• BMB Reports
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.28-40
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• 2002

Apoptosis is a mode of cell death that plays an important role in both pathological and physiological processes. Research during the last decade has delineated the entire machinery needed for cell death, and its constituents were found to pre-exist in cells. The apoptotic cascade is triggered when cells are exposed to an apoptotic stimulus. It has been known for several years that inhibitors of protein synthesis can potentiate apoptosis that is induced by cytokines and other inducers. Until 1996, it was not understood why protein synthesis inhibitors potentiate apoptosis. Then three reports appeared that suggested the role of the transcription factor NF-${\kappa}B$ activation in protecting the cells from TNF-induced apoptosis. Since then several proteins have been identified that are regulated by NF-${\kappa}B$ and are involved in cell survival, proliferation, and protection from apoptosis. It now seems that when a cell is attacked by an apoptotic stimulus, the cell responds first by activating anti-apoptotic mechanisms, which mayor may not be followed by apoptosis. Whether or not a cell undergoes proliferation, the survival, or apoptosis, appears to involve a balance between the two mechanisms. Inhibitors of protein synthesis seem to suppress the appearance of protein that are involved in anti-apoptosis. The present review discusses how NF-${\kappa}B$ controls apoptosis.

• BMB Reports
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• 제51권2호
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• pp.79-84
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• 2018

Niemann-Pick type C disease (NP-C) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by a deficiency of NPC1 gene function, which leads to severe neuroinflammation such as astrogliosis. While reports demonstrating neuroinflammation are prevalent in NP-C, information about the onset and progression of cerebellar astrogliosis in this disorder is lacking. Using gene targeting, we generated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) conditional null mutant mice. Deletion of VEGF in cerebellar Purkinje neurons (PNs) led to a significant increase of astrogliosis in the brain of NP-C mice in addition to the loss of PNs, suggesting PN-derived VEGF as an important factor in NP-C pathology. Moreover, replenishment of VEGF in neurons improved brain pathology in NP-C mice. Overall, our data provide a new pathological perspective on cerebellar astrogliosis in NP-C and suggest the importance of VEGF as a therapeutic target for this disease.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.203-206
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• 2013

There have been reports of abnormalities in the lumbosacral region involving a lower-than-normal termination of the dural sac, which is caused by disease or anatomical variation. Inadvertent dural puncture or other unexpected complications can occur during caudal epidural block or adhesiolysis in patients with these variations, but only a small number of case reports have described this issue. We report a case of dural puncture by the introducer needle before attempting caudal epidural adhesiolysis, which occurred even though the needle was not advanced upward after penetrating the sacrococcygeal ligament. Dural puncture was caused by a morphological abnormality in the lumbosacral region, with no pathological condition; the dural sac terminal was located more distally than normal. However, dural puncture could have been prevented if we had checked for such an abnormality in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) taken before the procedure.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제74권2호
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• pp.79-81
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• 2013

Few recent reports have indicated that Mycobacterium massiliense causes various infections including respiratory infection. However, there is scarce information on the clinical significance, natural history of the infection, and therapeutic strategy. This report describes a case of an immunocompetent old man infected by M. massiliense that causes acute respiratory failure. In light of the general courses of non-tuberculous mycobacterium infections, rapid progression and fatality are very rare and odd. In addition, we discuss the biological and pathological properties of M. massiliense with the review of cases reported previously including our fatal one.

• BMB Reports
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• 제53권5호
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• pp.241-247
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• 2020

As an intracellular degradation system, autophagy is an essential and defensive cellular program required for cell survival and cellular metabolic homeostasis in response to various stresses, such as nutrient deprivation and the accumulation of damaged organelles. In general, autophagy flux consists of four steps: (1) initiation (formation of phagophore), (2) maturation and completion of autophagosome, (3) fusion of autophagosomes with lysosomes (formation of autolysosome), and (4) degradation of intravesicular components within autolysosomes. The number of genes and reagents that modulate autophagy is increasing. Investigation of their effect on autophagy flux is critical to understanding the roles of autophagy in many physiological and pathological processes. In this review, we summarize and discuss ways to analyze autophagy flux quantitatively and qualitatively with the use of imaging tools. The suggested imaging method can help estimate whether each modulator is an inhibitor or a promoter of autophagy and elucidate the mode of action of specific genes and reagents on autophagy processes.

• 대한족부족관절학회지
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.96-100
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• 2006

Gout in the sesamoid of the great toe is very rare, such that to our best knowledge, there have been only four reports internationally. We present a case of hallucal medial sesamoid gout in the respect of the literature review, clinical, pathological features and surgical outcome.

• BMB Reports
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• 제40권2호
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• pp.135-141
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• 2007

Conjugation of the methyl group at the fifth carbon of cytosines within the palindromic dinucleotide 5'-CpG-3' sequence (DNA methylation) is the best studied epigenetic mechanism, which acts together with other epigenetic entities: histone modification, chromatin remodeling and microRNAs to shape the chromatin structure of DNA according to its functional state. The cancer genome is frequently characterized by hypermethylation of specific genes concurrently with an overall decrease in the level of 5-methyl cytosine, the pathological implication of which to the cancerous state has been well established. While the latest genome-wide technologies have been applied to classify and interpret the epigenetic layer of gene regulation in the physiological and disease states, the epigenetic testing has also been seriously explored in clinical practice for early detection, refining tumor staging and predicting disease recurrence. This critique reviews the latest research findings on the use of DNA methylation in cancer diagnosis, prognosis and staging/classification.

• BMB Reports
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• 제47권9호
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• pp.483-487
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• 2014

Transmembrane 4 L six family member 5 (TM4SF5), as a membrane glycoprotein with 4 transmembrane domains, is similar to the tetraspanins in terms of membrane topology and plays important roles in tumorigenesis and tumor metastasis. Especially, TM4SF5 appears to form a massive protein-protein complex consisting of diverse membrane proteins and/or receptors in addition to cytosolic signaling molecules to regulate their signaling activities during the pathological processes. TM4SF5 is shown to interact with integrins ${\alpha}2$, ${\alpha}5$, and ${\beta}1$, EGFR, IL6R, CD151, focal adhesion kinase (FAK), and c-Src. This review focuses on the significance of the interactions with regards to TM4SF5-positive tumorigenesis and metastasis.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제39권5호
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• pp.378-381
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• 2006

A 65-year-old woman presented with a history of severe lower back pain on forward-flexion for 2 months duration. Magnetic resonance Imaging revealed a high signal mass with a tail on T1-weighted images at the L3 level. A total surgical resection was performed via a posterior approach with the aid of a microscope. Histopathological examination of the tumor revealed two pathological components : lipoma and myxopapillary ependymoma. The presence of dual histological components in one spinal cord tumor is rare. There are no prior reports of both types of cells [adipose and ependymal] grown simultaneously in a single tumor of the filum terminale in the medical literature. We report a unique case of the co-existence of lipoma and myxopapillary ependymoma within the same tumor located at the filum terminale and review related literature.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제53권1호
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• pp.57-58
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• 2013

Thinning of parietal bone bilaterally is extremely rare but well known phenomenon. Approximate prevalence is 0.4-0.5% according to radiological scans, case reports and anthropologic researches. Even though biparietal osteodystrophy occurs mostly in over 60-year-old women, it shows no special association with race or geographical area tendency. Current definition was changed by understanding that is a pathological situation, not an anatomical variety or result of growing old in time. Biparietal osteodystrophy may have an unusual presentation and treatment still remains unclear. We aim to present a patient with biparietal osteodystrophy associated with minor head trauma that caused parietal fracture and epidural hematoma underneath.