• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.383-392
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• 1996

An observation and evaluation of the reproducibility of the mandibular movements has been a integral part of a test for mandibular function and dysfunction. After Pantographic Reproducibility Index(PRI) was introduced in dentistry, many authors have used the index for investigation of mandibular movement function, especially in condylar compartment. Howerer, the difficult and time-consuming work of instrumentation for getting the PRI has been a major obstacle in using pantograph. This study was performed to try a new mandibular reproducibility index, so-called BioEGN reproducibility index(BERI), calculated from mandibular trajectory recorded with BioEGN. 26 dental students without any signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders and 22 patients with temporomandibular disorders took part in this study and classed to control group and patients group, respectively. Pantronic and BioEGN were used to record and calculate the indices, PRI and BERI. PRI had only one value, but BERI had two values of outgoing and incoming movement in each scale. With two scales of small and large, as a result, BERI had four values in this study. PRI corresponded to BERI in small scale on outgoing total movements. The data were calculated and analyzed with SAS/stat program and the conclusion of this study were as follows : 1. In every scales, in each movement, BERI on outgoing movement in control group was lower than that in patients group, respectively, but BERI on incoming movement was only different in one side movement, that was, left excursion. 2. The difference between BERI on outgoing movement and BERI on incoming movement was only shown in small scale on total movements, not in each movement, in control group. However, there was generally a positive correlationship between BERI on outgoing movement and BERI on incoming movement in each movement in both groups. 3. Simple statistics of PRI was similar to that of BERI on total movements in small scale, but there was a negative correlation between PRI and BERI on total movements in large sclae only in patients group.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 1999

This study was performed to investigate the age distribution with tooth calcification and degree of eruption of permanent teeth. For the study, healthy 184 patients from 5 to 19 years old without any previous serious dental treatment were randomly selected, and intraoral standard films and dental casts were taken for evaluation of stage of calcification and degree of eruption, respectively. Tooth calcification of 13 stages, designed by the author based on the Nolla's classification and eruption level of 4 or 5 degree was used. Data were processed by SAS/Stat program and the obtained results were as follows; 1. The age of root completed with open apex in lower posterior teeth were 13.8 years for first premolar, 14.0 years for second premolar, 10.5 years for first molar, and 14.2 years for second molar. There were no significant difference between right and left side. 2. As for the sequence of eruption, first molar was the first teeth erupted in upper arch, while central incisor was the first teeth in lower arch. In general, eruption of lower teeth were slightly earlier than the corresponding teeth of upper arch. 3. There were no difference of age of the same stage of development between Nolla's and the author's classification. From the results, the author's classification can be used for estimation of age with more finely in age of 8 to 15 years old. 4. Multiple regression equations for age with Nolla's(Ns) and the author's(Ks) classification of tooth calcification, and degree of eruption(DE) were as follow; Age(by #34) = 7.55 + 0.76Ks34 + 0.80DE34 - 0.72Ns34 Age(by #35) = 7.10 + 0.81Ks35 + 0.6IDE35 Age(by #37) = 6.61 + 0.82Ks37 + 0.5IDE37. Age(by #44) = 7.02 + 0.62Ks44 + 0.82DE44 Age(by #45) = 8.04 + 0.93Ks45 + 0.64DE45 - 0.89Ns45 Age(by #47) = 6.40 + 0.86Ks47 + 0.56DE47.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 1999

This study was performed to investigate the factors related to vibration of temporomandibular joint during mandibular opening movement. For this study, 144 patients with temporomandibular disorders were randomly selected. Angle's classification, lateral guidance pattern, range of maximal mouth opening, preferred chewing side, and affected side were investigated clinically. Mandibular torque rotational movement during opening was recorded with $BioEGN^{(R)}$ and vibration of temporomandibular joint during opening was recorded with $Sonopak^{(R)}$. After clinical diagnosis was made, visual analogue scale(VAS) was used for evaluation of clinical progress of the subject's chief complaints. The author calculated VAS treatment index(VAS Ti) from the record of VAS. The more VAS Ti was, the less remission of subjective symptom was, The data were analyzed with SAS/Stat program and the results of this study were as follows: 1. There were no significant difference in all the variables of joint vibration by age and sex. 2. Integral and peak amplitude in patients of Angle's class I were higher than those of class II or III patients. Integral in patients of group function was higher than that in patients of canine guidance or other types of lateral excursion. 3. As to Angle's classification or lateral guidance type, there were almost not significant difference between subgroup of same class or type and subgroup of different class or type on both sides. And there were also almost not difference between one side and the other side related to preferred chewing side or affected side. 4. Patients with disk displacement with reduction showed higher value of integral and peak amplitude than any other patients. 5. Joint vibration variables significantly correlated with VAS Ti of pain. with clinical range of mouth opening, and with ingredients of mandibular torque rotational movement.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.467-479
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• 2018

