• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.175-178
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• 2010

A 5-year-old male Cocker spaniel was presented with an abrupt seizure episode. The dog was moderately dehydrated, hypersalivation and loss of consciousness at the presentation. Tentative diagnosis was made through history taking, clinical signs, physical examination, neurologic examination, basic laboratory examinations, radiological examination and cytologic examination. In addition, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) value was measured to diagnose in this case. The serum AFP concentration was marked elevated (1513.5 ng/ml). The patient was suspected as HCC and medical therapy was initiated to control hypoglycemic-associated seizure. However, the dog was euthanized because of the owner's request. It was diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on the histopathologic examination. This case indicates that AFP measurement might be valuable to diagnose HCC in dogs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1777-1784
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• 2020

To increase the availability of microalgae as producers of valuable compounds, it is necessary to develop novel systems for gene expression regulation. Among the diverse expression systems available in microalgae, none are designed to induce expression by low temperature. In this study, we explored a cold-inducible system using the antifreeze protein (AFP) promoter from a polar diatom, Chaetoceros neogracile. A vector containing the CnAFP promoter (pCnAFP) was generated to regulate nuclear gene expression, and reporter genes (Gaussia luciferase (GLuc) and mVenus fluorescent protein (mVenus)) were successfully expressed in the model microalga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. In particular, under the control of pCnAFP, the expression of these genes was increased at low temperature, unlike pAR1, a promoter that is widely used for gene expression in C. reinhardtii. Promoter truncation assays showed that cold inducibility was still present even when pCnAFP was shortened to 600 bp, indicating the presence of a low-temperature response element between -600 and -477 bp. Our results show the availability of new heterologous gene expression systems with cold-inducible promoters and the possibility to find novel low-temperature response factors in microalgae. Through further improvement, this cold-inducible promoter could be used to develop more efficient expression tools.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.1812-1819
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• 2007

Heart fatty acid-binding protein gene (H-FABP) is an important candidate gene for meat quality. One of the objectives of this study was to screen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of chicken H-FABP gene among 252 individuals that included 4 Chinese domestic chicken breeds (Fengkai Xinghua (T04), Huiyang Huxu (H), Qingyuan Ma (Q), Guangxi Xiayan (S1)), 2 breeds developed by the Institute of Animal Science, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Lingnan Huang (DC), dwarf chicken (E4)) and one introduced broiler (Abor Acre (AA)). Another objective of this study was to analyze the associations between polymorphisms of the H-FABP gene and fat deposition traits in chickens. PCR-SSCP was used to analyze SNPs in H-FABP and 4 SNPs (T260C, G675A, C783T and G2778A) were detected. Associations between polymorphic loci and intramuscular fat (IMF), abdominal fat weight (AFW) and abdominal fat percentage (AFP) were analyzed by ANCOVA method. The results showed that the T260C genotypes were significantly associated with IMF (p = 0.0233) and AFP (p = 0.0001); the G675A genotypes were significantly associated with AFW, AFP (p<0.01) and IMF (p<0.05); at the C783T locus, AFW and AFP differed highly between genotypes. However, the G2778A loci did not show any significant effect on fat deposition traits in this study. In addition, we found that there were some differences between AFP and definite haplotypes through a nonparametric statistical method, so the haplotypes based on the SNPs except G2778A loci were also significantly associated with IMF, AFW (g) (p<0.05) and AFP (%) (p<0.001). Significantly and suggestively dominant effects of H4H4 haplotype were observed for IMF and the H2H3 was dominant for AFW (g) and AFP (%). The results also revealed that H5H7 haplotype had a negative effect on IMF, while the H5H6 had a positive effect on AFW (g) and AFP (%).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5773-5775
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• 2012

