• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권11호
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• pp.4555-4561
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• 2014

Background: Silencing due to methylation of suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS-3), a negative regulator gene for the JAK/STAT signaling pathway has been reported to play important roles in leukemogenesis. Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that specifically targets the BCR-ABL protein and induces hematological remission in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Unfortunately, the majority of CML patients treated with imatinib develop resistance under prolonged therapy. We here investigated the methylation profile of SOCS-3 gene and its downstream effects in a BCR-ABL positive CML cells resistant to imatinib. Materials and Methods: BCR-ABL positive CML cells resistant to imatinib (K562-R) were developed by overexposure of K562 cell lines to the drug. Cytotoxicity was determined by MTS assays and $IC_{50}$ values calculated. Apoptosis assays were performed using annexin V-FITC binding assays and analyzed by flow cytometry. Methylation profiles were investigated using methylation specific PCR and sequencing analysis of SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 genes. Gene expression was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR, and protein expression and phosphorylation of STAT1, 2 and 3 were examined by Western blotting. Results: The $IC_{50}$ for imatinib on K562 was 362nM compared to 3,952nM for K562-R (p=0.001). Percentage of apoptotic cells in K562 increased upto 50% by increasing the concentration of imatinib, in contrast to only 20% in K562-R (p<0.001). A change from non-methylation of the SOCS-3 gene in K562 to complete methylation in K562-R was observed. Gene expression revealed down-regulation of both SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 genes in resistant cells. STAT3 was phosphorylated in K562-R but not K562. Conclusions: Development of cells resistant to imatinib is feasible by overexposure of the drug to the cells. Activation of STAT3 protein leads to uncontrolled cell proliferation in imatinib resistant BCR-ABL due to DNA methylation of the SOCS-3 gene. Thus SOCS-3 provides a suitable candidate for mechanisms underlying the development of imatinib resistant in CML patients.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제4권3호
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• pp.190-197
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• 2004

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by chronic synovial inflammation which leads to joint destruction. Gene therapy of RA targets the players of inflammation or articular destruction. However, viral vectors have safety problems and side effects, while non-viral vectors suffer from inefficient gene transfer and fast loss of gene expression. To overcome the limits of non-vial vectors, an EBV-based plasmid which is known to exert prolonged high level gene expression can be used. Methods: pEBVGFP, pEBVIL-10, and pEBVvIL-10 were constructed by cloning GFP, IL-10, and vIL-10 genes into an EBV-based plasmid, respectively. The pGFP was used as a control plasmid. Each constructs were lipofected into HIG-82 rabbit synoviocytes. The expression of GFP was monitored by FACS and confocal microscopy. IL-10 and vIL-10 expressions were measured by ELISA. Results: GFP expression 2 days after transfection was achieved in 33.2% of cells. GFP-expressing cells transfected with pGFP decreased rapidly from 4 days after transfection and disappeared completely by 11 days. Cells transfected with pEBVGFP began to decrease slowly from 4 days. But GFP expression was detected for over 35 days. In addition, HIG-82 cells transfected with pEBVIL-10 ($44.6{\pm}1.5ng/ml$) or pEBVvIL-10 ($51.0{\pm}5.7ng/ml$) secreted these cytokines at high levels. High level cytokine production by hygromycin selection was maintained at least for up to 26 days after transfection. Conclusion: These results suggest that the EBV-based plasmid has a potential to improve non-viral gene transfer system and may be applicable to treat RA without the drawbacks of viral vectors.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.261-265
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• 2003

Tumor necrosis facto-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a recently identified member of the tumor necrosis factor cytokine superfamily. TRAIL has been shown to induce apoptosis in a number of tumor cells whereas cells from most of normal tissues are highly resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis. These observations have raised considerable interest in the use of TRAIL in tumor therapy. In this study we report the biodistribution fates and serum expression pattern of plasmid DNA encoding TRAIL (pTRAIL) delivered in erythrocyte ghosts (EG). pTRAIL was loaded into EG by electroportion in a hypotonic medium The mRNA expression of pTRAIL was prolonged following delivery in EG-encapsulated forms. EG containing pTRAIL showed significant levels of mRNA expression in the blood over 9 days. The organ expression patterns of pTRAIL delivered via EG, however, did not significantly differ from those of naked pTRAIL, indicating that the expression-enhancing effect of EG containing pTRAIL was localized to the blood. These results suggest that pTRAIL-loaded EG might be of potential use in the treatment of hematological diseases such as TRAIL-sensitive leukemia.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제66권4호
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• pp.356-381
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• 2023

