• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2017

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer globally with high morbidity and mortality. Immune surveillance is well recognized as an important mechanism to prevent development or progression of HNSCC. HNSCC can escape the immune system through multiple mechanisms including development of tolerance in T cells and inhibition of T-cell-related pathways, generally referred to as checkpoint inhibitors. Recent clinical trials have demonstrated a clear advantage in advanced HNSCC patients treated with immune checkpoint blockade. Right at the front of the new era of immunotherapy, we will review current knowledge of immune escape mechanisms and clinical implication for HNSCC.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.93-100
• /
• 2001

Precise mechanism by which the fetus can escape from mother's immune rejection is not well understood yet over the last 50 years. The clarification of immune mechanism at the feto-maternal interface is very important, because this can be a common pathogenesis of various pathologic conditions including spontaneous abortion, habitual abortion fetal growth restriction preeclampsia, implantation failure after assisted reproductive techniques, and fetal death. In this review, current hypothetical contents were described with the priority of importance: 1) The center of this mechanism is cross-talk between the expression of HLA-C, E, G on the extravillous cytotrophoblasts and their receptors on decidual NK cell, 2) immunomodulation, 3) innate immunity is the main immunologic mechanism, 4) various mechanisms besides HLA system(eq. complement) may be associated. The overall balance of immunomodulation among these mechanisms should result in the outcome of each pregnancy. Further researches regarding the regulation of HLA system, roles of cytokines, complements should be followed in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.34 no.7
• /
• pp.520-530
• /
• 2024

Tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) play a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis. When the function of these genes is lost, it can lead to cellular plasticity that drives the development of various cancers, including small-cell lung cancer (SCLC), which is known for its aggressive nature. SCLC is primarily driven by numerous loss-of-function mutations in TSGs, often involving genes that encode epigenetic regulators. These mutations pose a significant therapeutic challenge as they are not directly targetable. However, understanding the molecular changes resulting from these mutations might provide insights for developing tumor intervention strategies. We propose that despite the heterogeneous genomic landscape of SCLC, the effects of mutations in patient tumors converge on a few critical pathways that drive malignancy. Specifically, alterations in epigenetic regulators lead to transcriptional dysregulation, pushing mutant cells toward a highly plastic state that makes them immune evasive and highly metastatic. This review will highlight studies showing how an imbalance of epigenetic regulators with opposing functions leads to the loss of immune recognition markers, effectively hiding tumor cells from the immune system. Additionally, we will discuss the role of epigenetic regulators in maintaining neuroendocrine features and how aberrant transcriptional control promotes epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition during tumor development. Although these pathways seem distinct, we emphasize that they often share common molecular drivers and mediators. Understanding the connection among frequently altered epigenetic regulators will provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying SCLC development, potentially revealing preventive and therapeutic vulnerabilities for SCLC and other cancers with similar mutations.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.261-268
• /
• 1998

The present study was undertaken to investigate the role of cysteine proteinase of Trichomonas vaginalis in escaping from host defense mechanism. A cysteine proteinase of T. vaginalis was purified by affinity chromatography and gel filtration. Optimum pH for the purified proteinase activity was 6.0. The proteinase was inhibited by cysteine and serine proteinase inhibitors such as E-64, NEM, IAA, leupeptin. TPCK and TLCK, and also by $Hg^{2+}$, but not affected by serine-, metallo-, and aspartic proteinase inhibitors such as PMSF, EDTA and pepstatin A. However, it was activated by the cysteine proteinase activator, DTT. The molecular weight of a purified proteinase was 62 kDa on gel filtration and 60 kDa on SDS-PAGE. Interestingly, the purified proteinase was able to degrade serum IgA, secretory IgA, and serum IgG in time- and dose-dependent manners. In addition, the enzyme also degraded hemoglobin in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the acidic cysteine proteinase of T. vaginalis may play a dual role for parasite survival in conferring escape from host humoral defense by degradation of immunoglobulins, and in supplying nutrients to parasites by degradation of hemoglobin.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.335-341
• /
• 2024

Objectives: Patients with cancer eventually fail to respond to therapy when malignant cells develop effective ways to evade immunosurveillance. Conventional cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy, aim to cure the disease or prolong the patient's life. However, the toxicity and side effects of conventional treatments limit their efficacy. Herbal medicine is a typical complementary and integrative form of medicine for cancer treatment in Asia. This protocol evaluates the effectiveness of herbal medicines in improving the immune function of patients with cancer. Methods: The following electronic databases will be searched: MEDLINE via PubMed, EMBASE via Elsevier, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Korean databases including Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS), National Digital Science Library (NDSL), and Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS). Additionally, prospective randomized controlled trials that evaluate the effectiveness of herbal medicines on immune function in patients with cancer will be included in this review. All outcomes related to the immune function of patients with cancer (e.g., CD3, CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 ratio, CD19 (B cells), dendritic cells (CD11), CD56 (NK cells), and macrophages) will be included in this review. Results: This review is expected to provide data on the effectiveness of herbal medicines on improving immune functions in patients with cancers. Conclusion: This systematic review will help patients and clinicians establish new management options for cancer treatment.

• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.269-276
• /
• 2014

In recent, autonomous navigation techniques to avoid obstacles have been studied by using unmanned aircraft vehicles(UAVs) since the increment of UAV's interest and utilization. Particularly, autonomous navigation based UAVs are utilized in several areas such as military, police, media, and so on. However, there are still some problems to avoid obstacle when UVAs perform autonomous navigation. For instance, the UAV can not forward in the corner of corridors even though it utilizes the improved vanish point algorithm that makes an autonomous navigation system. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an obstacle avoidance technique based on immune algorithm for autonomous navigation of Quadrotor. The proposed algorithm is consisted of two steps such as 1) single color discrimination and 2) multiple color discrimination. According to the result of experiments, we can solve the previous problem of the improved vanish point algorithm and improve the performance of autonomous navigation of Quadrotor.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.727-738
• /
• 2002

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of essential amino acid(EAA) deficient diets on short-term feeding response and the Fos expression in brain area when methionine deficiency diet fed, and thereby to know the mechanism of feed intake regulation. In all trials, experimental diets were formulated with pure amino acid mixture to level of 15% nitrogen. Rats were adapted to a 6-hr single-meal feeding per day(17:00${\sim}$21:00). Feed intake and body weight were monitored every hour after 7-day of feeding of individual EAA deficient diets in Exp. Ⅰ. In Exp. Ⅱ, Fos immuno- histochemistry was determined in various regions of brain to identify the regions that is related to suppressed feed intake following feeding methionine-deficient diet. Fos expression was examined to know the initial sensitive region in the brains of rats at 3h after feeding of the control and methionine deficient diet(-Met). Initial response to EAA deficiency diets was severely depressed in methionine deficiency diet, but the depression was low in threonine deficiency diet. However, the feed intake at 3rd day in rats was depressed in the order of His(71%), Leu(68%), Ile(66%), Thr(63%), Trp(61%), Val(55%), Phe(52%), Met(51%), Lys(44%) and Arg(24%). Fos immunoreaction in neural regions(PPC, amygdala and EPC) of pyrifrom cortex was increased in the -Met group more than in the control diet group, but those in LH, VMH and PVM were similar. Thus, based on these data, the PPC was identified as the initial response area in the -EAA diet.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.425-434
• /
• 2011

In the present study was to examine the influence of cold stress conditions on memory function in relation with 5-hydroxytryptamine(serotonin, 5-HT), trptophanhydroxylase(TPH) expression and cell proliferation in the hippocampus. For this study, male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing $250{\pm}10g$ (7 weeks in age) were used. The rats were randomly divided into three groups(n = 10 in each group): the $22^{\circ}C$-control group, the $4^{\circ}C$-3 days group, the $4^{\circ}C$-5 weeks group. The environmental temperature at $22^{\circ}C$ set as the normal conditions, $4^{\circ}C$ was as the cold stress conditions. The present results showed that cold stress conditions shorten latency, representing cold stress disturbed memory function. 5-HT and TPH expressions in the dorsal raphe were increased cold stress. Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus was increased under cold conditions. The present study revealed that cold stress exerted deteriorative memory function. However, through increasing of 5-HT, TPH and BrdU expression under cold stress conditions did not show memory enhancing effect.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.105-111
• /
• 2015

In late December 2013, the Ebola virus emerged from West Africa. The outbreak started in Guinea and rapidly spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. Initially, the virus is spread to the human population after contact with infected wildlife and then spread person-to-person through direct contact with body fluids such as blood, sweat, urine, semen, and breast milk. The Ebola virus infects endothelial cells, mononuclear phagocytes and hepatocytes. It causes massive damage to internal tissues and organs, such as blood vessels and the liver, and ultimately death. Most tests for the virus RNA rely on a technology called reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). While this method is highly sensitive, it is also expensive, requiring skilled scientists, and delicate power supplies. The strip analytical technique (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or ELISA) detects antigens or antibodies to the Ebola virus. This test is cheap and does not require electricity or refrigeration. Despite ongoing efforts directed at experimental treatments and vaccine development, current medical work on the Ebola viral disease is largely limited to supportive therapy. Thus, rapid and reliable diagnoses of the Ebola virus are critically important for patient management, infections, prevention, and control measures.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.42 no.7
• /
• pp.594-600
• /
• 2014

In modern warfare, securing communication channel by combatting opponents' electromagnetic attack is a crucial factor to win the war. Military satellite digital transponder is a communication payload of the next generation military satellite that maintains warfare networks operational in the presence of interfering signals by securely relaying signals between ground terminals. The transponder in this paper is classified as a partial processing transponder which performs cost effective secure relaying in satellite communication links. The control functions of transmission security achieve immunity to hostile interferences which may cause malicious effects on the link. In this paper, we present an efficient architecture for implementing the control mechanism. Two major ideas of pipelined processing in per-group control and software processing of blocked band information dramatically reduce the complexity of the hardware. A control code sequence showing its randomness with uniform distribution is exemplified and qualification test results are briefly presented.