Objective: To assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of AFP and des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP) in combination and alone for hepatocellular carcinoma. Materials and Methods: A case control study carried out in the Department of Biochemistry of Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal between $1^{st}$ January 2010 and $31^{st}$ December 2011. The variables collected were age, gender, BMI, total proteins, albumin, AST, ALT, total bilirubin, DCP, AFP. Approval for the study was obtained from the institutional research ethical committee. Estimation of AFP was performed by ELISA reader for all cases. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and confidence interval (CI). The data was analyzed using Excel 2003, R 2.8.0 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows Version 16.0 (SPSS Inc; Chicago, IL, USA) and the EPI Info 3.5.1 Windows Version. Results:The mean age of HCC cases was $53.6{\pm}14.93$ yrs. The percentage of females was less than males in both cases (23%) and controls (29%). The specificity of DCP reached 100% when its values was equal or greater than 150 (MAU/ml) for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 months preceding the diagnosis of HCC. Similarly, the specificity for AFP was also nearly 100% when its value was equal or greater than 200 ng/ml 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 months earlier to the finding of HCC. The specificity of DCP (${\geq}40MAU/mL$) and AFP(${\geq}20$ ng/mL) in combination was 93%, 97%, 95%, 96%, 97% in respect to 0, 3, 6, 9, 12 months prior to the diagnosis of HCC. Conclusion: The combination of both DCP and AFP will improve the finding of initial HCC and the sensitivity of these markers was utmost at the time of HCC identification and noticeably lesser at former time points.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.487-493
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• 2011

Alpha fetoprotein(AFP), which is serological marker for hepatocellular carcinoma, was quantitatively measured by its normal concentration, 10 ng/ml, with a label-free piezoelectric microcantilever mass sensor. The principle of detection is based on changes in the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric microcantilever before and after target molecules are attached to it, and its resonant frequency is measured electrically using a conductance spectrum. The resonant frequency of the developed sensor is approximately 1.34 MHz and the mass sensitivity is approximately 175 Hz/pg. The sensor has high reliability as mass sensor by reducing the effect of surface stress on resonant frequency due to attached proteins. 'Dip and dry' technique was used to react the sensor with reagents for immobilizing AFP antibody on the sensor and detecting AFP antigen. The measured mass of the detected AFP antigen was 6.02 pg at the concentration of 10 ng/ml, and 10.67 pg at 50 ng/ml when the immunoreaction time was 10 min.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3451-3455
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• 2015

Objective: To explore the application of joint detection of serum AFP, CA19-9, CA125 and CEA in identification and diagnosis of cholangiocarcinoma (CC). Materials and Methods: The levels of serum AFP, CA19-9, CA125 and CEA of both 30 patients with CC and 30 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were assessed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic effects of single and joint detection of those 4 kinds of tumor markers for CC. Results: The levels of serum CA19-9, CA125 and CEA in CC patients were higher than that in HCC patients,whereas that of serum AFP was significantly lower s. The area under ROC curve of single detection of serum AFP, CA19-9, CA125 and CEA were 0.05, 0.86, 0.84 and 0.83, with the optimal cutoff values of 15.4 ng/ml, 125.1 U/ml, 95.7 U/ml and 25.9 ng/ml, correspondingly, and the percentage correct single diagnosis was <79%. With joint detection, the diagnostic effect of combined AFP, CA19-9, CA125 and CEA was the highest, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.94 (95%CI 0.88~0.99). Conclusions: Single detection of serum CA19-9, CA125 and EA is not meaningful. The sensitivity, specificity, the rate of correct diagnosis and the area under ROC curve of joint detection of AFP, CA19-9, CA125 and CEA are highest, indicating that the joint detection of these 4 tumor markers is of great importance in the diagnosis of CC.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.51-56
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• 2003

Rehmannia glutinosa is one of the most important medicinal crops in Korea. However, various plant pathogens, including Fusatium spp., cause great damage on R. glutinosa and result in enormous economic losses. This study was conducted to breed Fusarium-resistant plants by using Agrobacterium tumefaciences and AFP (anti-fungal protein) gene. The plant material used was a native accession of R. glutinosa. The PCR analysis was conducted to verify transgenicity. Based on the PCR analysis, nptII band was observed in transgenic plant genome. Southern blot and AFP protein analyses also showed the expression of this gene in transgenic plants. Expression of AFP in transgenic plants offers the possibility of developing resistance to fungal infection.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.70-73
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• 2006

