• Applied Microscopy
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.15-32
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• 1992

This study was an attempt to investigate and compare the fine structure of small cells in the space of Disse of various animal livers. All animal livers contained small cells with or without lipid droplets and the one with lipid droplet seemed to be more developed and show an abundance of activity in function. The fine structure of the small cells observed in the nonmammals was similar to that of Ito cell in the mammal. The electron density of the small cells was similar to that of other cell types in the same animal liver. The cisternal dilation of rough endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus was more predominant in the mammalian Ito cells. In the nonmammalian, aquatic vertebrates, however, lysosomes and filaments are much more abundant in the Ito cell and its abundant cytoplasmic processes rich in filaments were usually extended between the parenchymal cells. The disparity in size of organelles and numbers of lipid droplets in the small cells showed a tendency similar to those of other cell types in the same animal. From these results, it is considered that the small cells in the space of Disse is a Ito cell and the Ito cell without lipid droplets differentiates into the one containing lipid droplets according to the characteristics of the different animals respectively, and that the Ito cells in the mammals are more active in metabolic function, while those in the nonmammalian aquatic vertebrates are abundant in support of parenchyme.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.705-712
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• 2014

The early steps of neural development in the vertebrate embryo are regulated by sets of transcription factors that control the induction of proliferative, pluripotent neural precursors, the expansion of neural plate stem cells, and their transition to differentiating neural progenitors. These early events are critical for producing a pool of multipotent cells capable of giving rise to the multitude of neurons and glia that form the central nervous system. In this review we summarize findings from gain- and loss-of-function studies in embryos that detail the gene regulatory network responsible for these early events. We discuss whether this information is likely to be similar in mammalian embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells that are cultured according to protocols designed to produce neurons. The similarities and differences between the embryo and stem cells may provide important guidance to stem cell protocols designed to create immature neural cells for therapeutic uses.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.201-208
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• 1998

Amino acid analogs, like other inducers of stress response, induce the synthesis of stress proteins in mammalian cells. In this study, Drosophila Kc cells, in which translation is tightly controlled during stress response, was treated with proline analogs, L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid (AzC) and 3,4-dehydro-L-proline (dh-P). Kc cells exposed to AzC or dh-P induced the synthesis of several proteins which had the same molecular weights as known heat shock proteins. However, in Kc cells, normal protein synthesis still continued in the presence of amino acids analogs unlike in heat-shocked cells. For the induction of stress response, the incorporation of dh-P into the protein was not essential, but the incorporation of AzC was. The stress protein synthesis was regulated mainly at the transcriptional level by AzC, whereas it was regulated by dh-P at the transcription level and possibly posttranscription level. During recovery, the stress protein synthesis stopped sooner in analog-treated cells than in heat-shocked cells even though the accumulated amount of Hsp70 was much less in proline analogstreated cells. It could be concluded that the proline analogs, AzC and dh-P, induced stress response through a different mechanism from heat shock.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.172-172
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• 2012

Non-thermal plasma has attracted medical researchers, since they showed higher apoptosis rate in cancer cells than normal cells. However, it is hard to conclude general cancer cell specific effect because comparison between normal and cancer cell activities after plasma treatment have not been reported yet. This research proposes a comparison of Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma effect on three normal cells lines and three cancer cells lines. We measured cell number, mitochondria activity (MTS assay) and amount of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for three days. The results show that the number of cancer cells decreased more than normal cells following of exposure time. On the other hand, mitochondria activities and amounts of H2O2 increased following of exposure time. In addition, we found that DBD plasma exposure on cell suspension in media and media only illustrated no difference in mitochondria activity, H2O2 quantity, and cell number. Thus, we can confirm higher apoptosis rate in cancer cells which is related to the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by DBD plasma. The related molecular mechanisms were investigated further.

• Oncology Letters
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.361-368
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• 2019

Gliomas, the most highly malignant central nervous system tumors, are associated with an extremely poor patient survival rate. Given that gliomas are derived from mutations in glial precursor cells, a considerable number of them strongly react with glial precursor cell-specific markers. Thus, we investigated whether malignant gliomas can be converted to glial cells through the regulation of endogenous gene expression implicated in glial precursor cells. In the present study, we used three small-molecule compounds, [cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) enhancer, a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, and a bromodomain and extra-terminal motif (BET) inhibitor] for glial reprogramming. Small-molecule-induced gliomas (SMiGs) were not only transformed into exhibiting a glial-specific morphology, but also showed positive reactions with glial-specific markers such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphohydrolase (CNP) and anti-oligodendrocyte (RIP). A microarray analysis indicated that SMiGs exhibited a marked increase in specific gene levels, whereas that of a malignant cancer-specific gene was greatly decreased. Moreover, proliferation of the cells was markedly suppressed after the conversion of malignant glioma cells into glial cells. Our findings confirmed that malignant gliomas can be reprogrammed to non-proliferating glial cells, using a combination of small molecules, and their proliferation can be regulated by their differentiation. We suggest that our small-molecule combination (with forskolin, rapamycin and I-BET151) may be the next generation of anticancer agents that act by reprogramming malignant gliomas to differentiate into glial cells.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.237-247
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• 2017

