• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 1987

N-myc, a DNA sequence related to the oncogene c-myc, was found to be amplified in untreated primary neuroblastomas and the amplification appeared to be associated with advanced disease at diagnosis and rapid tumor progression. Synthetic peptides have been useful immunogens for generating antisera and monoclonal antibodies to a number of native proteins. In order to identify myc-related protein in the tumor cells, an antiserum against a synthetic hexapeptide (-Glu-Asp-Ile-Trp-Lys-Lys-), whose sequence corresponds to a part of the exon 2 of oncogene N-myc, was prepared by immunizing a rabbit with BSA-conjugated peptide. After ammonium sulfate precipitation and affinity column chromatography, it appeared to be specific to the peptide. Strong nuclear staining in immunoperoxidase method using this serum was observed in both human promyeloid leukemic cell line, HL-60(containing high c-myc copy number), and human neuroblastoma cell line, LA-N-5 (containing high N-myc copy number), whereas LA351 (human lymphoid cell line) cells did not react with the serum. This reaction was completely abrogated by incubating the antiserum with soluble excess peptide. These data suggest that the protein encoded by N-myc could be localized in the nucleus as c-myc protein and this antiserum can be used to detect myc-related tumor cells in clinical samples and to determine if the N-myc expression correlates with genomic amplification in cell lines, untreated primary tumors, and untreated metastases.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1206-1208
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• 2007

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.157-166
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• 2005

The c-myc proto-oncogene encodes a nuclear protein that is deregulated and/or mutated in most human cancers. Acting primarily as an activator and sometimes as a repressor, MYC protein controls the synthesis of up to 10-15% of genes. The key MYC targets contributing to oncogenesis are incompletely enumerated and it is not known whether pathology arises from the expression of physiologic targets at abnormal levels or from the pathologic response of new target genes that are not normally regulated by MYC. Regardless of which, available evidence indicates that the level of MYC expression is an important determinant of MYC biology. The c-myc promoter has architectural and functional features that contribute to uniform expression and help to prevent or mitigate conditions that might otherwise create noisy expression. Those features include the use of an expanded proximal promoter, the averaging of input from dozens of transcription factors, and real-time feedback using the supercoil-deformable Far UpStream Element (FUSE) as physical sensor of ongoing transcriptional activity, and the FUSE binding protein (FBP) as well as the FBP interacting repressor (FIR) as effectors to enforce normal transcription from the c-myc promoter.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4883-4889
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• 2013

Background: The most common incident cancer and cause of cancer-related deaths in women is breast cancer. The Myc gene is upregulated in many cancer types including breast cancer, and it is considered as a potential anti-cancer drug target. The present study was conducted to evaluate the Myc (gene and protein) expression pattern in an experimental mammary tumour model in rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty six Sprague Dawley rats were divided into: Experimental group (26 animals), which received the chemical carcinogen N-methyl nitrosourea (MNU) and a control group (10 animals), which received vehicle only. c-Myc oncoprotein and its mRNA expression pattern were evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) and semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively, in normal rat mammary tissue and mammary tumours. The rat glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene was used as internal control for semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Results: Histopathological examination of mammary tissues and tumours from MNU treated animals revealed the presence of premalignant lesions, benign tumours, in situ carcinomas and invasive carcinomas. Immunohistochemical evaluation of tumour tissues showed upregulation and heterogeneous cellular localization of c-Myc oncoprotein. The expression levels of c-Myc oncoprotein were significantly elevated (75-91%) in all the tumours. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed increased expression of c-Myc mRNA in mammary tumours compared to normal mammary tissues. Conclusions: Further large-scale investigation study is needed to adopt this experimental rat mammary tumour model as an in vivo model to study anti-cancer strategies directed against Myc or its downstream partners at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.45-50
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• 1997

Neuroblastoma, a pediatric malignant neoplasm of neural crest origin, has a wide range of clinical virulence. The mechanisms contributing to the development of neuroblastomas are largely unclear, but non-random chromosomal changes identified over the past years suggest the involvement of genetic alterations. Amplification of the human N-myc proto-oncogene is frequently seen either in extrachromosomal double minutes or in homogeneously staining regions (HSRs) of aggressively growing neuroblastomas. N-myc maps to chromosome 2 band 24, but HSR have never been observed at this band, suggesting transposition of N-myc during amplification. We have constructed and analyzed the region-specific painting probe for HSR in neuroblastoma IMR-32 to determine the derivative chromosomes. Microdissection was performed on HSR using an inverted microscope with the help of microglass needles and an micromanipulator. We pretreated the microdissected fragments with Topoisomerase I which catalyzes the relaxation of supercolled DNA, and performed two initial rounds of DNA synthesis with T7 DNA polymerase followed by conventional PCR to enable the reliable preparation of Fluorescent in situ hybridization probe from a single microdissected chromosome. With this method, it was possible to construct the region-specific painting probe for HSR. The probe hybridized specifically to the HSRs of IMR-32, and to 2p24, 2p13 of normal chromosome. Our results suggest there was coamplification of N-myc together with DNA of the chromosome 2p24 and 2p13. Moreover, the fluorescent signals for the amplified chromosomal regions in IMR-32 cells were also easily recognized at a Thus this painting probe can be applied to detect the similar amplification of N-myc in neuroblastoma tissue, and the probe pool for HSR may be used to identify the cancer-relevant genes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.333-338
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• 1998