Alpha-fetoprotein(AFP) is a plasma protein produced in the fetal liver, yolk sac and gastrointestinal tract. The plasma level of AFP decreases markedly 1 year after birth. The AFP level is usually increased in hepatocellular carcinoma and yolk sac tumor but is rare in a primary lung cancer. We report a case of primary adenocarcinoma of lung producing high levels of AFP.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.101-104
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• 2018

Purpose Alpha fetoprotein(AFP) is a fetal serum protein that increases in germ cell tumors derived from liver cancer or egg yolk. AFP test has been used for screening of liver cancer, determination of tumor stage, determination of therapeutic effect, and fetal congenital malformations. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of the four kits, identify the advantages and disadvantages of each kit, and select the appropriate kits for our laboratory. Materials and Methods Blood samples were obtained from 89 patients attending the Seoul national university hospital. Experiments were carried out in accordance with manufacturer's instructions of four companies(A, B, C, D). The precision, recovery, linearity, and sensitivity test were performed for each kit. Results In case of the precision within the measurement, the CV value of the C kit was less than 5% at the low, middle, and high concentrations. The A, B and D kit's the CV value was less than 5% at the concentrations except the low concentration. The recovery rates of the A, B, C, and D kits were $100{\pm}15%$, $100{\pm}30%$, $100{\pm}16%$ and $100{\pm}14%$, respectively. All kits showed good linearity. Sensitivity was measured as 0.5 IU/mL for A, 0.4 IU/mL for B, 0.98 IU/mL for C, and 0.3 IU/mL for D. Conclusion The CV values of the four kits were within 10%, and the correlation coefficients were close to 1 for $R^2=0.978$, $R^2=0.992$ and $R^2=0.8957$. As a result, they are clinically available. Therefore, each laboratory should select the appropriate kit for their experiment's environment.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.185-188
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• 2009

Purpose: Standard of retests were discrepant and inconsistent due to inaccuracy and lack of standardization within normal range limit of tumor marker test. To enhance the standardization of retests set standard value below normal range and the Order Communication System Quality Control (OCS QC) program was put in place. This program enables managing the results within lower limit of normal range which were used for tumor marker test in Health Center. Materials and Methods: At present the tumor marker study for AFP, CEA, CA19-9, CA125, and PSA included outpatients in Asan Medical Center from February to March, 2009. The standard value was obtained by using the percentage of CV of Inter Assay according to the normal range of each tumor test. The results were confirmed by using the OCS QC program via formatted assessment of screening test such as test items, standard value and medical department. The number of out-of-range results within plus and minus 30 percents regarding the five primary items of tumor marker test was assessed. The next step was to obtain the number of AFP, CEA, and CA125 according to the ratio of comparison between prior and post test result, 60%, 50%, and 40% within normal range, respectively. In addition, set standard value below normal range. Results: The first screening test with percentage of sample number was resulted between 30%-40% and the second one was AFP 26.1%, CEA 18.9%, CA19-9 17.3%, CA125 18.7%, and PSA 21.0% obtained screening percentage of average 20 percents. The limited value of retest was AFP less than 5.0 and more than 10.0, CEA less than 1.0 and more than 3.0, CA19-9 less than 10.0 and more than 30.0, and PSA less than 1.0 and more than 2.0 to set and the number of retest was obtained by applying to the limited value of retest to screening percentage of average 20 percents For two months, the number of retest was AFP 0, CEA 15, CA19-9 3, CA125 2, and PSA 5. Conclusions: Through using the OCS QC program in establishing the standard of retest systemically, there appeared to be reduced discrepancy among the examiners and to be expected improvement in relation to the error of results.