The aging process induces a plethora of changes in the body including alterations in hormonal regulation and metabolism in various organs including the heart. Aging is associated with marked increase in the vulnerability of the heart to ischemia-reperfusion injury. Furthermore, it significantly hampers the development of adaptive response to various forms of conditioning stimuli (pre/post/remote conditioning). Aging significantly impairs the activation of signaling pathways that mediate preconditioning-induced cardioprotection. It possibly impairs the uptake and release of adenosine, decreases the number of adenosine transporter sites and down-regulates the transcription of adenosine receptors in the myocardium to attenuate adenosine-mediated cardioprotection. Furthermore, aging decreases the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1-alpha ($PGC-1{\alpha}$) and subsequent transcription of catalase enzyme which subsequently increases the oxidative stress and decreases the responsiveness to preconditioning stimuli in the senescent diabetic hearts. In addition, in the aged rat hearts, the conditioning stimulus fails to phosphorylate Akt kinase that is required for mediating cardioprotective signaling in the heart. Moreover, aging increases the concentration of $Na^+$ and $K^+$, connexin expression and caveolin abundance in the myocardium and increases the susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion injury. In addition, aging also reduces the responsiveness to conditioning stimuli possibly due to reduced kinase signaling and reduced STAT-3 phosphorylation. However, aging is associated with an increase in MKP-1 phosphorylation, which dephosphorylates (deactivates) mitogen activated protein kinase that is involved in cardioprotective signaling. The present review describes aging as one of the major confounding factors in attenuating remote ischemic preconditioning-induced cardioprotection along with the possible mechanisms.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2014

NF-${\kappa}B$ is a transcriptional factor which is involved in many biological processes including immunity, inflammation, and cell survival. Many investigators studied on the mechanism involved in activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ signalling pathway via ubiquitination and degradation of $I{\kappa}B$ regarding skin disease. Some specific molecules including Akt, MEK, p38 MAP Kinase, Stat3, et al. represent convergence points and key regulatory proteins in signaling pathways controlling cellular events such as growth and differentiation, energy homeostasis, and the response to stress and inflammation. Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation has many adverse effects on skin, including inflammation, alteration in the extracellular matrix, cellular senescence, apoptosis and skin cancer. Prunus mume, a naturally derived plant extract, has beneficial biological activities as blood fluidity improvement, anti-fatigue action, antioxidative and free radical scavenging activities, inhibiting the motility of Helicobacter pyolri. Previous reports on various beneficial function prompted us to investigate UVB-induced or other immunostimulated biological marker regarding P. mume extract. P. mume extract suppresses UVB-induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in mouse skin epidermal JB6 P+ cells. The activation of activator protein-1 and nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ induced by UVB was dose-dependently inhibited by P. mume extract treatment. This results suggest that P. mume extracts might be used as a potential agents for protection of inflammation or UVB induced skin damage.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1307-1314
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• 2015

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a member of the IL-6 cytokine family, having pleiotropic actions such as maintaining stem cell pluripotency and enabling blastocyst implantation. Because the action of LIF is mediated by a ligand-receptor interaction with the LIF receptor (LIF-R), an antagonist for LIF-R has been developed to inhibit LIF-induced signaling. In this study, we present a novel method for the production and purification of an antagonist to human LIF-R (hLA). His-tagged hLA was expressed in E. coli, and simple purification methods without any endopeptidase cleavage were designed. In addition, we determined the optimal temperature conditions for enhancing the production of soluble hLA. Finally, the bioactivity of His-tagged hLA was examined using STAT3 phosphorylation and receptivity of human endometrial ECC-1 cells. Our strategy provides a rapid and efficient method to produce biologically active recombinant hLA.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.1109-1114
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• 2021

Chlamydia pneumoniae is a type of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria that causes various respiratory tract infections including asthma. Chlamydia species infect humans and cause respiratory infection by rupturing the lining of the respiratory which includes the throat, lungs and windpipe. Meanwhile, the function of interleukin-4 (IL-4) in Ch. pneumoniae respiratory infection and its association with the development of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in adulthood and causing allergic airway disease (AAD) are not understood properly. We therefore investigated the role of IL-4 in respiratory infection and allergy caused by early life Chlamydia infection. In this study, Ch. pneumonia strain was propagated and cultured in HEp-2 cells according to standard protocol and infant C57BL/6 mice around 3-4 weeks old were infected to study the role of IL-4 in respiratory infection and allergy caused by early life Chlamydia infection. We observed that IL-4 is linked with Chlamydia respiratory infection and its absence lowers respiratory infection. IL-4R α2 is also responsible for controlling the IL-4 signaling pathway and averts the progression of infection and inflammation. Furthermore, the IL-4 signaling pathway also influences infection-induced AHR and aids in increasing AAD severity. STAT6 also promotes respiratory infection caused by Ch. pneumoniae and further enhanced its downstream process. Our study concluded that IL-4 is a potential target for preventing infection-induced AHR and severe asthma.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.273-286
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• 2021

