• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.400-412
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• 2020

The world has witnessed unimaginable damage from the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Because the pandemic is growing rapidly, it is important to consider diverse treatment options to effectively treat people worldwide. Since the immune system is at the hub of the infection, it is essential to regulate the dynamic balance in order to prevent the overexaggerated immune responses that subsequently result in multiorgan damage. The use of stem cells as treatment options has gained tremendous momentum in the past decade. The revolutionary measures in science have brought to the world mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and MSC-derived exosomes (MSC-Exo) as therapeutic opportunities for various diseases. The MSCs and MSC-Exos have immunomodulatory functions; they can be used as therapy to strike a balance in the immune cells of patients with COVID-19. In this review, we discuss the basics of the cytokine storm in COVID-19, MSCs, and MSC-derived exosomes and the potential and stem-cell-based ongoing clinical trials for COVID-19.

• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.8
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• pp.422-427
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• 2013

Although BMP9 is highly capable of promoting osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs), the molecular mechanism involved remains to be fully elucidated. Here, we explore the possible involvement and detail role of JNKs (c-Jun N-terminal kinases) in BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. It was found that BMP9 stimulated the activation of JNKs in MSCs. BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs was dramatically inhibited by JNKs inhibitor SP600125. Moreover, BMP9-activated Smads signaling was decreased by SP600125 treatment in MSCs. The effects of inhibitor are reproduced with adenoviruses expressing siRNA targeted JNKs. Taken together, our results revealed that JNKs was activated in BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs. What is most noteworthy, however, is that inhibition of JNKs activity resulted in reduction of BMP9-induced osteogenic differentiation of MSCs, implying that activation of JNKs is essential for BMP9 osteoinductive activity.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.424-433
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• 2019

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental monogenic disorder with a strong genetic influence. Idiopathic autism could be defined as a type of autism that does not have a specific causative agent. Among signalling cascades, mTOR signalling pathway plays a pivotal role not only in cell cycle, but also in protein synthesis and regulation of brain homeostasis in ASD patients. The present review highlights, underlying mechanism of mTOR and its role in altered signalling cascades as a triggering factor in the onset of idiopathic autism. Further, this review discusses how distorted mTOR signalling pathway stimulates truncated translation in neuronal cells and leads to downregulation of protein synthesis at dendritic spines of the brain. This review concludes by suggesting downstream regulators such as p70S6K, eIF4B, eIF4E of mTOR signalling pathway as promising therapeutic targets for idiopathic autistic individuals.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2010

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of continuous nutritional education and oral mucositis management on the nutritive status of patients who received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods: After randomly allotting 72 patients who received HSCT to either an experimental group or a control group, intensive and continuous care for preventing malnutrition was conducted in the experimental group while usual routine care was conducted in the control group. The changes of the body scale, blood chemistry profile, oral intake calories, nausea and vomitus, and oral stomatitis scores were measured at three points during their hospitalization using a oral assessment guide and nutrition analysis program: admission, HSCT, and discharge day. The differences between the scores of two groups were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of covariance. Results: The number of total lymphocytes was significantly improved in the experimental group after transplantation (p<.001). Nausea and vomiting score was significantly decreased in the experimental group during the conditioning regimen (p<.001). Conclusion: It was found that continuous nutritional education and oral mucositis control is an effective intervention by improving immune condition. Further investigations concerning direct examination of oral intake with controlling the effect of the chemotherapy are needed to ultimately discern the impact of varying oral nutrition patterns during HSCT.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2011

Recently, STEM education and improvement in creativity took a lot of attention in local and foreign educational programs, and the robot education is regarded as one of the answers which can achieve the objectives. The robot education is quite active locally in various ways including robot classes for after school program in elementary schools, a number of robot competitions, and education for the gifted. Under these circumstances, the qualification test for robot technology is developed to provide a standard for evaluating professional knowledge on robotics and is currently under consideration to be one of the government-approved qualification tests. However, compared to the robot classes for after school program, this test is not well recognized by most teachers in elementary and middle schools. This paper addresses and analyzes the current status of the test, in particular, backgrounds, qualification standards, organizing committee, intention of presenting questions, examples of problems used in the test, and demands raised by applicants, etc. Base on the analysis, some suggestions are made to establish a solid standard for evaluating robot technologies. It is suggested that the level of difficulty and contents covered should be properly adjusted considering the level of applicants. In addition, it is essential to provide well organized supplementary material for students and wide range of contents on robot technology. Finally, some efforts including cooperating with the robot classes for after school program should be made to invigorate the test.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2015

STEAM is a multidisciplinary education program which intended to promote creative thinking by combining studies in the arts and STEM(Science, Technology, Engineer, Mathematics) fields. STEAM education can bring out creativities in students through educational activities of integrating and combining diverse studies. In this research, we integrated the educational elements of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and arts using robots and then developed an educational program that raises the creative and character (focused on collaboration and communication) of students in a more fun and effective way. Using our developed educational program, we taught 6th grade students of an elementary school located in Seoul. As the result, most of students were found to be enhanced in their creativity and character after participating in the STEAM-based programming education course.

