• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.312-318
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• 2016

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) such as $N^{\varepsilon}$-(carboxy-methyl)lysine (CML) have been implicated in the development of diabetic nephropathy. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of ethanolic extract of Aster koraiensis (AKE) on AGEs formation and AGEs-collagen cross-linking in vitro and CMLs formation in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. AKE significantly inhibited AGEs formation ($IC_{50}$ value of $18.74{\mu}g/mL$) and AGEs-collagen cross-linking ($IC_{50}$ value of 0.274 mg/mL) in vitro than the well-known glycation inhibitor aminoguanidine ($IC_{50}$ value of $72.12{\mu}g/mL$ and 1.99 mg/mL, respectively). AKE (100 mg/kg per day) was given to diabetic rats for 9 weeks. In STZ-induced diabetic rats, severe hyperglycemia was developed, and urinary CMLs and plasma CMLs were markedly increased. Immunohistochemical stain revealed that CMLs were accumulated within renal glomerulus in STZ-induced diabetic rats. However, AKE significantly reduced urinary CMLs and plasma CMLs in diabetic rats. CMLs accumulation was inhibited by AKE treatment in the renal glomerulus. These results suggest that AKE had an inhibitory effect of AGE accumulation in the glomeruli of diabetic rat and could be an inhibitor of AGE-induced protein cross-linking. The oral administration of AKE may significantly help to prevent the progression of diabetic nephropathy in patients with diabetes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.9
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• pp.601-606
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• 2011

HMGB1 is associated with human cancers and is an activator of autophagy which mediates chemotherapy resistance. We here show that the mRNA levels of HMGB1 are high in leukemia cells and it is involved in the progression of childhood chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). HMGB1 decreases the sensitivity of human myeloid leukemia cells K562 to anti-cancer drug induced death through up-regulating the autophagy pathway, which is confirmed by the observation with an increase in fusion of autophagosomes and autophagolysosomes. When overexpressing HMGB1, both mRNA levels of Beclin-1, VSP34 and UVRAG which are key genes involved in mammalian autophagy and protein levels of p-Bcl-2 and LC3-II are increased. Luciferase assays document that over-expression of HMGB1 increases the transcriptional activity of JNK and ERK, which may be silenced by siRNA. The results suggest that HMGB1 regulates JNK and ERK required for autophagy, which provides a potential drug target for therapeutic interventions in childhood CML.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.45 no.8
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• pp.37-43
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• 2008

This paper introduces a high-speed low-power self-timed current-mode logic (STCML) that reduces both dynamic and leakage power dissipation. STCML significantly reduces the leakage portion of the power consumption using a pulse-mode control for shorting the virtual ground node. The proposed logic style also minimizes the dynamic portion of the power consumption due to short-circuit current by employing an enhanced self-timing buffer. Comparison results using a 80-nm CMOS technology show that STCML achieves 26 times reduction on leakage power consumption and 27% reduction on dynamic power consumption as compared to the conventional current-mode logic. They also indicate that up to 59% reduction on leakage power consumption compared to differential cascode voltage switch logic (DCVS).

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.6
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• pp.256-259
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• 2013

Imatinib mesylate is a targeted therapy that acts by inhibiting tyrosine kinase of the bcr-abl fusion oncoprotein, which is specific to chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and the c-transmembrane receptor, which is specific to gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Interstitial pneumonitis is a rare adverse event of imatinib therapy. It is clinically difficult to distinguish from infectious pneumonia, which can frequently occur due to the underlying disease. The standard treatment for imatinib-induced pneumonitis is to discontinue the medication and optionally administer corticosteroids. However, there are a few cases of successful retrial with imatinib. We describe a case of successful rechallenge of imatinib in a patient with imatinib-induced interstitial pneumonitis and CML without a recurrence of the underlying disease after 3 months of follow-up.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SD
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• v.46 no.10
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• pp.79-85
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• 2009

