• BMB Reports
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.193-198
• /
• 2010

In this study, we report the identification and characterization of a novel C2H2 zinc finger protein, ZNF552, from a human embryonic heart cDNA library. ZNF552 is composed of three exons and two introns and maps to chromosome 19q13.43. The cDNA of ZNF552 is 2.3 kb, encoding 407 amino acids with an amino-terminal KRAB domain and seven carboxyl-terminal C2H2 zinc finger motifs in the nucleus and cytoplasm. Northern blotting analysis indicated that a 2.3 kb transcript specific for ZNF552 was expressed in liver, lung, spleen, testis and kidney, especially with a higher level in the lung and testis in human adult tissues. Reporter gene assays showed that ZNF552 was a transcriptional repressor, and overexpression of ZNF552 in the COS-7 cells inhibited the transcriptional activities of AP-1 and SRE, which could be relieved through RNAi analysis. Deletion studies showed that the KRAB domain of ZNF552 may be involved in this inhibition.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.211-226
• /
• 1986

To understand the pathogenesis of anicteric leptospirosis with severe pulmonary hemorrhage occured in Korea, the microbiological and pathological features were observed in the experimentally induced leptospirosis in guinea pigs infected with a virulent strain of Leptospira interrogans isolated from the patient at Wonju, Korea, and the results are summarized as follows. 1. The main pathological features were widespread hemorrhages, especially affecting lung, skeletal muscles, retroperitoneal and perirenal adipose tissues. The hemorrhages accompanied inflammatory process especially of vasculitic pattern as well as occasional coagulation necrosis in the liver, skeletal muscle, and myocardium. The main inflammatory cells were of plasma cell even in the fairly early stage of the infection. 2. Those pathologic changes were more exaggerated in the inoculation site. 3. Within 144 hours of infection, the longer the infection time, the more antigens were observed in the tissues, and the severer the pathologic changes. 4. Leptospiral antigens were detected at first by indirect immunofluorescent and immunoperoxidase technics. As the infection time extended, the antigens were observed in all of the tissues examined except in the skeletal muscle. The shape of the antigens was spiral or thread-like within 72 hours of infection. As the infection progressed, they became fragmented and granular. 5. Leptospires were detected in the blood within 144 hours of infection by darkfield microscopic examination. Thereafter, none was observed. 6. Antibody to leptospires were detected as early as 72 hours of infection. In summary, the virulent strain of L. interrogans used in this experiment induced widespread hemorrhages with inflammatory reaction especially in lung, skeletal muscles, and retroperitoneal adipose tissue. With these findings, it is suggested that the direct toxic effect of leptospires might playa great role in the pathogenesis of this infection.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.180-185
• /
• 2006

Invasive Pseudomonas infections most often occur in the immunocompromised patients and are associated with high mortality rate. Rarely this disease may develop in healthy infants and children. We report two cases of invasive Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections that were diagnosed in otherwise healthy infants. The first case was a previously healthy 5-month-old infant with ecthyma gangrenosum and septicemia. She presented with fever, swelling of left periorbital area and multiple erythronodular skin lesions. Each skin lesion formed a black eschar surrounded by an erythematous areola over time. Cultures of blood, urine and discharge from skin lesions grew P. aeruginosa. On the day of visit, she showed pancytopenia which was normalized after 10 days. The patient responded well to the management with ceftazidime and tobramycin. The other case was a previously healthy 9-month-old infant with community-acquired pneumonia. He was referred from an outside hospital with fever and cough. Chest x-ray revealed pneumonic infiltrations on both lower lungs with pleural effusion on the right side. Cultures of blood and pleural fluid grew P. aeruginosa. Chest CT performed on the ninth day demonstrated pneumatoceles, lung abscess and necrosis of lung parenchyma. He was managed with ceftazidime and amikacin for 50 days. No residual pulmonary complications were noted during the three month follow-up. Laboratory results to evaluate immunologic defects of phagocytic cells, complement components and T- and B-lymphocytes were all within normal range in both patients. It should be kept in mind that Pseudomonas can be, though uncommon, a cause of community-acquired invasive infections in the previously healthy infants.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.74-79
• /
• 2016