• Journal of The Korean Association of Information Education
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2019

The fourth industrial revolution era calls for the ability to solve problems creatively based on basic literacy for technology. These capabilities can be enhanced through the maker education linked to SW education STEM convergence education. Meanwhile, one of the tasks that must be set prior to the maker education is to take an educational approach rather than a tech-centric approach and consider ways to stimulate interest and motivation of the participants. For this purpose, this study developed and applied an engineering-oriented Reading & Maker education program to prospective teachers so that they could participate in active making activities on their own with interest and sympathy rather than simply guiding maker activities. As a result of the study, the results of the maker education recognition survey after the application of the program showed a statistically significant improvement(p<.000).

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.13.1-13.14
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• 2020

Currently, the systems for culturing buffalo spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) in vitro are varied, and their effects are still inconclusive. In this study, we compared the effects of culture systems with undefined (foetal bovine serum) and defined (KnockOut Serum Replacement) materials on the in vitro culture of buffalo SSC-like cells. Significantly more DDX4- and UCHL1-positive cells (cultured for 2 days at passage 2) were observed in the defined materials culture system than in the undefined materials system (p < 0.01), and these cells were maintained for a longer period than those in the culture system with undefined materials (10 days vs. 6 days). Furthermore, NANOS2 (p < 0.05), DDX4 (p < 0.01) and UCHL1 (p < 0.05) were expressed at significantly higher levels in the culture system with defined materials than in that with undefined materials. Induction with retinoic acid was used to verify that the cultured cells maintained SSC characteristics, revealing an SCP3+ subset in the cells cultured in the defined materials system. The expression levels of Stra8 (p < 0.05) and Rec8 (p < 0.01) were significantly increased, and the expression levels of ZBTB16 (p < 0.01) and DDX4 (p < 0.05) were significantly decreased. These findings provided a clearer research platform for exploring the mechanism of buffalo SSCs in vitro.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.11
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• pp.600-604
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• 2020

Macrophages are re-educated and polarized in response to myocardial infarction (MI). The M2 anti-inflammatory phenotype is a known dominator of late stage MI. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising tool for cell therapy, particularly heart related diseases. In general, MSCs induce alteration of the macrophage subtype from M1 to M2, both in vitro and in vivo. We conjectured that hypoxic conditions can promote secretome productivity of MSCs. Hypoxia induces TGF-β1 expression, and TGF-β1 mediates M2 macrophage polarization for anti-inflammation and angiogenesis in infarcted areas. We hypothesized that macrophages undergo advanced M2 polarization after exposure to MSCs in hypoxia. Treatment of MSCs derived hypoxic conditioned medium (hypo-CM) promoted M2 phenotype and neovascularization through the TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway. In addition, hypo-CM derived from MSCs improved restoration of ischemic heart, such as attenuating cell apoptosis and fibrosis, and ameliorating microvessel density. Based on our results, we propose a new therapeutic method for effective MI treatment using regulation of macrophage polarization.

• Journal of Engineering Education Research
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.3-16
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• 2020

This study aims to introduce the ENACT model, which is a systematic teaching-learning model for cultivating social responsibility of science and engineering college students, and to discuss its educational implications. For the development of the ENACT model, we conducted extensive literature reviews on RRI, STEM education, and science and technology studies (STS). In addition, we examined exemplary overseas education programs emphasizing social responsibility of scientists/engineers and citizens. The ENACT model consists of five steps; 1) Engage in SSIs, 2) Navigate SSIs, 3) Anticipate consequences, 4) Conduct scientific and engineering practice, and 5) Take action. This model links Socioscientific Issues (SSI) education with engineering education, dividing the major elements of social responsibility education for scientists and engineers into the dimensions of epistemology and praxis, and reflected them in the model. This effort enables science and engineering college students to pursue more responsible and sustainable development by carrying out the responsible problem-solving process based on an understanding of the nature of science and technology. We plan to implement ENACT model based programs for science and engineering college students and to examine the effects.