• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.02a
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• pp.241-250
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• 2000

• 대한생식의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.02a
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• pp.251-257
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• 2000

• Toxicological Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2003

GX-12 is a naked DNA vaccine developed by the DongA Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Genexine for the treatment of HIV infection. This study was peformed to evaluate the biodistribution and expression of GX-12 mRNA in gonadal tissues, and to investigate the histopathological changes after the repeated intramuscular injection. GX-12 (400 $\mu\textrm{g}$/head) was injected into the left anterior tibialis once a week for four weeks. On day 1, 5, 15, 30 and 45 after the final administration, gonadal tissues (testes, epididymis, seminal vesicles, penis, prostate glands, ovaries, vagina, uterus) and the injection site (muscle) were harvested and examined for the expression of mRNA by RT-PCR. In addition, histopathological examination was peformed at each time point. At the injection site, mRNA expression of GX-12 was detected only at early time points (1 ~ 15 days after injection) but not thereafter. However, in gonadal tissues, mRNA expression was not identified at all time points both in male and female rats. There were no histopathological changes in all reproductive organs and muscle. Based on these results, it is unlikely that the plasmid DNAs of GX-12 was distributed to- and expressed in gonadal tissues, suggesting that the chance of germline integration and transmission is negligible.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3403-3408
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• 2012

The molecular mechanisms involved in the progression of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) are still unclear. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between expression of RALYL and clinical characteristics. In 41 paired samples of ccRCCs and adjacent normal tissues, we used real-time qPCR to evaluate the expression of RALYL mRNA. RALYL protein levels were determined in 146 samples of ccRCC and 37 adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis was used to explore the relationships between expression of RALYL and the clinical characteristics (gender, age, tumor size, T stage, N stage, M stage, survival times and survival outcome) in ccRCC. In addition, these patients were follow-up period 64 months (range: 4~116months) to investigate the influence on prognosis. We found significantly differences between ccRCC tissues and normal tissues (p<0.001, paired-sample t test) in mRNA levels of RALYL. Immunohistochemistry analyses in 146 ccRCC samples and 37 adjacent normal tissues showed significantly lower RALYL protein levels in ccRCC samples (${\chi}^2$-test, p<0.001), inversely correlating with tumour size (p=0.024), T stage (0.005), N stage (p<0.001) as well as M stage (p=0.019), but not age (p=0.357) and gender (p=0.348). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that people with lower level of RALYL expression had a poorer survival rate than those with a higher level of RALYL expression, significantly different by the log-rank test (p=0.011). Cox regression analysis indicated that RALYL expression (p=0.039), N stage (p=0.008) and distant metastasis (p<0.001) were independent prognosis factors for the overall survival of ccRCC patients. We demonstrated that the expression of RALYL was significantly low in ccRCC and correlated with a poor prognosis in a large number of clinical samples. Our findings showed that RALYL may be a potential therapeutic target as well as a poor prognostic factor.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.253-264
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• 2012

Nesfatin-1 is a recently discovered anorexigenic peptide which is distributed in several brain areas implicated in the feeding and metabolic regulation. Recently, it has been reported that nesfatin-1 is expressed not only in brain, but also in peripheral organs such as digestive organs, adipose tissues, heart, and reproductive organs. Nesfatin-1 is markedly expressed in the pancreas, stomach and duodenum. Eventually, the nesfatin-1 expression in the digestive organs may be regulated by nutritional status, which suggests a regulatory role of peripheral nesfatin-1 in energy homeostasis. Nesfatin-1 is also detected in the adipose tissues of humans and rodents, indicating that nesfatin-1 expression in the fat may regulate food intake independently, rather than relying on leptin. In addition, nesfatin-1 is expressed in the heart as a cardiac peptide. It suggests that nesfatin-1 may regulate cardiac function and encourage clinical potential in the presence of nutrition-dependent physio-pathologic cardiovascular diseases. Currently, only a few studies demonstrate that nesfatin-1 is expressed in the reproductive system. However, it is not clear yet what function of nesfatin-1 is in the reproductive organs. Here, we summarize the expression of nesfatin-1 and its roles in brain and peripheral organs and discuss the possible roles of nesfatin-1 expressed in reproductive organs, including testis, epididymis, ovary, and uterus. We come to the conclusion that nesfatin-1 as a local regulator in male and female reproductive organs may regulate the steroidogenesis in the testis and ovary and the physiological activity in epididymis and uterus.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.336-343
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• 2011

