• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.326-331
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• 2012

In this study, expanded poly(tetrafluoro ethylene) (ePTFE) graft was modified to be used as a hemodialysis vascular access. Biodegradable poly(D,L-lactide-$co$-glycolide) (PLGA) was coated onto the inner surface of ePTFE graft with paclitaxel, which is often used as an anti-cancer agent and for reducing neointimal hyperplasia. Surface characterization before and after PLGA coating was carried out by SEM and ATR-FTIR. Porous sturcture of ePTFE was maintained after coating of PLGA solution. The amounts of coated PLGA and paclitaxel determined by ATR-FTIR and HPLC were 1.96 and 0.263 mg/$cm^2$, respectively. Young's modulus was decreased and tensile strength was increased by PLGA coating. Released paclitaxel as a function of incubation time was monitored by HPLC. Approximately 35% of coated paclitaxel was released steadily for 4 weeks with the biodegradation of PLGA. From these results, it is expected that the effect of paclitaxel on reducing neointimal hyperplasia and stenosis is maintained for a long time.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2008

Phellinus linteus (Sang Hwang mushroom; P. linteusis) has been widely used for a traditional medicine in Japan, Korea and China. In traditional oriental applications, P. linteus and their extracts have been exclusively used to treat various diseases like insomnia, neurasthenia, gastric ulcers, arthritis, nephritis, stress, asthma, bronchitis, neuromuscular disorders, hypertension and also as an immune system stimulator in cancer therapy. In a number of articles, it is indicated how tremendous their therapeutic values are. According to these studies, P. linteus and their extracts show immunomodulatory activities like enhancing immune system function including anti-tumor activity and inhibiting the growth of existing tumors. P. linteus and their extracts have been being studied for use as immunotherapy agents and biological response modifiers (BRMs) for the possible treatment of cancer without side effects. Recently, the cultured mycelium product of P. linteus has been developed and approved as a medicine in Korea. This review shows not only the current status of methods of developmental technology like artificial culture and various biological applications of P. linteus but also recent market trends of functional foods made from P. linteus.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2012

Background and Objectives : Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) originates from regurgitation of gastric contents to the laryngopharynx, and it is relatively common disease in otolaryngology. Proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medication is frequently using treatment method in present time, but controversies exist regarding treatment for it. High-resolution manometry (HRM) system is a newly developed device that using 36 channels and pressure topography plotting program, checking the function and status of esophagus. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical usefulness of HRM in LPRD patients who do not response to PPI medication. Materials and Method : From July 2009 to July 2010, a total of 99 patients who were suspected LPRD according to symptoms (Reflux Symptom Index >13) and laryngoscopic findings (Reflux Finding Score >7) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were consisted of 31 men and 68 women, the mean age was 51.8 years, the mean BMI was 22.46. Patients have taken PPI medication for 2 months, after medication, they performed HRM. Comparative analysis was performed with results of the difference in symptoms. Results : In 99 patients, 37 patients (37.4%) show not improvement of LPRD symptoms after PPI medication. Among them, 18 patients (48.6%) showed abnormal findings that were classified as Peristaltic dysfunction (38.9%), Diffuse esophageal spasm (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of LES (11.1%), Achalasia (5.6%), Hypotensive LES (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of UES (11.1%), Nutcracker esophagus (5.6%), Decreased resting pressure (5.6%). Other 62 patients (62.6%) show improvement of LPRD symptoms, 23 patients (37.1%) showed abnormal findings. Most common finding was Peristaltic dysfunction (43.4%) More prevalent abnormal findings of HRM were found in patients who revealed no response to PPI medication (48.6% vs. 37.1%), but it does not reach the statistical significance. Conclusion : Although statistical significances is not showed, the difference observed in the frequency of HRM abnormal finding between response and no response for PPI medication. It has been estimated that HRM may be used to determine differential diagnosis in patients with LPRD. Further studies in lager population containing normal controls will be needed to prove clinical usefulness.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.151-155
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• 2011

Background and Objectives : Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPRD) originates from regurgitation of gastric contents to the laryngopharynx, and it is relatively common disease in otolaryngology. Proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medication is frequently using treatment method in present time, but controversies exist regarding treatment for it. High-resolution manometry (HRM) system is a newly developed device that using 36 channels and pressure topography plotting program, checking the function and status of esophagus. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical usefulness of HRM in LPRD patients who do not response to PPI medication. Subjects and Method : From July 2009 to July 2010, a total of 99 patients who were suspected LPRD according to symptoms (Reflux Symptom Index >13) and laryngoscopic findings (Reflux Finding Score >7) were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were consisted of 31 men and 68 women, the mean age was 51.8 years, the mean BMI was 22.46. Patients have taken PPI medication for 2 months, after medication, they performed HRM. Comparative analysis was performed with results of the difference in symptoms. Results : In 99 patients, 37 patients (37.4%) show not improvement of LPRD symptoms after PPI medication. Among them, 18 patients (48.6%) showed abnormal findings that were classified as Peristaltic dysfunction (38.9%), Diffuse esophageal spasm (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of LES (11.1%), Achalasia (5.6%), Hypotensive LES (11.1%), Relaxation impairment of UES (11.1%), Nutcracker esophagus (5.6%), Decreased resting pressure (5.6%). Other 62 patients (62.6%) show improvement of LPRD symptoms, 23 patients (37.1%) showed abnormal findings. Most common finding was Peristaltic dysfunction (43.4%) More prevalent abnormal findings of HRM were found in patients who revealed no response to PPI medication (48.6% vs. 37.1%), but it does not reach the statistical significance. Conclusion : Although statistical significances is not showed, the difference observed in the frequency of HRM abnormal finding between response and no response for PPI medication. It has been estimated that HRM may be used to determine differential diagnosis in patients with LPRD. Further studies in lager population containing normal controls will be needed to prove clinical usefulness.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2013