The sphingomyelin cycle and ceramide generation have been recognized as potential growth suppression signals in mammalian cells. Ceramide has been shown to induce differentiation, cell growth arrest, senescence, and apoptosis. Although the intracelluar target for the action of ceramide remains unknown, recent studies have demonstrated the role of cytosolic ceramideactivated protein phosphatase(CAPP). In this study, the cytotoxic effect of C2-ceramide, a synthetic cellpermeable ceramide analog, on HEp-2 cells and the mechanism by which ceramide induces cell death were investigated. The addition of exogenous C2-ceramide resulted in a concentration dependent cell death. Okadaic acid, a potent inhibitor of CAPP, enhanced ceramide-mediated cell death, which suggests that CAPP is not involved in this process. To understand the mechanism of action of ceramide, we studied the relationship between ceramide and c-Myc and pRb which are defined components of cell growth regulation. Western blot analyses revealed that C2-ceramide (10${\mu}M$) induced c-Myc down-regulation, but there were no significant changes in pRb. However, treatment of okadaic acid (10 nM) enhanced c-Myc and pRb down-regulation. Reduction of the amount of c-Myc and pRb occurred during HEp-2 cell death. These results suggest that the cytotoxic effect of ceramide in HEp-2 cells may not be mediated through the action of CAPP and that the downstream target for ceramide is c-Myc and pRb.

• 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 Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.22-26
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• 2011

목 적 : 두경부 암은 발생 순위에서 전체 6위에 해당하는 다빈도 암이나 최근 20여년 동안의 노력에도 불구하고 두경부 암의 독톡한 특성상 생존률에서 뚜렷한 향상을 보이지 못하고 있다. 특히, 하인두 암은 원발 부위의 점막하 침윤이 흔하며, 주변 림프절 전이와 원격 전이가 흔하고, 2차 원발 암종 발생이 흔하여 두경부 암 중에서도 가장 불량한 예후를 보이고 있는 악성 종양이다. 최근에 이러한 암을 치료하고 진단하기 위한 방법으로 분자생물학적 접근법들이 많이 시도 되고 있으며, 그 중 하나로 N-myc downstream regulated gene-1(Ndrg-1)이라는 유전자가 유방, 전립선, 방광 암 등의 타 악성 종양에서 종양의 전이 및 진행 양상과 관련되어 있다는 보고가 있었다. 이에 본 연구는 하인두 암에서의 Ndrg-1의 발현 양상을 살펴보고 이와 임상 양상과의 연관관계를 살펴보고자 하였다. 방 법 : 1996년부터 2003년까지 수술 받은 하인두 암 환자 56명을 대상으로 면역조직화학검사를 시행하여 Ndrg-1 발현을 확인하였고, 3명의 신선 조직을 대상으로 RT-PCR, Western blot을 시행하였다. 결 과 : Ndrg-1은 RT-PCR에서 정상 조직과 악성종양 조직 모두에서 비슷한 수준으로 발현되었다. 그러나 Western blot에서는 정상 조직에서 뚜렷한 증가 양상을 보여 타 연구와 동일한 결과를 보였고, 이는 불필요하며 비효율적인 mRNA수준에서의 발현이 있지만 최종적인 단백 산물 발현에서는 암종의 진행과 연계되어 악성 종양 진행군에서 발현이 억제되는 결과로 해석된다. 면역조직화학검사에서는 정상 상피조직에서 Ndrg-1 발현이 확인되었으며, 통계적으로 유의하지는 않으나 불량한 예후를 가진 그룹에서 대체로 발현이 억제되는 악성 종양과의 역 연관 관계를 확인할 수 있었고, 특히 림프절 전이를 보인 그룹과 그렇지 않은 그룹 사이에서는 통계적으로 유의미한 결과가 확인되었다. 결 론 : 즉, 림프절 전이가 없는 그룹에서 Ndrg-1이 종양의 전이에 관여할 것이라는 타 연구와 일관된 결과로 하인두 암에서도 그 역할이 있음을 나타내는 결과라 할 수 있다.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.189-195
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• 2007

To study the protective effects of antioxidants on the radiation damages of the cells, vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMC) from thoracic aorta of Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured and irradiated with gamma-ray. Cell viability was measured by direct cell counting and MTT assay, and flow cytometry was performed to measure fractional distributions of the cells. Gamma-ray irradiation inhibited cell proliferations accompanied with decreased G1 phase and increased S- and G2/M phases, and the maximum effects were observed at 1500 or 2000 cGy. Submaximal concentrations of antioxidants, such as allopurinol, vitamin C, N-acetylcycteine(NAC), lipoic acid, dihydrolipoic acid and rebamipide tended to increase the cell viability suppressed by low dose of radiation(500 cGy), and enalapril and vitamin E increased it significantly. Allopurinol, vitamin E, NAC, lipoic acid, captopril and enalapril significantly increased G1 phase. Allopurinol and vitamin E tended to increase c-Myc expression, detected by Western blot, that was reduced by the radiation, and enalapril increased it significantly. The cell viability and c-Myc expression were highly correlated(r=0.97) with each other. These results suggest that antioxidants, especially enalapril and vitamin E, recover the viability of VSMC from gamma-radiation injury, through a mechanism which includes increase of c-Myc protein expression.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.268-275
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• 1999

Rhodopseudomonas sp. was immobilized in three supports(agar, k-carrageenan, and PVA) in order to remove nitrate in wastewater coming from fish farm. Among them 3% agar was the most suitable support when denitrification rate and bead durability were tested. Optimum bead size was 4mm-diameter when the substrate transfer into the bead and shear stress for bead were considered, and optimum cell loading was 25mg dry $cells/cm^2$gel gel. Ethanol was the best as a carbon source, and optimum C:N ratio, temperature and pH were 1.5:1, $31^{\circ}C$,, and 6, respectively. Under these conditions the maximum denitrification rate in synthetic wastewater was $$345{\MU}{\ell};N_2/Cm^3 gel{\cdot}hr;and that in modified MYC medium was 450{\MU}{\ell}};N_2/Cm^3 gel{\cdot}hr $$.