• Molecules and Cells
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• v.42 no.12
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• pp.893-905
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• 2019

Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that constantly undergo fission and fusion processes that closely related to their function. Disruption of mitochondrial dynamics has been demonstrated in acute kidney injury (AKI), which could eventually result in cell injury and death. Previously, we reported that augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) alleviates renal tubular epithelial cell injury. Here, we gained further insights into whether the renoprotective roles of ALR are associated with mitochondrial dynamics. Changes in mitochondrial dynamics were examined in experimental models of renal ischemia-reperfusion (IR). In a model of hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) injury in vitro, dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and mitochondrial fission process protein 1 (MTFP1), two key proteins of mitochondrial fission, were downregulated in the Lv-ALR + HR group. ALR overexpression additionally had an impact on phosphorylation of Drp1 Ser637 during AKI. The inner membrane fusion protein, Optic Atrophy 1 (OPA1), was significantly increased whereas levels of outer membrane fusion proteins Mitofusin-1 and -2 (Mfn1, Mfn2) were not affected in the Lv-ALR + HR group, compared with the control group. Furthermore, the mTOR/4E-BP1 signaling pathway was highly activated in the Lv-ALR + HR group. ALR overexpression led to suppression of HR-induced apoptosis. Our collective findings indicate that ALR gene transfection alleviates mitochondrial injury, possibly through inhibiting fission and promoting fusion of the mitochondrial inner membrane, both of which contribute to reduction of HK-2 cell apoptosis. Additionally, fission processes are potentially mediated by promoting tubular cell survival through activating the mTOR/4E-BP1 signaling pathway.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1421-1425
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• 2015

Aims: Pleiotrophin (PTN), an angiogenic factor, is associated with various types of cancer, including lung cancer. Our aim was to investigate the possibility of using serum PTN as an early indicator regarding disease diagnosis, classification and prognosis, for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Significant differences among PTN levels in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC, n=40), NSCLC (n=136), and control subjects with benign pulmonary lesions (n=21), as well as patients with different pathological subtypes of NSCLC were observed. Results: A serum level of PTN of 300.1 ng/ml, was determined as the cutoff value differentiating lung cancer patients and controls, with a sensitivity and specificity of 78.4% and 66.7%, respectively. Negative correlations between serum PTN level and pathological differentiation level, stage, and survival time were observed in our cohort of patients with NSCLC. In addition, specific elevation of PTN levels in pulmonary tissue in and around NSCLC lesions in comparison to normal pulmonary tissue obtained from the same subjects was also observed (n=2). Conclusion: This study suggests that the serum PTN level of patients with NSCLC could be an early indicator for diagnosis and prognosis. This conclusion should be further assessed in randomized clinical trials.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3109-3116
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• 2013

The majority of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients have a poor prognosis with current therapies, and new approaches are urgently needed. We have developed a novel therapeutic cancer vaccine platform based on tumor cell derived autophagosomes (DRibbles) for cancer immunotherapy. We here evaluated the effectiveness of DRibbles-pulsed dendritic cell (DC) immunization to induce anti-tumor immunity in BALB/c mouse HCC and humanized HCC mouse models generated by transplantation of human HCC cells (HepG2) into BALB/c-nu mice. DRibbles were enriched from H22 or BNL cells, BALB/c-derived HCC cell lines, by inducing autophagy and blocking protein degradation. DRibbles-pulsed DC immunization induced a specific T cell response against HCC and resulted in significant inhibition of tumor growth compared to mice treated with DCs alone. Antitumor efficacy of the DCs-DRibbles vaccine was also demonstrated in a humanized HCC mouse model. The results indicated that HCC/DRibbles-pulsed DCs immunotherapy might be useful for suppressing the growth of residual tumors after primary therapy of human HCC.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.77 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2014

