• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.30-41
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• 1988

The gonadal development, the annual reproductive cycle and the first sexual maturity of surf clam, Mactra veneriformis Reeve were studied histologically. Speciemens were monthly collected at the intertidal zone of Naechodo, Chollabuk-do, Korea, for one year from March 1986 to February 1987. Sexuality of the clam is dioecious. The gonads were located between the subregion of mid-intestinal gland in the visceral cavity and the reticular connetive tissues of the foot, The ovary is composed of a number of ovarian sacs, and the testis comprise several testiculat lobules. The undifferentiated mesenchymal tissues and eosinophilic granular cells function as nutritive cells in the early stage. The ripe eggs were about 50-60${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in diameter, and they were wurroundedby the gelatinous membranes. The spawing period was from early June to September the main spawning occurred beetween July and August when the water temperature reached above 24$^{\circ}C$. The annual reproductive cycle of this species could be classified into five successive stages: multiplicative(January to March), growing(March to May), mature(April to August), spent(June to September), degenerative and resting(September to February). The monthly changes of fatness coefficient closely correlated with the annual reproductive cycle. Percentages of the first sexual maturity of female and male clams were over 50% among those individals ranging from 2.1 To 2.5cm, and 100% in those over 2.6cm in shell length.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.94-104
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the effect of Korean medicine treatments on a female and a male patient who were infertile and failed to in vitro fertilization(IVF) treatment. Methods: The patients are a 30-year-old female who had been diagnosed with the ovulation dysfunction caused by the depression of ovarian function, and a 33-year-old male who had been diagnosed with sperm defect. The female patient alone underwent Korean medicine treatment after the eighth failure in IVF treatment and the male patient received Korean medicine treatment along with his wife after he failed in the first IVF treatment. The Korean medicine applied include herb-medicine administration, acupuncture, moxibustion, Jwa-Hun, and Du-Han-Jok-Yeol treatment. Results: Through Korean medicine treatment the female patient had succeeded in the IVF treatment and she also recovered completely from allergic rhinitis. The male patient whose wife also received Korean medicine treatment with him got his wife pregnant naturally. Conclusions: This result concludes that Korean medicine treatment is effective in infertile patients. Therefore, there needs to be more of subsequent research on infertile patients that is based on Korean medicine treatment.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2019

This study aimed to recover the ovarian function through in vitro culture of preantral follicles from aged mice. First, we isolated the preantral follicles from ovaries of sixty-seven-week old B6D2F1 mice with decreased fecundity to know how many follicles were present in them, which was 6 preantral follicles including 2 primary, 2 early secondary and late secondary follicles from 8 aged mice. It was confirmed that a few follicles (~2) were present in aged mice through histological analysis compared to adult mice as control. The 9 days of in vitro culture of preantal follicles showed in vitro growth and induced maturation after treatment with hCG (2.5 IU/mL) and EGF (5 ng/mL). Cumulus cells in the cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were removed using hyaluronidase and oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) and GV breakdown (GVBD) were obtained from preantral follicle culture of aged mice in vitro. In conclusion, these observations demonstrated that there still were a few preantral follicles in the ovaries of 67 week-old mice, which we were able to culture in vitro and oocytes were obtained from them. This study proposed an in vitro culture system using preantral follicle as a therapeutic strategy for fertility preservation in humans for assisted reproductive medicine.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 2021

We studied steroid metabolites produced from red-spotted grouper ovarian follicles during maturation. Oocytes with 350-500 ㎛ diameter were in vitro incubated in the presence of [³H] 17α-hydroxyprogesterone as a precursor. Steroid metabolites were extracted from incubated media and oocytes. The extracts were separated and identified using thin layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The identified metabolites were androstenedione (A₄), testosterone (T) and estrone (E₁). The metabolites of A₄ was dominant in all size of oocytes and it was the highest in 480 ㎛ diameter oocytes. The metabolites of two progestins, 17α,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one and 17α,20α-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one were detected in the oocytes less than 480 ㎛ diameter although they were not identified definitely. In the oocytes of 480 ㎛ diameter, metabolite of progestin was the highest, and germinal vesicle (GV) was still in the middle of cytoplasm. In the oocytes of 500 ㎛ diameter, GV was began to migrate and the major metabolites were A₄ and E₁. The metabolite of E₁ was detected in all size of oocytes and it was higher than that of E₂. These results suggest that oocytes of 480 ㎛ diameter are the transitional stage involving steroidogenic shift to final oocyte maturation and potential function of E₁ during maturation process.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.330-339
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• 2023

Liver kinase B1 (LKB1) is a crucial tumor suppressor involved in various cellular processes, including embryonic development, tumor initiation and progression, cell adhesion, apoptosis, and metabolism. However, the precise mechanisms underlying its functions remain elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that LKB1 interacts directly with malic enzyme 3 (ME3) through the N-terminus of the enzyme and identified the binding regions necessary for this interaction. The binding activity was confirmed to promote the expression of ME3 in an LKB1-dependent manner and was also shown to induce apoptosis activity. Furthermore, LKB1 and ME3 overexpression upregulated the expression of tumour suppressor proteins (p53 and p21) and downregulated the expression of antiapoptotic proteins (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)). Additionally, LKB1 and ME3 enhanced the transcription of p21 and p53 and inhibited the transcription of NF-κB. Moreover, LKB1 and ME3 suppressed the phosphorylation of various components of the phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling pathway. Overall, these results suggest that LKB1 promotes pro-apoptotic activities by inducing ME3 expression.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.7
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• pp.318-323
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• 2024