Although immunotherapy has been broadly successful in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and a subset of solid tumors, its clinical outcomes for glioblastoma are still inadequate. The results could be due to neuroanatomical structures such as the blood-brain-barrier, antigenic heterogeneity, and the highly immunosuppressive microenvironment of glioblastomas. The antitumor efficacy of endogenously activated effector cells induced by peptide or dendritic cell vaccines in particular has been insufficient to control tumors. Effector cells, such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells can be expanded rapidly ex vivo and transferred to patients. The identification of neoantigens derived from tumor-specific mutations is expanding the list of tumor-specific antigens for glioblastoma. Moreover, recent advances in gene-editing technologies enable the effector cells to not only have multiple biological functionalities, such as cytokine production, multiple antigen recognition, and increased cell trafficking, but also relieve the immunosuppressive nature of the glioblastoma microenvironment by blocking immune inhibitory molecules, which together improve their cytotoxicity, persistence, and safety. Allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells edited to reduce graft-versus-host disease and allorejection, or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived NK cells expressing CARs that use NK-specific signaling domain can be a good candidate for off-the-shelf products of glioblastoma immunotherapy. We here discuss current progress and future directions for T cell and NK cell therapy in glioblastoma.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.229-240
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• 1999

연구배경: HSVtk/GCV를 이용한 유전자치료에서 면역반응은 1) adenovirus 혹은 retrovirus와 같이 벡타로 사용된 virus의 단백질, 2) 치료목적으로 이입된 HSVtk 유전자의 생성물, 3) 암세포에 대해서 일어날 수 있다. 그리고 이러한 면역반응은 cytokines의 생성 혹은 cytotoxic tumor-specific T-cell의 생성을 초래하여 bystander effect에 의한 살상효과를 증가시키거나, anti-tumor immunity를 유도하여 tumor vaccine의 효과를 나타낼 수 있다. 한편 이와는 대조적으로 면역반응용 HSVtk 유전자를 발현하는 세포들을 파괴하여 이입된 HSVtk 유전자의 발현기간을 제한함으로서 유전자치료의 효과를 감소시킬 수도 있다. 본 연구는 retrovirus 벡타로 이입한 HSVtk 유전자치료에서 면역체계가 bystander effect에 의한 살상효과에 미치는 영향을 규명하고 면역체계가 이입한 유전자의 발현에 미치는 영향을 조사하고자 하였다. 방 법: Immunocompetent mice인 Balb/c mouse와 immunodeficient mouse인 Balb/c-nude 및 SCID mouse에서 retrovirus 벡타를 사용하여 HSVtk 유전자를 이입하고 치료효과를 조사하였다. 그리고 Balb/c mouse에 면역억제제인 cyclosporin을 투여하여 면역억제제가 bystander effect 및 유전자치료 효과와 유전자의 발현기간에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 결 과: Balb/c mouse에 HSVtk 유전자를 이입하고 GCV를 투여한 군은 GCV를 투여하지 않은 대조군에 비해 종양의 성장이 유의하게 억제되었으나 Balb/c-nude mouse와 SCID mouse의 경우 GCV를 투여한 군과 대조군 사이에 유의한 차이가 없었다. 면역억제제인 cyclosporin을 투여한 군에서 유전자 치료 효과가 cyclosporin을 투여하지 않은 정상 mouse에 비해 치료효과가 유의하게 작았다. Cyclosporin 투여에 따른 유전자의 발현기간에는 유의한 차이가 없었다. 결 론: Retrovirus 벡타를 사용한 HSVtk 유전자치료에는 면역증강이 치료효과를 증가시킬 것으로 생각된다.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.993-999
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• 2008

Ischemic brain injury such as cerebral infarction is characterized by acute local inflammatory response mediated by cytokines. The mechanism of cytokines involved in cerebral infarction progression are uncompletely revealed yet. We investigated to find out the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of interleukin 4 receptor(IL4R) and Oriental Medicine therapy efficacy in patients with cerebral infarction for 2 weeks. Oriental Korean Medicine therapies (herbal medicine and acupuncture) were applied daily and motor functions of patients were assessed using the modified cerebral vascular accident (MCVA) scores. Genotyping for IL4R polymorphism was done by pyrosequencing analysis. In IL4R genotypes and the frequency of alleles, there was no significant difference between cerebral infarction patients (n=124) and controls group (n=175). And there was also no significant difference among good and bad responders in cerebral infarction patients. In this study the IL4R genotype might not be the risk factor or a good predictive genetic marker for good and bad responders in cerebral infarction patients in Korean. Further studies including different cytokine genes will be necessary for the exact genetic markers.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.38.1-38.8
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• 2021