The neurotrophins, required for the survival and differentiation of the nervous system, are known to be important for the development of the reproductive tissues. However, the signals initiating the growth of follicles, gamete development, and transport and the development of zygote in the reproductive system of cows remain ambiguous. The purpose of the present study was to identify the transcripts and proteins of Neurotrophin 4 (NT4) and its receptor tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) in bovine reproductive tissues. The transcripts and immunoreactivity of NT4 and TrkB proteins were detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Using immunohistochemistry, the specific immunoreactivity of NT4 and TrkB were detected in the oocytes of primordial follicles and in the growing primary follicles. The NT4 and TrkB immunoreactivity was predominantly observed in granulosa cells, cumulus granulosa cells, cumulus oocyte complexes, theca cells of mature follicles, as well as in the oviduct epithelial cells, uterine gland cell, and epithelium cells of the uterus during the follicular and luteal phases in cows. Expressions of NT4 and TrkB mRNAs were not significantly different among the ovary, oviduct, and uterus of the follicular phase. For the luteal phase, the expression of NT4 mRNA in the ovary was significantly higher than that in the oviduct and uterus, and the expression of TrkB mRNA in the oviduct was significantly higher than that in the ovary and uterus, as determined by fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expression of NT4 mRNA was significantly higher than that of TrkB mRNA in the ovary and uterus, whereas NT4 mRNA expression was lower than that of TrkB mRNA in the oviduct during the luteal phase. The present study hypothesizes that NT4 participates in the regulation of both gonads and extra-gonadal reproductive tissues in cows.

• 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.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.189-193
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• 2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus found in China in 2019. The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been found to be closely related to the cells that secrete angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). ACE2 is involved in the renin-angiotensin system and is widely secreted in several tissues, including the testis, which has raised concerns because organs with high expression of the ACE2 receptor are susceptible to infection. Analyses have shown that in testicular cells, such as spermatogonia, seminiferous duct cells, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells, there is a high expression level of ACE2. Therefore, SARS-CoV-2 may damage male reproductive tissues and cause infertility. Since male infertility is an important problem, scientists are evaluating whether COVID-19 may influence male infertility through the ACE2 receptor.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.251-256
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• 1999

The present study was conducted to evaluate whether vitrification could be used for ovarian tissue preservation. The important issue here is that the vitrification is very simple, easy, and economical compared to the conventional cryopreserving method that using automatic freezing instrument. Human ovarian cortical tissues were cryopreserved by vitrification with 5.5 M ethylene glycol and 1.0 M sucrose as cryoprotectant. Three points of temperature ($4^{\circ}C$, room temperature, and $37^{\circ}C$) and two points of duration (5 or 10 minutes) for cryoprotectant treatment were examined to determine the best condition for vitrification of the human ovarian cortical tissues. After thawing, viability of the isolated primordial follicles was examined by dye-exclusion method. Histological appearance of tissues before and after the cryopreservation was evaluated. There was no toxic effect of the 5.5 M ethylene glycol on the primordial follicles. However, when the tissues were treated with cryoprotectant at $37^{\circ}C$ for 10 minutes and exposed to liquid nitrogen, it seems likely that there is certain deleterious effects on the viability of the primordial follicles. The highest viability of the primordial follicles was obtained with the treatment of cryoprotectant at room temperature for 10 minutes. Follicles and oocytes survived after freezing and thawing had the similar normal shapes as was seen in the specimens before cryopreservation. It would be useful to apply vitrification in establishing ovarian tissue banking for clinical purposes.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2000

The chloroform extract of the seeds of Carica papaya has been screened for the hormonal properties using ovariectomized female rats for estrogenicity, estrogen primed immature rats for progestogenicity and castrated adult male rats for androgenicity. The results revealed that the extract lacks progestogenicity and androgenicity as evident from the failure of the extract treated animals to mimic progestogen and androgen related changes in the target tissues. The increased weight of vagina and uterus, open status of vagina, cornified and epithelial cells in the vaginal smears and hypertrophy in the uterine epithelium, endometrium and stroma with increased glycogen and sialic acid content in the uterus of the chloroform extract treated animals, which are comparable to those of the ovariectomized estrogen treated animals, suggest that the chloroform extract possesses mild estrogenic activity.