• Title/Summary/Keyword: Functional molecules

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Functional Connections of the Vestibulo-spino-adrenal Axis in the Control of Blood Pressure Via the Vestibulosympathetic Reflex in Conscious Rats

  • Lu, Huan-Jun;Li, Mei-Han;Li, Mei-Zhi;Park, Sang Eon;Kim, Min Sun;Jin, Yuan-Zhe;Park, Byung Rim
    • The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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    • v.19 no.5
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    • pp.427-434
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    • 2015
  • Significant evidence supports the role of the vestibular system in the regulation of blood pressure during postural movements. In the present study, the role of the vestibulo-spino-adrenal (VSA) axis in the modulation of blood pressure via the vestibulosympathetic reflex was clarified by immunohistochemical and enzyme immunoassay methods in conscious rats with sinoaortic denervation. Expression of c-Fos protein in the intermediolateral cell column of the middle thoracic spinal regions and blood epinephrine levels were investigated, following microinjection of glutamate receptor agonists or antagonists into the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) and/or sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced hypotension. Both microinjection of glutamate receptor agonists (NMDA and AMPA) into the MVN or rostral ventrolateral medullary nucleus (RVLM) and SNP-induced hypotension led to increased number of c-Fos positive neurons in the intermediolateral cell column of the middle thoracic spinal regions and increased blood epinephrine levels. Pretreatment with microinjection of glutamate receptor antagonists (MK-801 and CNQX) into the MVN or RVLM prevented the increased number of c-Fos positive neurons resulting from SNP-induced hypotension, and reversed the increased blood epinephrine levels. These results indicate that the VSA axis may be a key component of the pathway used by the vestibulosympathetic reflex to maintain blood pressure during postural movements.

Rh-doped carbon nanotubes as a superior media for the adsorption of O2 and O3 molecules: a density functional theory study

  • Cui, Hao;Zhang, Xiaoxing;Yao, Qiang;Miao, Yulong;Tang, Ju
    • Carbon letters
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    • v.28
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    • pp.55-59
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    • 2018
  • Transition-metal-embedded carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been accepted as a novel type of sensing material due to the combined advantage of the transition metal, which possesses good catalytic behavior for gas interaction, and CNTs, with large effective surface areas that present good adsorption ability towards gas molecules. In this work, we simulate the adsorption of $O_2$ and $O_3$ onto Rh-doped CNT in an effort to understand the adsorbing behavior of such a surface. Results indicate that the proposed material presents good adsorbing ability and capacities for these two gases, especially $O_3$ molecules, as a result of the relatively large conductivity changes. The frontier molecular orbital theory reveals that the conductivity of Rh-CNT would undergo a decrease after the adsorption of two such oxidizing gases due to the lower electron activity and density of this media. Our calculations are meaningful as they can supply experimentalists with potential sensing material prospects with which to exploit chemical sensors.

Development of Ultra-High Pressure Capillary Reverse-Phase Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry for High-Sensitive and High-Throughput Proteomics

  • Kim, Min-Sik;Choie, Woo-Suk;Shin, Yong-Seung;Yu, Myeong-Hee;Lee, Sang-Won
    • Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.25 no.12
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    • pp.1833-1839
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    • 2004
  • Recently mass spectrometry and separation methods such as liquid chromatography have become major tools in the field of proteomics. In this report, we describe in detail our efforts to develop ultra-high pressure capillary reverse-phase liquid chromatography (cRPLC) and its online coupling to a mass spectrometer by a nanoelectrospray (nanoESI) interface. The RPLC system is constructed in house to deliver LC solvents at the pressure up to 20,000 psig, which is four times higher than conventional RPLC systems. The high operation pressure allows the efficient use of packed micro-capillary columns (50, 75 and 150 ${\mu}$m i.d., up to 1.5 m long). We will discuss the effect of column diameter on the sensitivity of cRPLC/MS/MS experiments and the utility of the developed technique for proteome analysis by its application in the analysis of proteome samples having different levels of complexity.

T Lymphocyte Development and Activation in Humanized Mouse Model

  • Lee, Ji Yoon;Han, A-Reum;Lee, Dong Ryul
    • Development and Reproduction
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.79-92
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    • 2019
  • Humanized mice, containing engrafted human cells and tissues, are emerging as an important in vivo platform for studying human diseases. Since the development of Nod scid gamma (NSG) mice bearing mutations in the IL-2 receptor gamma chain, many investigators have used NSG mice engrafted with human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to generate functional human immune systems in vivo, results in high efficacy of human cell engraftment. The development of NSG mice has allowed significant advances to be made in studies on several human diseases, including cancer and graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD), and in regenerative medicine. Based on the human HSC transplantation, organ transplantation including thymus and liver in the renal capsule has been performed. Also, immune reconstruction of cells, of the lymphoid as well as myeloid lineages, has been partly accomplished. However, crosstalk between pluripotent stem cell derived therapeutic cells with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mis/matched types and immune CD3 T cells have not been fully addressed. To overcome this hurdle, human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, not mouse MHC molecules, are required to generate functional T cells in a humanized mouse model. Here, we briefly summarize characteristics of the humanized mouse model, focusing on development of CD3 T cells with MHC molecules. We also highlight the necessity of the humanized mouse model for the treatment of various human diseases.

