• BMB Reports
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• 제48권9호
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• pp.531-536
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• 2015

Gecko proteins have long been used as anti-tumor agents in oriental medicine, without any scientific background. Although anti-tumor effects of Gecko proteins on several cancers were recently reported, their effect on bladder cancer has not been investigated. Thus, we explored the anti-tumor effect of Gecko proteins and its cellular mechanisms in human bladder cancer 5637 cells. Gecko proteins significantly reduced the viability of 5637 cells without any cytotoxic effect on normal cells. These proteins increased the Annexin-V staining and the amount of condensed chromatin, demonstrating that the Gecko proteinsinduced cell death was caused by apoptosis. Gecko proteins suppressed Akt activation, and the overexpression of constitutively active form of myristoylated Akt prevented Gecko proteins-induced death of 5637 cells. Furthermore, Gecko proteins activated caspase 9 and caspase 3/7. Taken together, our data demonstrated that Gecko proteins suppressed the Akt pathway and activated the intrinsic caspase pathway, leading to the apoptosis of bladder cancer cells. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(9): 531-536]

• 한국정밀공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국정밀공학회 2010년도 추계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.771-772
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• 2010

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2011년도 제40회 동계학술대회 초록집
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• pp.449-449
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• 2011

We reported the direct effect of intrinsic surface energy of dry adhesive material to the Van der Waals and capillary forces contributions of the total adhesion force in an artificial gecko-inspired adhesion system. To mimic the gecko foot we fabricated tilted nanohairy structures using both lithography and ion beam treatment. The nanohairy structures were replicated from Si wafer mold using UV curable polymeric materials. The control of nanohairs slanting angles was based on the uniform linear argon ion irradiation to the nanohairy polymeric surface. The surface energy was studied utilizing subsequent conventional oxygen ion treatment on the nanohairy structures which resulted in gradient surface energy. Our shear adhesion test results were found in good agreement with the accepted Van der Waals and capillary forces theory in the gecko adhesion system. Surface energy would give a direct impact to the effective Hamaker constant in Van der Waals force and the filling angle (${\varphi}$) of water meniscus in capillary force contributions of gecko inspired adhesion system. With the increasing surface energy, the effective Hamaker constant also increased but the filling angle decreased, resulting in a competition between the two forces. Using a simple mathematical model, we compared our experimental results to show the quantitative contributions of Van der Waals and capillary forces in a single adhesion system on both hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces. We found that the Van der Waals force contributes about 82.75% and 89.97% to the total adhesion force on hydrophilic and hydrophobic test surfaces, respectively, while the remaining contribution was occupied by capillary force. We also showed that it is possible to design ultrahigh dry adhesive with adhesion strength of more than 10 times higher than apparent gecko adhesion force by controlling the surface energy and the slanting angle induced-contact line of dry adhesive the materials.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제39권11호
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• pp.1099-1103
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• 2015

자연계에 존재하는 다양한 생명체 중 몇몇은 벽이나 천장을 자유자재로 걸어다닌다. 이러한 생명체 중 대표적으로 Gecko는 발가락 표피에 수십억개의 주걱모양의 나노헤어를 가지고 있으며, 이러한 구조로 인하여 높은 접착력을 가진다. 본 연구에서는, 도마뱀 발바닥 섬모와 같은 미세 마이크로 구조물에 금속코팅을 하여 접착특성을 향상시키는 것을 제안한다. 도마뱀 모방 인공섬모 구조물을 DRIE공법으로 준비된 몰드를 이용하여 PDMS로 제조하였다. 그리고, 인공섬모의 금속 코팅은 플라즈마 스퍼터링을 사용하여 수행하였다. 접착력과 내구성은 실험을 유리에 반복 접착 실험으로 평가 하였다. 접착성 및 내구성 실험을 통하여 인공섬모 구조물에 금속코팅이 미치는 영향에 대해 관찰하였다.

• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.403-407
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• 2010

게코 접착 시스템은 보(beam)의 형상을 가지는 seta와 접착패드 역할을 하는 spatula로 구성된다. 본 논문에서는 보 접착 모델(ahhesive beam contact model)을 사용하여 게코(gecko) 접착 시스템의 접착 메커니즘의 해석을 수행한다. 보 접착 모델은 접촉면에서 불균일한 응력 분포를 가지는 특징이 있으며, 접촉면에서의 최대 인장 응력(tensile stress)에 의하여 접착/분리 메커니즘이 결정된다. 접착패드 역할을 하는 spatula는 최대 인장응력을 감소시키는 역할을 하며, 이로 인해 접착력이 증가한다. 역방향 하중에 대해서는 spatula에 의하여 최대 압축 응력(compressive stress)이 감소하며, 이러한 현상에 의하여 접착력과 분리력의 비대칭성이 발생한다. 본 연구에서는 보 접착 모델의 해석을 위해 유한요소법(Finite Element Method)을 사용되며, spatula effect를 위한 해석 결과가 제시된다.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.112-115
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• 2009