Background: This study analyzed the negative prognostic factors in patients who received second-line chemotherapy for advanced inoperable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 137 patients with inoperable stage III-IV NSCLC who received second-line chemotherapy. The effects of clinical parameters on survival were analyzed and the hazard ratios (HR) for mortality were identified by a Cox regression analysis. Results: Sex, age older than 65 years, smoking history, cell type, T-stage, best response to first-line chemotherapy and first-line chemotherapy regimen were significant negative predictors in univariate analysis. The multivariate analysis showed that patients older than 65 years (HR, 1.530; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.020-2.297), advanced T stage (T4 vs. T1; HR, 2.273; 95% CI, 1.010-5.114) and non-responders who showed progression with first-line chemotherapy (HR, 1.530; 95% CI, 1.063-2.203) had higher HR for death. Conclusion: The age factor, T stage and responsiveness to first-line chemotherapy were important factors in predicting the outcome of patients with advanced NSCLC who received second-line chemotherapy. The results may help to predict outcomes for these patients in the future.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.248-260
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• 1987

In order to investigate the importance of the prospective mesodermal and endodermal blastomeres at 32-cell stage in the anis formation, blastomeres were deleted or transplanted into the ventrovegital site of another normal embryo. The results are as follows: When the dorsomesodermal or dorsoendodermal blastomeres were deleted, there was a substantial developmental lesion in the axis structure. However, when the ventromesodermal or ventroendodermal blastomeres were deleted, the formation of an axis structure was nearly normal. The dorsomesodermal or dorsoendodermal blastomeres which were transplanted into the ventral side of the normal 32-cell embryo caused the formation of a secondary body axis, and the capacity of the second axis induction in the dorsomesodermal blastomeres was a little higher than that in the dorsoendodermal blastomeres. These results imply that both the dorsomesodermal and dorsoendodermal blastomeres are involved in the formation of a set of dorsal body structures during early embryogenesis. As well, in order to investigate the axis inducing capacity in the early cleavage embryos, the dorsovegital blastomeres were transplanted into the ventrovegital site at 4-cell, 8-cell and 16-ceIL stage respectively. As a ruts·fIt, a second body axis was formed. Therefore, it seems that the early cleavage embryo as 4-cell stage dorsal blastomeres contain some informations necessary for the axis formation.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.33 no.5A
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• pp.517-525
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• 2008

In this paper, we cary out system level simulations to investigate the effect of cell shape(i.e., different base station displacements in the two directions defined by the street grid) on minimizing transmitter power, interference power, and blocking probability for CDMA system in urban microcellular environments. In urban microcell, path loss to the base station depends on the orientation of the street where the mobile is located. Interference from mobile stations to the base station in the reference cell is considered up to second tier. The wrap around method is used to include the second tier interference with realistic computational complexity without reducing the accuracy of interference calculations. The investigation shows that the transmitter power, interference power, and blocking probability in a cell can be reduced by proper selection of the efficient cell shape.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 1974