A 7-year-old female Pointer dog with multiple masses in the axilla, mammary gland, and bladder was submitted to the Pathology Department of the College of Veterinary Medicine in the Jeju National University. Grossly, mass between right axilla and 1st mammary gland, $15{\times}10cm$ in size, was well delineated and firm, slightly soft center, oval shape. And masses in right 1st, 3rd and 5th mammary gland were well delineated and sulphur yellow in color on the cut-surface. Numerous round to oval shaped masses, 0.3 to 2 cm in diameter were existed in the lung. Urinary bladder mucosa had rough and thick and round to oval papillary masses, 0.1 to 2 cm in diameter, on surface. Microscopically, masses in right axilla, 1st mammary gland, lung and axillary lymph node were composed of poorly differentiated tubules originated from apocrine gland. Lining neoplastic epithelium showed high mitotic figures, typical apical secretory blebs, and PAS-positive diastase-resistant cytoplasmic granules. Masses in 3rd and 5th mammary gland were confirmed as mammary complex adenoma and simple adenoma respectively. The masses in the urinary bladder were covered with stratified transitional epithelium with marked cellular atypia and high mitotic figures. Some neoplastic cells showed focal invasion into substantia propria of bladder. Immunohistochemaically, neoplastic transitional epithelium demonstrated positive reactions for cytokeratin 7, AE1/AE3, and MNF116. Based on the gross, histopathologic and immunohistochemical characteristics, this dog was diagnosed as apocrine carcinoma, mammary gland tumor including simple adenoma and complex adenoma and bladder transitional cell carcinoma. And distant metastases of apocrine carcinoma in right axilla were observed in axillary lymph node and lungs. This is the first report for concurrent occurrence of apocrine carcinoma, mammary gland tumor, and transitional cell carcinoma in a same dog.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.24-30
• /
• 2004

The immune activities of Ganoderma lucidum Mycelium added garlic extracts (GAM), Ganoderma lucidum Mycelium (GM), garlic extracts (GS) and standard $({\beta}-glucan)$ were compared. GAM enhanced the growth of human immune T cell up to $1.25{\sim}1.46$ times, compared to control group. GAM showed relatively lower cytotoxicity in using normal human lung cell, while GAM showed the most potent inhibitory effect on the human lung carcinoma, compared to GM and GS. The selectivity of GAM was also higher than that of GM and GS. GAM increased the secretion of cytokines, IL-6 and TNF- from human B cell as well as the growth of human immune cells. It can imply that GAM has higher immune activity than GM or GS.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.34-46
• /
• 2010

Objective: This experimental study was performed to examine if Hang-Am-Dan non-boiled water extracts (HAD-N) induce apoptosis in human lung carcinoma NCI-H460 cells in vitro and inhibits the growth of NCI-H460 cell-transplanted solid tumor in vivo. Materials and Methods: We cultured NCI-H460 cell lines and xenografted them to nude mice. The mice were divided into 3 groups, NCI-H460 cell alone, NCI-H460 + 90 mg/kg HAD-N treated group, and NCI-H460 + 180 mg/kg HAD-N treated group, with seven mice per group. HAD-N was orally administrated every day for four weeks. We checked their body weight and tumor weight and volumes two times a week and their absolute organ weight and biochemical blood analysis at the final day by sacrificing them. We also calculated their tumor inhibition rate (IR), mean survival time and percent increase in life span (% ILS). Results: In this study, we observed that all of the HAD-N treated mice got smaller tumors. The more doses of HAD-N used, the less IR showed at the 8th day after starting this experiment. Tumor weight and volume of HAD-N treatment groups also decreased. Mean survival time and percent increase in life span (% ILS) in the high-dose HAD-N treatment groups were higher than those of other groups. The test substances in the blood level UN results showed reduction in the significance in both HAD-N 90 mg/kg and HAD-N 180 mg/kg (p<0.01). The blood level phosphatase results in HAD-N 90 mg/kg group compared to NCI-H460 cell alone group showed a reduction in significance (p<0.05). AST levels HAD-N 180 mg/kg group compared to NCI-H460 cell alone group significance as well (p<0.05). Conclusion: We suggest that the results of the in vivo study showed that HAD-N may have potential as a growth inhibitor of tumor-induced NCI-H460 of nude mice in spite of the shortcomings of this study. More studies to overcome those shortcomings and to find out significant antitumor mechanism will be needed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Environmental Mutagen Society Conference
• /
• 2002.05a
• /
• pp.36-42
• /
• 2002

Diesel exhaust (DE) has been recognized as a noxious mutagen and/or carcinogen, because its components can form DNA adducts. Mechanisms governing the susceptibility to DE and the efficiency of such DNA adduct formation require clarification. The transcription factor Nrf2 is essential for inducible and/or constitutive expression of a group of detoxification and antioxidant enzymes, and we hypothesized that the nrf2 gene knockout mouse might serve as an excellent model system for analyzing DE toxicity. To address this hypothesis, lungs from nrf2(-/-) and nrf2(+/-) mice were examined for the production of xenobiotic-DNA adducts after exposure to DE (3 $mg/m^{3}$ suspended particulate matter) for 4 weeks. Whereas the relative adduct levels (RAL) were significantly increased in the lungs of both nrf2(+/-) and nrf2(-/-) mice upon exposure to DE, the increase of RAL in the lungs from nrf2(-/-) mice exposed to DE were approximately 2.3-fold higher than that of nrf2(+/-) mite exposed to DE. In contrail, cytochrome P4501Al mRNA levels in the nrf2(-/-)mouse lungs were similar to those in the nrf2(+/-) mouse lungs even after exposure to DE, suggesting that suppressed activity of phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes is important in giving ise to the increased level of DNA adducts in the Nrf2-null mutant mouse subjected to DE. Importantly, severe hyperplasia and accumulation of the oxidative DNA adduct 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine were observed in the bronchial epidermis of nrf(-/-) mite following DE exposure. These results demonstrate the increased susceptibility of the nrf2 germ line mutant mouse to DE exposure and indicate the nrf2 gene knockout mouse nay represent a valuable model for the assessment of respiratory DE toxicity.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.397-406
• /
• 2009

