• Toxicological Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.247-257
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• 2003

Medicine is undergoing a revolution in the understanding of the mechanisms through which disease processes develop. The advent of genetics and molecular biology to oncology not only is providing surrogate predictors of therapy response and survival which are forming the basis for selection among established treatment options, but is providing targets for new directions in therapy as well. Molecular modification of somatic cells for the purposes of protecting the normal cells from the toxicity of cancer chemotherapy, for the sensitization of the tumor cells to therapy and use of conditionally replicating viral vector have been new directions of cancer treatment which have reached the clinical arena. Advances in molecular pharmacology and vector design summarized in this paper may provide solutions to some of the existing problems in the technology of gene transfer therapy. Continued basic research into the biological basis of human disease, systemic studies of the application of these discoveries to therapy and the improvement of vector for gene delivery all combined may result in advances in this important field of therapy over the next few years.

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.76-76
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• 2004

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.78-78
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• 2004

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.102-103
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• 2004

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.115-115
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• 2005

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 2000

Gene therapy is becoming a very promising and feasible medical intervention as the understanding of human diseases extends to their molecular levels. Since the first US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved human gene therapy protocol was approved in 1990, over 300 human clinical trial protocols had been approved worldwide so far. Even though some of the domestic gene therapy clinical trials also proved promising and more are awaiting, it should be emphasized that many safety aspects as well as effectiveness aspects should be considered during the development process. Moreover, there seems to be less restricted guidelines from the National Control Authority (NCA) in initiating human clinical trials. This article is intended to suggest some basis and points to consider in the development and evaluation of gene therapy products including antisense oligonucleotides pharmaceuticals.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.100-108
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• 2007

Gene therapy has become a promising strategy for the treatment of genetically based diseases, such as cancer, which are currently considered incurable. A major obstacle in the field of cancer gene therapy is the development of a safe and efficient delivery system for therapeutic gene transfer. Non-viral vectors have attracted great interest, as they are simple to prepare, stable, easy to modify and relatively safe compared to viral vectors. In this review, an insight into the strategies developed for polyethylenimine (PEI)-based non-viral vectors has been provide, including improvement of the polyplex properties by incorporating hydrophilic spacer, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). Moreover, this review will summarize the strategies for the tumor targeting. Specifically, a targeted polymeric gene delivery system, PEI-g-PEG-RGD, will be introduced as an efficient gene delivery vector for tumor therapy, including its functional analysis both in vitro and in vivo.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1395-1399
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• 2008

We have recently reported the PRC1 promoter as a promoter candidate to control expression of transcriptionally targeted genes for breast cancer gene therapy. We tested whether the PRC1 promoter could be also applied for the lung cancer gene therapy. In the transient transfection assay with naked plasmids containing the luciferase fused to the PRC1 promoter, the promoter showed little activity in the normal lung cell line, MRC5. However, in the lung cancer A549 cells, PRC1 showed approximately 30-fold activation which was similar to the survivin promoter, the gene whose promoter has been already reportedas a candidate for the gene therapy of lung cancer. In viral systems, the PRC1 promoter showed approximately 75% and 66% of transcriptional activity compared to the CMV promoter in the adeno-associated virus (AAV) and the adenovirus (AV) systems, respectively. However, the PRC1 promoter in either AAV or AV showed approximately 20% activity compared to the CMV promoter in the normal lung cells. In addition, human lung tumor xenograft mice showed that the PRC1 promoter activity was as strong as the CMV activity in vivo. Taken together, these results suggested that PRC1 might be a potential promoter candidate for transcriptionally targeted lung cancer gene therapy.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.433-444
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• 2001

This review highlights the ontogenesis and the differentiation of motor neuron in spinal cord, and introduce the survival motor neuron(SMN) which is associated with growth and survival of motor neurons. The differentiation of floor plate cells and motor neurons in the vertebrate neural tube appears to be induced by signals from the notochord. This signal is Sonic hedgehog(Shh). The early development of motor neurons involves the inductive action of Shh. The SMN gene is essential for embryonic viability. SMN mRNA is also expressed in virtually all cell types in spinal cord, including large motor neurons. The SMN protein is involved in RNA processing and during early embryonic development is necessary fer cell survival. Two SMN genes are present in 5q 13 in humans: the telomeric gene(SMNt), which is the SMA-determining gene, and the centromeric analog gene(SMNc). The majority of transcripts from the SMNt gene are full length but, major transcripts of the SMNc gene have a high degrees of alternative splicing and tend to have little or no exon 7. The SMN is involved in the RNA processing(the biogenesis of snRNPs and pre-mRNA splicing), the anti-apoptotic effects, and regulating gene expression.

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.151.2-151.2
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• 2006