Mammalian spermatogenesis occurs in a precise and coordinated manner in the seminiferous tubules. One of the attempts to understand the detailed biological process during mammalian spermatogenesis at the molecular level has been to identify the testis specific genes followed by study of the testicular expression pattern of the genes. From the subtracted cDNA library of rat testis prepared using representational difference analysis (RDA) method, a complimentary DNA clone encoding type III member of a DnaJ family protein, DnaJC18, was cloned (GenBank Accession No. DQ158861). The full-length DnaJC18 cDNA has the longest open reading frame of 357 amino acids. Tissue and developmental Northern blot analysis revealed that the DnaJC18 gene was expressed specifically in testis and began to express from postnatal week 4 testis, respectively. In situ hybridization studies showed that DnaJC18 mRNA was expressed only during the maturation stages of late pachytene, round and elongated spermatids of adult rat testis. Western blot analysis with DnaJC18 antibody revealed that 41.2 kDa DnaJC18 protein was detected only in adult testis. Immunohistochemistry study further confirmed that DnaJC18 protein, was expressed in developing germ cells and the result was in concert with the in situ hybridization result. Confocal microscopy with GFP tagged DnaJC18 protein revealed that it was localized in the cytoplasm of cells. Taken together, these results suggested that testis specific DnaJC18, a member of the type III DnaJ protein family, might play a role during germ cell maturation in adult rat testis.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.491-499
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• 2020

Hippo signaling acts as a tumor suppressor pathway by inhibiting the proliferation of adult stem cells and progenitor cells in various organs. Liver-specific deletion of Hippo pathway components in mice induces liver cancer development through activation of the transcriptional coactivators, YAP and TAZ, which exhibit nuclear enrichment and are activated in numerous types of cancer. The upstream-most regulators of Warts, the Drosophila ortholog of mammalian LATS1/2, are Kibra, Expanded, and Merlin. However, the roles of the corresponding mammalian orthologs, WWC1, FRMD6 and NF2, in the regulation of LATS1/2 activity and liver tumorigenesis in vivo are not fully understood. Here, we show that deletion of both Wwc1 and Nf2 in the liver accelerates intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) development through activation of YAP/TAZ. Additionally, biliary epithelial cell-specific deletion of both Lats1 and Lats2 using a Sox9-Cre^ERT2 system resulted in iCCA development through hyperactivation of YAP/TAZ. These findings suggest that WWC1 and NF2 cooperate to promote suppression of cholangiocarcinoma development by inhibiting the oncogenic activity of YAP/TAZ via LATS1/2.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.186-186
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• 2003

CKD-712, named S-YS49 is a chiral compound derived from higenamine (one component of Aconite spp.) derivatives. To compare the cytotoxicity of CKD-712 between in the absence and in the presence of S9 metabolic activation system, we performed trypan blue dye exclusion assay in Chinese hamster lung (CHL) cell. In CHL cells, the cytotoxicity (IC50) of CKD-712 was 92.9 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml and 186.1 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml in the absence and presence of S9 metabolic activation, respectively. And we also investigated the induction of DNA damages in mammalian cells. To perform the single cell gel electrophoresis, we determined optimum concentration in mouse lymphoma L5178Y cells using frypan blue dye exclusion assay Each IC20 of CKD-712 was determined the concentration of 23.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml and 24.8 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml in the absence and presence of S9 metabolic activation, respectively. In the comet assay, DNA damage was not observed at the concentration range from 23.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml to 5.9 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml in the absence of S9 metabolic activation system. In the presence of S9 metabolic activation system, DNA damage was not observed at the concentration range from 24.8 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml to 6.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml. From these results, it is assumed that CKD-712 may be metabolized to less cytotoxic metabolite(s).

• KSBB Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.404-410
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• 1998

Three types of adsorbents were developed by immobilizing synthetic zeolite, Philipsite-Gismonine, in alginate, cellulose acetate and dialysis membrane for the in situ removal of ammonium ion which inhibits growth and productivity of animal cells such as CHO cells producing tPA. Ammonium ion removal efficiency and cell growth promoting effect with various immobilized adsorbents were evaluated and the membrane type was selected as an optimal immobilized adsorbent. The experiments were then simulated by adding 8mM ammonium chloride and immobilized adsorbent in order to validate the removal effect under high density cell cultures. The results showed increase in maximum cell density by three times, in cell viability, and in tPA productivity by 40%. And it was found that the promoting effects were more significant in case of high ammonium ion concentration system. It was also found that the optimum addition time for immobilized adsorbents was 48 hr in the absence of ammonium chloride addition and 72 hr in the presence of ammonium chloride addition.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.59-79
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• 2021

Objectives This study was performed to observe the genotoxic effect of the ChondroT. Methods To evaluate the genotoxicity of ChondroT, an experiment of bacterial reverse mutation test, in vitro mammalian chromosomal aberration test and mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus test in mouse was conducted. Results TA98, TA100 and TA1537 strains in the absence of metabolic activation system (S9 mix), the number of revertant colonies being greater than 2-fold of the respective negative control value. Both in -S9 mix and +S9 mix, the frequencies of aberration cells with structural aberration and numerical aberrations of chromosome were less than 5%. There was no increase of polychromatic erythrocyte with one or more micronuclei at any dose of test substance compared to the negative control group (p<0.05). Conclusions In TA98, TA100 and TA1537 strains in the absence of metabolic activation system (S9 mix), the number of revertant colonies was greater than 2-fold of the respective negative control value, showing positive results. ChondroT was considered to be non-clastogenic to Chinese hamster lung (CHL/IU) cells under the present experimental condition. and ChondroT was determined not to induce an increased frequency of micronuclei in the bone marrow cells of male ICR mice under the present experimental condition.