Objectives : The 7-zone-diagnostic system is a device for predetermining bodily locations by measuring the energy of the living body. The purpose of this study is to examine correlations between gastroscopy results and zone-5 data from the 7-zone-diagnostic system. Methods : This study was carried out with data from gastroscopy procedures. It involved 115 patients who had been diagnosed with gastritis, esophagitis, or gastric ulcers. These patients were divided into three groups according to the different patterns of zone-5 factors AA, FL2 and FL1. Group A was made up of patients for whom the red bar graph of zone-5 was higher than the normal range for factor AA. Group B was made up of patients for whom the red bar graph of zone-5 was within the normal range for factor AA. Group C was made up of patients for whom the red bar graph of zone-5 was lower than the normal range for factor AA. Group D E and F were made up of same way as group A B and C for factor FL2. Group G H and I were made up of same way as group A B and C for factor FL1. After the collection of gastroscopy results and data on zone-5 from the 7-zone-diagnostic system, the data was analyzed statistically. Results : 1. Group D had a higher ratio of medication than group E, and this result was statistically significant. 2. Group D G had a higher ratio of medication than group E G and group E H, and this result was statistically significant. 3. Group G had a higher ratio of esophagitis than group H, and this result was statistically significant. 4. A Group B H had a higher ratio of esophagitis than group B G, group C G, and group C H, and this result was statistically significant. 5. The medication group had a high score on the function index than the non-medication group, and this result was statistically significant. Conclusions : This study suggests that there is a slight correlation between gastroscopy results and zone-5 data from the 7-zone-diagnostic system. The research resulted in significant data that are helpful for diagnosing digestive system problems through the use of the 7-zone-diagnostic system.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.10
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• pp.1343-1349
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• 2012

Most of the Helicobacter pylori strains containing the cag pathogenicity island (PAI) have been associated with more severe gastric disease in infected humans. The cag PAI is composed of 27 proteins, and some of the components are required for CagA translocation into host cells as well as induction of proinflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-8 (IL-8); however, the exact function of most of the components remains unknown or poorly characterized. In this study, we demonstrated that CagT (HP0532), which is an essential structural component of the cag PAI apparatus, plays an important role in the translocation of CagA into host epithelial cells. In addition to being located on the bacterial surface, CagT is also partially localized in the inner membrane, where it acts as a chaperone-like protein and promotes CagA translocation. However, CagT secretion was not detected by immunoprecipitation analysis of cell culture supernatants. Meanwhile, CagT was related to the introduction of IL-8 of the host cell. These results suggest that CagT is expressed on both the inner and outer bacterial membranes, where it serves as a unique type IV secretion system component that is involved in CagA secretion and cag PAI apparatus assembly.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2022

Increased mRNA levels of cancer upregulated gene (CUG)2 have been detected in many different tumor tissues using Affymetrix microarray. Oncogenic capability of the CUG2 gene has been further reported. However, the mechanism by which CUG2 overexpression promotes cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotypes remains unknown. With recent studies showing that pyruvate kinase muscle 2 (PKM2) is overexpressed in clinical tissues from gastric, lung, and cervical cancer patients, we hypothesized that PKM2 might play an important role in CSC-like phenotypes caused by CUG2 overexpression. The present study revealed that PKM2 protein levels and translocation of PKM2 into the nucleus were enhanced in CUG2-overexpressing lung carcinoma A549 and immortalized bronchial BEAS-2B cells than in control cells. Expression levels of c-Myc, CyclinD1, and PKM2 were increased in CUG2-overexpressing cells than in control cells. Furthermore, EGFR and ERK inhibitors as well as suppression of Yap1 and NEK2 expression reduced PKM2 protein levels. Interestingly, knockdown of β-catenin expression failed to reduce PKM2 protein levels. Furthermore, reduction of PKM2 expression with its siRNA hindered CSC-like phenotypes such as faster wound healing, aggressive transwell migration, and increased size/number of sphere formation. The introduction of mutant S37A PKM2-green fluorescence protein (GFP) into cells without ability to move to the nucleus did not confer CSC-like phenotypes, whereas forced expression of wild-type PKM2 promoted such phenotypes. Overall, CUG2-induced increase in the expression of nuclear PKM2 contributes to CSC-like phenotypes by upregulating c-Myc and CyclinD1 as a co-activator.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.215-233
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: MYC, also known as an oncogenic reprogramming factor, is a multifunctional transcription factor that maintains induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Although MYC is frequently upregulated in various cancers and is correlated with a poor prognosis, MYC is downregulated and correlated with a good prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. MYC and two other MYC family genes, MYCN and MYCL, have similar structures and could contribute to tumorigenic conversion both in vitro and in vivo. Methods and Results: We systematically investigated whether MYC family genes act as prognostic factors in various human cancers. We first evaluated alterations in the expression of MYC family genes in various cancers using the Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and their mutation and copy number alterations using the TCGA database with cBioPortal. Then, we investigated the association between the expression of MYC family genes and the prognosis of cancer patients using various prognosis databases. Multivariate analysis also confirmed that co-expression of MYC/MYCL/MYCN was significantly associated with the prognosis of lung, gastric, liver, and breast cancers. Conclusions: Taken together, our results demonstrate that the MYC family can function not only as an oncogene but also as a tumor suppressor gene in various cancers, which could be used to develop a novel approach to cancer treatment.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2003