자연계에 존재하는 다양한 생명체 중 몇몇은 벽이나 천장을 자유자재로 걸어다니거나 뛰어다닌다. 이러한 생명체 중 대표적으로 Tokay Gecko는 그 발가락 표피에 수십억개의 주걱모양의 나노헤어를 가지고 있으며, 이러한 나노헤어는 부착하고자 하는 표면과의 원자수준의 끌어당기는 힘을 발생시키게 되며 이 힘을 이용해 접착제 없이 부착력을 얻게 되는 것이다. 최근 $7{\sim}8$년 동안 많은 연구자들은 이를 모방한 건식부착물의 제작 연구를 수행하고 있으며, 본 논문에서는 이러한 연구들의 개관을 통해 향후 연구방향에 대해 논의하고자 한다.

• 한국전산구조공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전산구조공학회 2010년도 정기 학술대회
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• pp.550-553
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• 2010

본 논문에서는 seta와 spatula로 구성된 게코(gecko) 접착 시스템의 해석을 위한 새로운 adhesive beam contact model을 제시한다. adhesive contact 해석에 있어서 기존의 JKR model은 nano pillar와 같은 형태의 접촉방식의 해석에는 매우 유용하지만, seta와 같이 보(beam)의 형상을 가지는 구조물의 접촉방식의 해석에는 부적합하다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 seta와 같은 보의 형상을 가지는 접촉 시스템의 해석을 위해 adhesive beam contact model을 제시하고, 유한요소 해석을 통하여 접촉면에서의 불균일한 응력분포 상태가 분리 메커니즘에 미치는 영향에 대한 해석 결과를 제시한다. 또한 spatula의 기하학적 형상과 보의 접촉각(contact angle)등이 seta adhesion system의 분리 메커니즘(detachment mechanism)에 미치는 영향에 대한 결과를 제시한다.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.198-204
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• 2018

Background: The effective use of habitats is essential for the successful adaptation of a species to the local environment. Although habitats exhibit a hierarchical structure, including macro-, meso-, and microhabitats, the relationships among habitats of differing hierarchy have not been well studied. In this study, we studied the quantitative measures of microhabitat use of Gekko japonicus from three field populations in Japan: one at Tsushima Island, one at Nishi Park, Fukuoka, and one at Ohori Park, Fukuoka. We investigated whether land cover type, a higher hierarchical habitat component, was associated with quantitative microhabitat use, a lower hierarchical component, in these populations. Results: The substrate temperature where we located geckos (SubT) and the distance from the ground to the gecko (Height) were significantly different among the three populations. In particular, SubT on Tsushima Island was lower than it was in the other two populations. Irradiance at gecko location and Height were significantly different among the land cover types. In particular, Height in evergreen needleleaf forest was significantly lower than that in deciduous broadleaf forest. Furthermore, significant interactions between population and land cover type were observed for the SubT and Height variables. Conclusions: The quantitative measures of microhabitat use of G. japonicus varied with population and land cover type, which exhibited significant interaction effects on microhabitat use variables. These results suggest that higher hierarchical habitat components can affect the quantitative measures of lower hierarchical microhabitat use in nocturnal geckos.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권5호
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• pp.2081-2086
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• 2015

Gecko is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine with remarkable antineoplastic activity. However, undefined mechanisms and ambiguity regarding active ingredients limit new drug development from gecko. This study was conducted to assess anti-angiogenic properties of the aqueous extracts of fresh gecko (AG) or macromolecular components separated from AG (M-AG). An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach was applied to detect the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion of the tumor cells treated with AG or M-AG. The effect of AG or M-AG on vascular endothelial cell proliferation and migratory ability was analyzed by tetrazolium dye colorimetric method, transwell and wound-healing assays. Chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assays were used to ensure the anti-angiogenic activity of M-AG in vivo. The results showed that AG or M-AG inhibited the VEGF secretion of tumor cells, the relative inhibition rates of AG and M-AG being 27.2% and 53.2% respectively at a concentration of $20{\mu}L/mL$. AG and M-AG inhibited the vascular endothelial (VE) cell proliferation with IC50 values of $11.5{\pm}0.5{\mu}L/mL$ and $12.9{\pm}0.4{\mu}L/mL$ respectively. The VE cell migration potential was inhibited significantly (p<0.01) by the AG (${\geq}24{\mu}L/mL$) or M-AG (${\geq}12\mu}L/mL$) treatment. In vivo, neovascularization of CAM treated with M-AG was inhibited significantly (p<0.05) at a concentration of ${\geq}0.4{\mu}L/mL$. This study provided evidence that anti-angiogenesis is one of the anti-tumor mechanisms of AG and M-AG, with the latter as a promising active component.

• 한국정밀공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국정밀공학회 2012년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.517-518
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• 2012