The low quality fresh ginseng was extracted by water at $80^{\circ}C$ and 240 bar for 20 min (HPE, High pressure extraction process). The cytotoxicity on human normal kidney cell (HEK293) and human normal lung cell (HEL299) of the extracts from HPE showed 28.43% and 21.78% lower than that from conventional water extraction at $100^{\circ}C$ in adding the maximum concentration of $1.0\;mg/m{\ell}$. The human breast carcinoma cell and lung adenocarcinoma cell growth were inhibited up to about 86%, in adding $1.0\;mg/m{\ell}$ of extracts from HPE. This values were 9-12% higher than those from conventional water extraction. On in vivo experiment using ICR mice, the variation of body weight of mice group treated fresh ginseng extracts from HPE of 100 mg/kg/day concentration was very lower than control and other group. The extracts from HPE was showed longer survival times as 35.65% than that of the control group, and showed the highest tumor inhibition activities compared with other group, which were 70.64% on Sarcoma-180 solid tumor cells. On the high performance liquid chromatogram (HPLC), amount of ginsenoside-$Rg_2$, $Rg_3$, $Rh_1$ and $Rh_2$ on fresh ginseng were increased up to 43-183% by HPE, compared with conventional water extracts. These data indicate that HPE definitely plays an important role in effectively extracting ginsenoside, which could result in improving anticancer activities. It can be concluded that low quality fresh ginseng associated with this process has more biologically compound and better anticancer activities than that from normal extraction process.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.157-167
• /
• 2010

We investigated a method to improve anticancer activities of Acer mono wood extracts by ultra high pressure extraction process. The A. mono was extracted by water at $40^{\circ}C$ and 300 MPa for 15 min (High Pressure Extraction, HPE). The extraction yield by ultra high pressure extraction process was 5.42%. The cytotoxicity on human normal lung cell (HEL299) of the extracts from HPE showed 21.54% lower than that from conventional water extraction at $100^{\circ}C$ in adding the maximum concentration of 1.0 mg/$m{\ell}$. Ultra high pressure extracts process for 15 minutes extracts (HPE15) showed more potent scavenging effect than the control, BHA. On SOD-like test, the HPE15 showed highest activity as 32.4% at 1.0 mg/$m{\ell}$ concentration. Human stomach adenocarcinoma, liver adenocarcinoma, breast adenocarcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma cell growth were inhibited up to about 67~79%, in adding 1.0 mg/$m{\ell}$ of extracts from HPE. HPE was 20~25% higher than conventional water extraction. It was interesting that, among several cancer cell lines (stomach adenocarcinoma, liver adenocarcinoma), the growth of digestive related cancer cells were most effectively inhibited as about 75~79%. On in vivo experiment using ICR mice, the variation of body weight of mice group treated A. mono wood extracts from HPE of 100 mg/kg/day concentration was very lower than control and other group. The survival times of group treated this extracts was 61.96% longer than that of the control group and this extracts showed the lower tumor weight, which were 10.49 g than positive control as 16.17 g. Based on these results, we could tell that the HPE wood extracts of A. mono had higher anticancer activity than conventional water extraction. The results of HPE showed obvious advantages in higher efficiency, shorter extraction time, at lower energy costs.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.432-441
• /
• 2016

Machaerium cuspidatum, a canopy liana, is a species of genus legume in the Fabaceae family and contributes to the total species richness in the tropical rain forests. In the present study, we investigated the antioxidative and anti-cancer effects of M. cuspidatum and its mode of action. The methanol extract of M. cuspidatum (MEMC) exhibited anti-oxidative activity with an $IC_{50}$ value of $1.66{\mu}g/ml$, and this was attributable to its 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity. MEMC also exhibited a cytotoxic effect and induced morphological changes in a dose-dependent manner in several cancer cell lines including human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells, and human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. Moreover, MEMC treatment induced the accumulation of subG1 population, which is indicative of apoptosis in A549 and HepG2 cells. MEMC-induced apoptosis was confirmed by the increase in Annexin V-positive apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies using Annexin-V staining and DAPI staining, respectively. Further investigation showed that MEMC-induced apoptosis was associated with the increase in p53 and Bax expression, and the decrease in Bcl-2 expression. In addition, MEMC treatment led to proteolytic activation of caspase-3, 8, and 9 and degradation of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP). Taken together, these results suggest that MEMC may exert a beneficial anti-cancer effect by inducing apoptosis via both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways in A549 and HepG2 cells.