The design of a 3.2 Gb/s serial link receiver in $0.18{\mu}m$ CMOS process is presented. The major factors limiting the performance of high-speed links are transmission channel bandwidth, timing uncertainty. The design uses a multi-level signaling(4-PAM) to overcome these problems. Moreover, to increase data bit-rate and lower BER, we designed this circuit by using a current mode amplifier, Current-mode Logic(CML) sampling latches. The 4-PAM receiver achieves 3.2 Gb/s and BER is less than $1.0\;{\times}\;10^{-12}$. The $0.5\;{\times}\;0.6\;mm^2$ chip consumes 49 mA at 3.2 Gb/s from a 1.8-V supply.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5273-5278
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• 2015

Background: Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a stem cell disorder characterized by the fusion of two oncogenes namely BCR and ABL with their aberrant expression. Autophosphorylation of BCR-ABL oncogenes results in proliferation of CML. The study deals with estimation of rate constant involved in each step of the cellular autophosphorylation process, which are consequently playing important roles in the proliferation of cancerous cells. Materials and Methods: A mathematical model was proposed for autophosphorylation of BCR-ABL oncogenes utilizing ordinary differential equations to enumerate the rate of change of each responsible system component. The major difficulty to model this process is the lack of experimental data, which are needed to estimate unknown model parameters. Initial concentration data of each substrate and product for BCR-ABL systems were collected from the reported literature. All parameters were optimized through time interval simulation using the fminsearch algorithm. Results: The rate of change versus time was estimated to indicate the role of each state variable that are crucial for the systems. The time wise change in concentration of substrate shows the convergence of each parameter in autophosphorylation process. Conclusions: The role of each constituent parameter and their relative time dependent variations in autophosphorylation process could be inferred.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3173-3177
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• 2016

Background: The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in Lebanon provides cancer drugs free of charge for uninsured patients who account for more than half the total case-load. Other categories of cancer care are subsidized under more stringent eligibility criteria. MOPH's large database offers an excellent opportunity to analyze the cost of cancer treatment in Lebanon. Materials and Methods: Using utilization and spending data accumulated at MOPH during 2008-2013, the cost to the public budget of cancer drugs was assessed per case and per drug type. Results: The average annual cost of cancer drugs was 6,475$ per patient. Total cancer drug costs were highest for breast cancer, followed by chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), which together represented 74% of total MOPH cancer drug expenditure. The annual average cancer drug cost per case was highest for CML ($31,037), followed by NHL ($11,566). Trastuzumab represented 26% and Imatinib 15% of total MOPH cancer drug expenditure over six years. Conclusions: Sustained increase in cancer drug cost threatens the sustainability of MOPH coverage, so crucial for socially vulnerable citizens. To enhance the bargaining position with pharmaceutical firms for drug cost containment in a small market like Lebanon, drug price comparisons with neighboring countries which have already obtained lower prices may succeed in lowering drug costs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1324-1329
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• 2012

Phosphomannomutase (ManB) is involved in the biosynthesis of GDP-mannose, which is vital for numerous processes such as synthesis of carbohydrates, production of alginates and ascorbic acid, and post-translational modification of proteins. Here, we discovered that a deletion mutant of manB (BG101) in Streptomyces coelicolor (S. coelicolor) showed higher sensitivity to bacteriostatic chloramphenicol (CM) than the wild-type strain (M145), along with decreased production of CM metabolites. Deletion of manB also decreased the mRNA expression level of drug efflux pumps (i.e., cmlR1 and cmlR2) in S. coelicolor, resulting in increased sensitivity to CM. This is the first report on changes in antibiotic sensitivity to CM by deletion of one glycolysis-related enzyme in S. coelicolor, and the results suggest different approaches for studying the antibiotic-resistant mechanism and its regulation.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.82-86
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• 2006