Background: Prostate carcinoma is the second most common cancer among men worldwide. Developing new therapeutic approaches and diagnostic biomarkers for prostate cancer (PC) is a significant need. The Chinese herbal medicine Panax quinquefolius saponins (PQS) have been reported to show anti-tumor effects. We hypothesized that PQS exhibits anti-cancer activity in human PC cells and we aimed to search for novel biomarkers allowing early diagnosis of PC. Methods: We used the human PC cell line DU145 and the prostate epithelial cell line PNT2 to perform cell viability assays, flow cytometric analysis of the cell cycle, and FACS-based apoptosis assays. Microarray-based gene expression analysis was used to display specific gene expression patterns and to search for novel biomarkers. Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR were performed to demonstrate the expression levels of multiple cancer-related genes. Results: Our data showed that PQS inhibited the viability of DU145 cells and induced cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. A significant decrease in DU145 cell invasion and migration were observed after 24 h treatment by PQS. PQS up-regulated the expression levels of p21, p53, TMEM79, ACOXL, ETV5, and SPINT1 while it down-regulated the expression levels of bcl2, STAT3, FANCD2, DRD2, and TMPRSS2. Conclusion: PQS promoted cells apoptosis and inhibited the proliferation of DU145 cells, which suggests that PQS may be effective for treating PC. TMEM79 and ACOXL were expressed significantly higher in PNT2 than in DU145 cells and could be novel biomarker candidates for PC diagnosis.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2022

The aim of the present study was to investigate the physiological role of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) associated with odontogenic differentiation during tooth development in mice. Mouse dental papilla cell-23 (MDPC-23) cells cultured in differentiation media were stimulated with the specific NAMPT inhibitor, FK866, and Visfatin (NAMPT) for up to 10 days. The cells were evaluated after 0, 4, 7, and 10 days. Cell viability was measured using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The mineralization assay was performed by staining MDPC-23 cells with Alizarin Red S solution. After cultivation, MDPC-23 cells were harvested for quantitative PCR or Western blotting. Analysis of variance was performed using StatView 5.0 software (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. The expression of NAMPT increased during the differentiation of murine odontoblast-like MDPC-23 cells. Furthermore, the up-regulation of NAMPT promoted odontogenic differentiation and accelerated mineralization through an increase in representative odontoblastic biomarkers, such as dentin sialophosphoprotein, dentin matrix protein-1, and alkaline phosphatase in MDPC-23 cells. However, treatment of the cells with the NAMPT inhibitor, FK866, attenuated odontogenic differentiation, as evidenced by the suppression of odontoblastic biomarkers. These data indicate that NAMPT regulated odontoblastic differentiation through the regulation of odontoblastic biomarkers. The increase in NAMPT expression in odontoblasts was closely related to the formation of the extracellular matrix and dentin via the Runx signaling pathway. Therefore, these data suggest that NAMPT is a critical regulator of odontoblast differentiation during tooth development.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.54-64
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• 2023

Background: Panax ginseng Meyer (P. ginseng) is a traditional natural/herbal medicine. The amelioration on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity rely mainly on its main active ingredients that are referred to as ginsenosides. However, the current literature on gut microbiota, gut microbiota-host co-metabolites, and systems pharmacology has no studies investigating the effects of ginsenoside on IBD. Methods: The present study was aimed to investigate the role of ginsenosides and the possible underlying mechanisms in the treatment of IBD in an acetic acid-induced rat model by integrating metagenomics, metabolomics, and complex biological networks analysis. In the study ten ginsenosides in the ginsenoside fraction (GS) were identified using Q-Orbitrap LC-MS. Results: The results demonstrated the improvement effect of GS on IBD and the regulation effect of ginsenosides on gut microbiota and its co-metabolites. It was revealed that 7 endogenous metabolites, including acetic acid, butyric acid, citric acid, tryptophan, histidine, alanine, and glutathione, could be utilized as significant biomarkers of GS in the treatment of IBD. Furthermore, the biological network studies revealed EGFR, STAT3, and AKT1, which belong mainly to the glycolysis and pentose phosphate pathways, as the potential targets for GS for intervening in IBD. Conclusion: These findings indicated that the combination of genomics, metabolomics, and biological network analysis could assist in elucidating the possible mechanism underlying the role of ginsenosides in alleviating inflammatory bowel disease and thereby reveal the pathological process of ginsenosides in IBD treatment through the regulation of the disordered host-flora co-metabolism pathway.