Regulation of cell fate and lung cell differentiation is associated with Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARS)-interacting multifunctional protein 2 (AIMP2), which acts as a non-enzymatic component required for the multi-tRNA synthetase complex. In response to DNA damage, a component of AIMP2 separates from the multi-tRNA synthetase complex, binds to p53, and prevents its degradation by MDM2, inducing apoptosis. Additionally, AIMP2 reduces proliferation in TGF-β and Wnt pathways, while enhancing apoptotic signaling induced by tumor necrosis factor-α. Given the crucial role of these pathways in tumorigenesis, AIMP2 is expected to function as a broad-spectrum tumor suppressor. The full-length AIMP2 transcript consists of four exons, with a small section of the pre-mRNA undergoing alternative splicing to produce a variant (AIMP2-DX2) lacking the second exon. AIMP2-DX2 binds to FBP, TRAF2, and p53 similarly to AIMP2, but competes with AIMP2 for binding to these target proteins, thereby impairing its tumor-suppressive activity. AIMP2-DX2 is specifically expressed in a diverse range of cancer cells, including breast cancer, liver cancer, bone cancer, and stomach cancer. There is growing interest in AIMP2-DX2 as a promising biomarker for prognosis and diagnosis, with AIMP2-DX2 inhibition attracting significant interest as a potentially effective therapeutic approach for the treatment of lung, ovarian, prostate, and nasopharyngeal cancers.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2018

CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system is an efficient method to mutation in a sequence specific manner. Here we report the direct transfection of the Cas9 nuclease and gene specific guide RNA can be used in BM-N cell line derived from Bombyx mori ovarian tissue to enfeeble function of endogenous gene in vitro. We have used gene editing system to negative regulation components of major signaling cascade, the Toll pathway, which controls B. mori resistance to microbe infections, such as fungi and gram positive bacteria. We demonstrate that the $I{\kappa}B-like$ protein Cactus may controls the activation of transcription factors such as Rel A and Rel B. The direct transfection of Cas9 nuclease and Cactus-specific guide-RNA complex may be used in BM-N cells to disrupt the function of endogenous genes in vitro. A mutation frequency of 30-40% was observed in the transfected cells, and various mutations caused the target region. Moreover, RT-PCR analysis revealed that Cactus gene was down regulated after these mutations. More importantly, mutation of BmCactus stimulated expression of lysozyme, moricin, and lebocin genes. These results suggest that the CRISPR/Cas9 systems are expected to efficiently induce site-specific mutations and it was possible to produce antimicrobial peptide through the gene editing.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.603-607
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• 2003

Abstract Plant lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are a class of proteins whose functions are still unknown. Some are proposed to have antimicrobial activities. To understand whether LTP110, a rice LTP that we previously identified from rice leaves, plays a role in the protection function against some serious rice pathogens, we investigated the antifungal and antibacterial properties of LTP110. A cDNA sequence, encoding the mature peptide of LTP110, was cloned into the Impact-CN prokaryotic expression system. The purified protein was used for an in vitro inhibition test against rice pathogens, Pyricularia oryzae and Xanthomonas oryzae. The results showed that LTP110 inhibited the germination of Pyricularia oryzae spores, and its inhibitory activity decreased in the presence of a divalent cation. This suggests that the antifungal activity is affected by ions in the media; LTP110 only slightly inhibited the growth of Xanthomonas oryzae. However, the addition of LTP110 to cultured Chinese hamster ovarian cells did not retard growth, suggesting that the toxicity of LTP110 is only restricted to some cell types. Its antimicrobial activity is potentially due to interactions between LTP and microbe-specific structures.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.41-49
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• 1984

It has been well known that ovarian steroids, estradiol and progesterone play an important role in the endometrial preparation for the implantation process. The present investigation was undertaken to correlate function of ovarian steroids with cAMP concentrations in uterine tissues of rat during the various stages of the preimplantation period. Rats ovariectomized on day 2 were treated with estradiol or/and progesterone on day 3 or on day 4 and cAMP concentrations in uterine tissues were determined by competitive protein - binding assay in control - and steroid treated - ovariectomized rats. The results obtained are as follows; 1. In control rats, cAMP concentrations in uterine tissues were decreased with preimplantation period proceeded whereas cAMP concentrations were increased and showed the highest levels on day 6 in ovariectomized rats. 2. In rats treated with progesterone only or progesterone with estradiol after ovariectomy, cAMP concentrations on day 6 were lower than those of ovariectomized control but higher than those of intact control rats while estradiol only treatment decreased cAMP concentrations on day 3 and day 6, compared with those from intact- and ovariectomized-controls. It is, therefore, concluded that the concentrations of cAMP in uterine tissues were lower in estrogen-treated rats than in ovariectomized rats, suggesting the involvement of cAMP in the regulation of uterine tissue differentiation.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2008

The gonadosomatic index, germ cell differentiation, and the ovarian cycle in female jicon scallop, Chlamys farreri were studied by histologic and cytologic observations. In the early vitellogenic oocyte, the Golgi complex, mitochondria and rough endoplasmic reticulum were involved in the formation of lipid droplets. In the late vitellogenic oocyte, exogenous substances, namely, glycogen particles and lipid granular substances appeared in the germinal epithelium passed into the ooplasm through the microvilli of the envelope. Yolk granules and multivesicular bodies were involved in the formation of proteinecious yolk granules in the late vitellogenic oocyte. Vitellogenesis occurrs by endogenous autosynthesis and exogenous heterosynthesis. The auxiliary cells function as nutritive cells in the formation and development of the previtellogenic and early vitellogenic oocytes in their earlr stages. Monthly changes in the gonadosomatic index were closely associated with ovarian developmental phases. The reproductive cycle of this species can be classified into five stages: early active stage (January to March), late active stage (March to April), ripe stage (April to August), partially spawned stage (June to August), and spent/inactive stage (August to December). Spawning occurred from June to August, and the major spawning season was from July to August when the sea water was at high temperature.