The biological activities of extracts from Rubus coreanus Miq. were compared. About 70% of the growth of human hepatocarcinoma and 79% of human gastric cancer cell was inhibited in adding 1.0 mg/ml of the extracts of Rubus coreanus Miq. respectively. The growth of human breast cancer cells was also inhibited in adding 1.0 mg/ml of the extracts as well as 78% of the human cancer cells. It was proved that the growth of human normal lung cell, scored as 15% for the extracts. Overall selectivity of the extracts on several human cancer cell line was over 5, which is higher than those from the Rubus coreanus Miq. The growth of both human immune B and T cells was enhanced up to 1.4 to 1.8 times by adding the extracts, compared to the controls. The secretion of tumor necrosis $factor-alpha(TNF-{\alpha})$ from T cell was also increased up to 78.8 pg/ml in adding the ethanol extract (0.5 mg/ml). Ethanol extract also increased up to about 70 pg/ml of interleukin-6(IL-6) from B cell. For screening regulate function of blood pressure, angiotensin converting enzyme(ACE) activity was inhibited up to 25% by adding the ethanol extract (1.0 mg/ml). In testing the hypoglycemic activity, 20% of ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ activity was inhibited for the extracts (0.5 mg/ml). GST activity was increased in the range of 1.2 to 1.6 times by adding extracts.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.111-124
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• 2002

Purpose : Although the average life expectancy has increased due to advances in medicine, mortality due to cancer is on an increasing trend. Consequently, the number of terminally ill cancer patients is also on the rise. Predicting the survival period is an important issue in the treatment of terminally ill cancer patients since the choice of treatment would vary significantly by the patents, their families, and physicians according to the expected survival. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic factors for increased mortality risk in terminally ill cancer patients to help treat these patients by predicting the survival period. Methods : We investigated 31 clinical parameters in 157 terminally ill cancer patients admitted to in the Department of Family Medicine, National Health Insurance Corporation Ilsan Hospital between July 1, 2000 and August 31, 2001. We confirmed the patients' survival as of October 31, 2001 based on medical records and personal data. The survival rates and median survival times were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test was used to compare the differences between the survival rates according to each clinical parameter. Cox's proportional hazard model was used to determine the most predictive subset from the prognostic factors among many clinical parameters which affect the risk of death. We predicted the mean, median, the first quartile value and third quartile value of the expected lifetimes by Weibull proportional hazard regression model. Results : Out of 157 patients, 79 were male (50.3%). The mean age was $65.1{\pm}13.0$ years in males and was $64.3{\pm}13.7$ years in females. The most prevalent cancer was gastric cancer (36 patients, 22.9%), followed by lung cancer (27, 17.2%), and cervical cancer (20, 12.7%). The survival time decreased with to the following factors; mental change, anorexia, hypotension, poor performance status, leukocytosis, neutrophilia, elevated serum creatinine level, hypoalbuminemia, hyperbilirubinemia, elevated SGPT, prolonged prothrombin time (PT), prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), hyponatremia, and hyperkalemia. Among these factors, poor performance status, neutrophilia, prolonged PT and aPTT were significant prognostic factors of death risk in these patients according to the results of Cox's proportional hazard model. We predicted that the median life expectancy was 3.0 days when all of the above 4 factors were present, $5.7{\sim}8.2$ days when 3 of these 4 factors were present, $11.4{\sim}20.0$ days when 2 of the 4 were present, and $27.9{\sim}40.0$ when 1 of the 4 was present, and 77 days when none of these 4 factors were present. Conclusions : In terminally ill cancer patients, we found that the prognostic factors related to reduced survival time were poor performance status, neutrophilia, prolonged PT and prolonged am. The four prognostic factors enabled the prediction of life expectancy in terminally ill cancer patients.