Leukemia arises in hematopoietic progenitor cells and is characterized by impaired or blocked differentiation, uncontrolled proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. Molecular mechanisms underlying cellular functions by $As_2O_3$, however, have been poorly investigated. The consensus of several reports is that $As_2O_3$ induces apoptosis in leukemia cells by activating genes for apoptosis. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of $As_2O_3$ on the cell cycle and its morphological change and a relationship between the caspase-3 and $As_2O_3$-induced apoptosis. Caspase-3 is involved in $As_2O_3$-induced apoptosis in K562 cells. In this study, to address whether $As_2O_3$-induced apoptosis is mediated by caspase-3 activity, the same samples were probed with a specific antibody. The pretreatment of $25{\mu}M$ Z-VAD-fmk, a specific inhibitor of caspase, decreased $As_2O_3$-induced cytotoxicity. And $As_2O_3$ significantly increased the percentages of the cells accumulated in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Chromatin condensational changes were observed with Hoechst 33258 staining after treatment of $As_2O_3$. It was shown that $As_2O_3$-induced apoptosis is controlled through caspase-3 activation. These results may provide a useful rationale for CML treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4773-4780
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• 2014

Background: To investigate the effects of small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting BCR/ABL mRNA on proliferation and apoptosis in the K562 human chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell line and to provide a theoretical rationale and experimental evidence for its potential clinical application for anti-CML treatment. Materials and Methods: The gene sequence for BCR/ABL mRNA was found from the GeneBank. The target gene site on the BCR/ABL mRNA were selected according to Max-Planck-Institute (MPI) and rational siRNA design rules, the secondary structure of the candidate targeted mRNA was predicted, the relevant thermodynamic parameters were analyzed, and the targeted gene sequences were compared with BLAST to eliminate any sequences with significant homology. Inhibition of proliferation was evaluated by MTT assay and colony-formation inhibiting test. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry (FCM) and the morphology of apoptotic cells was identified by Giemsa-Wright staining. Western blotting was used to analyze the expression of BCR/ABL fusion protein in K562 cells after siRNA treatment. Results: The mRNA local secondary structure calculated by RNA structure software, and the optimal design of specific siRNA were contributed by bioinformatics rules. Five sequences of BCR/ABL siRNAs were designed and synthesized in vitro. Three sequences, siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786, which showed the most effective inhibition of K562 cell growth, were identified among the five candidate siRNAs, with a cell proliferative inhibitory rate nearly 50% after exposure to 12.5nmol/L~50nmol/L siRNA1384 for 24,48 and 72 hours. The 50% inhibitory concentrations ($IC_{50}$) of siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786 for 24hours were 46.6 nmol/L, 59.3 nmol/L and 62.6 nmol/L, respectively, and 65.668 nmol/L, 76.6 nmol/L, 74.4 nmol/L for 72 hours. The colony-formation inhibiting test also indicated that, compared with control, cell growth of siRNA treated group was inhibited. FCM results showed that the rate of cell apoptosis increased 24 hours after transfecting siRNA. The results of annexinV/PI staining indicated that the rate of apoptosis imcreased (1.53%, 15.3%, 64.5%, 57.5% and 21.5%) following treamtne with siRNAs (siRNA34, siRNA372, siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786). Morphological analysis showed td typical morphologic changes of apoptosis such as shrunken, fragmentation nucleus as well as "apoptotic bodies" after K562 cell exposure to siRNA. Western blot analysis showed that BCR/ABL protein was reduced sharply after a single dose of 50nmol/L siRNA transfection. Conclusions: Proliferation of K562 cells was remarkbly inhibited by siRNAs (siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786) in a concentration-dependent manner in vitro, with effective induction of apoptosis at a concentration of 50 nmol/L. One anti-leukemia mechanism in K562 cells appeared that BCR/ABL targeted protein was highly down-regulated. The siRNAs (siRNA1384, siRNA1276 and siRNA1786) may prove valuable in the treatment of CML.