Adsorptions and Dissociations of Nitric Oxides at Metalloporphyrin Molecules on Metal Surfaces: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Spectroscopy Study

  • Kim, Ho-Won;Chung, Kyung-Hoon;Kahng, Se-Jong
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2011.08a
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    • pp.108-108
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    • 2011
  • Organometallic complexes containing unpaired spins, such as metalloporphyrin or metallophthalocyanine, have extensively studied with increasing interests of their promising model systems in spintronic applications. Additionally, the use of these complexes as an acceptor molecule in chemical sensors has recently received great attentions. In this presentation, we have investigated adsorption of nitric oxide (NO) molecules at Co-porphyrin molecules on Au(111) surfaces with scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy at low temperature. At the location of Co atom in Co-porphyrin molecules, we could observe a Kondo resonance state near Fermi energy in density of states (DOS) before exposing NO molecules and the Kondo resonance state was disappeared after NO exposing because the electronic spin structure of Co-porphyrin were modified by forming a cobalt-NO bonding. Furthermore, we could locally control the chemical reaction of NO dissociations from NO-CoTPP by electron injections via STM probe. After dissociation of NO molecules, the Kondo resonance state was recovered in density of state. With a help of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we could understand that the modified electronic structures for NO-Co-porphyrin could be occurred by metal-ligand hybridization and the dissociation mechanisms of NO can be explained in terms of the resonant tunneling process via molecular orbitals.

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Conducting Polymers with Functional Dopants and their Applications in Energy, Environmental Technology, and Nanotechnology

  • Kim, Sung Yeol;Song, Hyun-Kon
    • Clean Technology
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    • v.21 no.1
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    • pp.12-21
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    • 2015
  • Development of novel conducting polymers (CPs) is expected to facilitate the advancement of functional materials used for energy, environmental, and nanotechnology. Recent research efforts are focused on doping CPs with functional dopants to enhance their performance or add additional functions that are not inherent in CPs. This review surveys literatures about the doped CPs focusing on the roles of functional dopants, unlike other reviews focusing on the development of new conducting polymer backbones. The functional dopants presented in this review include redox active molecules, carbon nanomaterials, biopolymers, and chelating molecules. Depending on the dopants and their physicochemical properties, the doped CPs can be used for a variety of applications such as polymer batteries, membranes for waste water treatment, and chemical sensors. A major challenge of the CPs is presented and the ways to overcome the challenge is also suggested for the future development of stable, high performance CPs.

Density Functional Theory Calculations for Chemical Reaction Mechanisms of C4F8

  • Choe, Hui-Cheol;Song, Mi-Yeong;Yun, Jeong-Sik
    • Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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    • 2015.08a
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    • pp.133-133
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    • 2015
  • Recently, it has been shown that the ${\omega}B97X-D/aVTZ$ method is strongly recommended as the best practical density functional theory(DFT) for rigorous and extensive studies of saturated or unsaturated $C_4F_8$ species because of its high performance and reliability especially for van der Waals interactions. All the feasible isomerization and dissociation paths of $C_4F_8$ molecules were investigated at this theoretical level and rate constants of their chemical reactions were computed by using variational transition-state theory for a deep insight into $C_4F_8$ reaction mechanisms. Fates and roles of C4F8 molecules and their fragments in plasma phases could be clearly explained based on our computational results.

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Nanoscale Protein Chip based on Electrical Detection

  • Choi, Jeong-Woo
    • 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2005.04a
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    • pp.18-18
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    • 2005
  • Photoinduced electron transport process in nature such as photoelectric conversion and long-range electron transfer in photosynthetic organisms are known to occur not only very efficiently but also unidirectionally through the functional groups of biomolecules. The basic principles in the development of new functional devices can be inspired from the biological systems such as molecular recognition, electron transfer chain, or photosynthetic reaction center. By mimicking the organization of the biological system, molecular electronic devices can be realized $artificially^{1)}$. The nano-fabrication technology of biomolecules was applied to the development of nano-protein chip for simultaneously analyzing many kinds of proteins as a rapid tool for proteome research. The results showed that the self-assembled protein layer had an influence on the sensitivity of the fabricated bio-surface to the target molecules, which would give us a way to fabricate the nano-protein chip with high sensitivity. The results implicate that the biosurface fabrication using self-assembled protein molecules could be successfully applied to the construction of nanoscale bio-photodiode and nano-protein chip based on electrical detection.

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Interrelationship of Runx2 and estrogen pathway in skeletal tissues

  • Jeong, Jae-Hwan;Choi, Je-Yong
    • BMB Reports
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    • v.44 no.10
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    • pp.613-618
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    • 2011
  • Two key molecules in skeletal tissues are bone formation master transcription factor Runx2 and the steroid hormone estrogen. It is well known that these two molecules play pivotal roles in bone homeostasis; however, the functional interaction between Runx2 and estrogen synthesis in skeletal tissues is largely unknown. Recent studies have indicated that there is a positive relationship between Runx2 and the estrogen biosynthesis pathway. In this review, a possible functional link between Runx2 and estrogen synthesis pathway in skeletal tissues will be discusses as well as the biological significance of this interaction.