Recently, a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (B.1.1.529) Omicron variant originated from South Africa in the middle of November 2021. SARS-CoV-2 is also called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) since SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19. Several studies already suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant would be the fastest transmissible variant compared to the previous 10 SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, interest, and alert. Few clinical studies reported the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant but there is insufficient time to perform actual experiments to prove it, since the spread is so fast. We analyzed the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, which revealed a very high rate of mutation at amino acid residues that interact with angiostatin-converting enzyme 2. The mutation rate of COVID-19 is faster than what we prepared vaccine program, antibody therapy, lockdown, and quarantine against COVID-19 so far. Thus, it is necessary to find better strategies to overcome the current crisis of COVID-19 pandemic.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.305-310
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• 2016

In this study, we compared two different tumor cell vaccines for their induction of anti-tumor immunity; one was a tumor cell clone expressing a membrane-bound form of IL-12 p35 subunit (mbIL-12 p35 tumor clone), and the other was a tumor clone expressing heterodimeric IL-12 as a single chain (mb-scIL-12 tumor clone). The stimulatory effect of mb-scIL-12 on the proliferation of ConA-activated splenocytes was higher than that of mbIL-12 p35 in vitro. However, the stimulatory effect of mbIL-12 p35 was equivalent to that of recombinant soluble IL-12 (3 ng/ml). Interestingly, both tumor clones (mbIL-12 p35 and mb-scIL-12) showed similar tumorigenicity and induction of systemic anti-tumor immunity in vivo, suggesting that tumor cell expression of the membrane-bound p35 subunit is sufficient to induce anti-tumor immunity in our tumor vaccine model.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제54권6호
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• pp.711-717
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• 2016

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that stimulates production of high levels of proinflammatory cytokines, which are important for innate immunity. NLRs, i.e., nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors, play a crucial role as innate immune sensors and form multiprotein complexes called inflammasomes, which mediate caspase-1-dependent processing of $pro-IL-1{\beta}$. To elucidate the role of inflammasome components in T. gondiiinfected THP-1 macrophages, we examined inflammasome-related gene expression and mechanisms of inflammasome-regulated cytokine $IL-1{\beta}$ secretion. The results revealed a significant upregulation of $IL-1{\beta}$ after T. gondii infection. T. gondii infection also upregulated the expression of inflammasome sensors, including NLRP1, NLRP3, NLRC4, NLRP6, NLRP8, NLRP13, AIM2, and NAIP, in a time-dependent manner. The infection also upregulated inflammasome adaptor protein ASC and caspase-1 mRNA levels. From this study, we newly found that T. gondii infection regulates NLRC4, NLRP6, NLRP8, NLRP13, AIM2, and neuronal apoptosis inhibitor protein (NAIP) gene expressions in THP-1 macrophages and that the role of the inflammasome-related genes may be critical for mediating the innate immune responses to T. gondii infection.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.103-114
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• 2006

Herbal mixture water extract of (Chrysanthemum morifolium, Portulaca oleracea, Sanguisorba officinalis, Sophora flavescens, Phellodendron amurense, Cnidium monnieri) which exhibit several beneficial effects including acne and skin diseases, was tested for anti-microbial activity and anti-inflammation effects. The herbal mixture extract showed antimicrobial activity against Stapylococcus epidermis, and Propionibacterium acne. The growth of Stapylococcus epidermis, and Propionibacterium acne was inhibited completely by addition of 1.0% of the extract. Also in the present study we examined the mixture extract on compound 48/80 induced allergy and LPS induced cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) gene expression in RAW 264.7 macrophage. The results indicated the ear swelling and histamine release induced by compound 48/80 were dose-dependently reduced, ranging 28-60%, and 48-72% , respectively. Furthermore the extract inhibited the expression of LPS-induced COX-2 proteins and mRNAs without an appreciable cytotoxic effects on RAW 264.7 cells. The LPS-induced cytokine gene expression including IL-$1{\beta}$, TNF-$\alpha$, and IL-6 were dose-dependently suppressed by the mixture extract. Based on these results, it is concluded that the herbal mixture water extract can be applied to the acne and skin diseases therapy.