate between bulk water and bound water is an important parameter in deciding the efficiency of paramagnetic contrast agents. In this study, we evaluated the water exchange rates of various Gd-chelates using oxygen-17 NMR technique. Material and Methods : The samples (Gd-DTPA, Gd-DTPA-BMA, Gd-DOTA, Gd-EOB-DTPA) were prepared by mixing 5% $^{17}O-enriched$ water (Isotech, USA). The pH of the samples was adjusted to physiological value [pH=7.0] by buffer solution. The variable temperature $^{17}O-NMR$ measurements were performed using Bruker-600 (14.1 T, 81.3 MHz) spectrometer. Bruker VT-1000 temperature control units were used to stabilize the temperature. The $^{17}O$ spin-spin relaxation times (T2) were measured using Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG)I pulse sequence with 24 echo trains. The variable temperature T2 relaxation data were then fitted into Solomon-Bloembergen equations using least square fit algorithm to estimate the water exchange times. Results : From the measured $^{17}O-NMR$ relaxation rates, the determined water exchange rates at 300K are $0.42{\;}{\mu}s$ for Gd-DTPA, $1.99{\;}{\mu}s$ for Gd-DTPA-BMA, $0.27{\;}{\mu}s$ for Gd-DOTA, and $0.11{\;}{\mu}s$ for Gd-EOB-DTPA. The Gd-DTPA-BMA showed slowest exchange whereas Gd-EOB-DTPA had fastest water exchange rate. In addition, it was found that the water exchange rates (${\tau}_m$) of all samples had exponential temperature dependence with different decay constant. Conclusion : $^{17}O-NMR$ relaxation rate measurements, when combined with variable temperature technique, provide a solid tool for studying water exchange rate, which is very important in investigating the detailed mechanism of relaxation enhancement effect of the paramagnetic contrast agents.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2000

Purpose: To determine the electronic spin relaxation times, $T_{le}$, of three commercially available Gd-chelated MR contrast agents, Gd-DTPA, Gd-DTPA-BMA and Gd-DOTA, using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance(EPR) technique. Material and Methods: The paramagnetic MR contrast agents, Gd-DTFA(Magnevist) , Gd-DTFA-BMA(OMNISCAN) and Gd-DOTA(Dotarem), were used for this study, The EPR spectra of these contrast agents, which were prepared 2:1 methanol/water solution, were obtained at low temperatures, from $-160^{\circ}C~20^{\circ}C$. The glassy-state EPR spectra for these contrast agents were then fitted by the simulation spectra generated with different zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters by a computer simulation program 'GEN', which generates the EPR powder spectrum using a given ZFS in $3{\times}3$ tensor. Finally, the spin relaxation times of the contrast agents were then determined from the $T_{2e}$, D, and E values of the best simulation spectra using the McLachlan's theory of average relaxation rate. Results: The electronic transverse spin relaxation times, $T_{2e}'s$, of Gd-DTPA, Gd-DTPA-BMA and Gd-DOTA were 0.113ns, 0.147ns and 1.81ns respectively. The g-values were 1.9737, 1.9735 and 1.9830 and the electronic spin relaxation times, $T_{1e}'s$, were 18.70ns, 33.40ns and $1.66{\mu}s$, respectively. Conclusion: The results of these studies reconfirm that the paramagnetic MR contrast agents with larger ZFS parameters should have shorter $T_{1e}'s$. Among three contrast agents used for this study, Gd-DOTA chelated with cyclic ligand structure shows better electronic property then the others with linear structure. Thus, it is concluded that the exact determination of ZFS parameters is the important factor in evaluating relaxation enhancement effect of the agents and in developing new contrast agents.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetics Society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.45-49
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• 2016

Ground state energy levels of $Gd^{3+}$ ion (effective spin S = 7/2) in $PbWO_4$ single crystal doped with $Gd^{3+}$ paramagnetic impurity at tetragonal symmetry are calculated with spectroscopic splitting parameters and zero field splitting parameters using by effective spin Hamiltonian. It turns out that the zero field splitting energies of $Gd^{3+}$ ion were the same regardless of the directions of $PbWO_4$ : Gd single crystal. The calculated energy differences for ${\mid{\pm}7/2}$ > ${\leftrightarrow}{\mid{\pm}5/2}$ >, ${\mid{\pm}5/2}$ > ${\leftrightarrow}{\mid{\pm}3/2}$ >, and ${\mid{\pm}3/2}$ > ${\leftrightarrow}{\mid{\pm}1/2}$ > transitions were 6.9574 GHz, 6.9219 GHz, and 15.8704 GHz, respectively when the applied magnetic field is zero. The calculated energy level diagrams were different for different directions of applied magnetic field. For B // a- and c-axis, the energy level diagrams are calculated and discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.40 no.9
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• pp.916-920
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• 2003

The change of structure and morphology in ( $U_{0.913}$G $d_{0.087}$) $O_2$ during oxidation at 475$^{\circ}C$ and heat treatment at 130$0^{\circ}C$ in air were investigated using XRD, SEM, and EPMA. The ( $U_{0.913}$G $d_{0.087}$) $O_2$ cubic phase converted to ( $U_{0.913}$G $d_{0.087}$)$_3$ $O_{8}$ orthorhombic phase by oxidation at 475$^{\circ}C$ in air. The XRD and EPMA result of the 130$0^{\circ}C$ heat treated powder revealed that ( $U_{0.913}$G $d_{0.087}$)$_3$ $O_{8}$ orthorhombic phase was separated into $U_3$ $O_{8}$ and ( $U_{0.67}$G $d_{0.33}$) $O_{2+}$x/ cubic phase. The weight variations of (U,Gd) $O_2$ with various Gd contents were measured using TGA at the same heat treated condition. The weight variation during the heat treatment of Gd dissolve (U,Gd) $O_2$ in air can be expressed in terms of phase reaction equations related with oxidation and phase separation. Based on these phase reaction, a initial content of Gd dissolved in (U,Gd) $O_2$ can be exactly calculated by measuring the weight change during the heat treatment.