We have studied the applicability of the principles and inherent advantages of the two-stage dontinuous uclture technique to an enzyme process for the purpose of improving and optimizing the productivity of 3-ketosteroid-delta-1-dehydrogenase. By using a two-stage continuous culture system, the growth st ageand enzyme produdtion stage are separated. In each stage an optimal set of toperaing conditions was determined, and this was tested for feasibility for the period of 10 days. During this period, at least 70％ of the maximum enzyme productivity could be maintained. The important design parameters studied are: (1) optimal specific growth rate in the first stage which corresponds to the maximal cell productivity, (2) the optimal dilution rate in the second stage which in turn determines the size of second stage fermentor and the mean residence time of cells in the second stage, (3) cell concentration in both stages, add (4) the specific enzyme productivity and enzyme productivity of the second stage. In addition, by using two-stage continuous culture system we have been able to reduce or eliminate the effect of catabolite repression due to high medium concentration and the adverse effect of the solvent used to dissolve the inducer. We have found the balance between the opposing effects of induction and repression in the second stage judging from the observation that the enzyme productivity goes through a maximum.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.341-354
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to develop the uniaxial force plate system which is measured by the vertical force. The VGRF(vertical ground reaction force) 1.0 was composed of 2 bath digital scales, 2 indicaters, and analyzing software. This system was newly renovated to VGRF 2,0 which are 2 industrial digital scales, 2 adjustable indicators, and enforced analyzing software. Changes of the new system were as follows. First, the height of the plate was 75% lower than before. Second, sensing ability of the load cell was changed from 90 - 0.05kg to 300 - 0.1kg. Third, the speed of data processing was changed from 17 per second to 60 per second. Fourth, analyzing software was enforced to develop and calculate the data. For the test of the system, two different types(bare foot, high-heeled shoes) gait was adopted. highly skilled female walker(23yrs, height 165cm, body mass 46.8kg) participated for the experimental study. During the dynamic performance(gait analysis), the data of each load cell were very similar to the previous studies. Specifically, bare foot walking had less vertical force than high-heeled shoes. Consequently, VGRF 2.0 can sense the general dynamic movements as well as static load conditions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1675-1679
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• 2014

Objectives: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of many physiological and pathological processes, including tumorigenesis and metastasis. In this study, we sought to determine the underlying molecular mechanisms of metastatic cervical carcinoma by performing miRNA profiling. Methods: Tissue samples were collected from ten cervical squamous cancer patients who underwent hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node (PLN) dissection in our hospital, including four PLN-positive (metastatic) cases and six PLN-negative (non-metastatic) cases. A miRNA microarray platform with 1223 probes was used to determine the miRNA expression profiles of these two tissue types and case groups. MiRNAs having at least 4-fold differential expression between PLN-positive and PLN-negative cervical cancer tissues were bioinformatically analyzed for target gene prediction. MiRNAs with tumor-associated target genes were validated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: Thirty-nine miRNAs were differentially expressed (>4-fold) between the PLN-positive and PLN-negative groups, of which, 22 were up-regulated and 17 were down-regulated. Sixty-nine percent of the miRNAs (27/39) had tumor-associated target genes, and the expression levels of six of those (miR-126, miR-96, miR-144, miR-657, miR-490-5p, and miR-323-3p) were confirmed by quantitative (q)RT-PCR. Conclusions: Six MiRNAs with predicted tumor-associated target genes encoding proteins that are known to be involved in cell adhesion, cytoskeletal remodeling, cell proliferation, cell migration, and apoptosis were identified. These findings suggest that a panel of miRNAs may regulate multiple and various steps of the metastasis cascade by targeting metastasis-associated genes. Since these six miRNAs are predicted to target tumor-associated genes, it is likely that they contribute to the metastatic potential of cervical cancer and may aid in prognosis or molecular therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.289-294
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• 2012

Background: Myofibroblasts play an important role in the development of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF). In the current study, we investigate the effect of curcumin on growth and apoptosis of myofibroblasts derived from human oral mucosa. Methods: Myofibroblasts were generated by incubating fibroblasts, obtained from human oral mucosa, with transforming growth factor-${\beta}1$ (TGF-${\beta}1$). MTT, PI staining, and FACS assays were used to investigate curcumin's effect on proliferation and cell cycle of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts. Annexin V/PI binding and FACS assays were used to examine apoptosis of myofibroblasts, Western blotting to determine the levels of Bcl-2 and Bax, and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay was employed to examine the levels of collagen type I and III in the supernatants of myofibroblasts. Results: Curcumin inhibits proliferation of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts; it also disturbs the cell cycle, induces apoptosis and decreases the generation of collagen type I and III in myofibroblasts, which are more sensitive to its effects than fibroblasts. Curcumin induces apoptosis in myofibroblasts by down-regulating the Bcl-2/ Bax ratio. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the antifibrotic effect of curcumin in vitro. It may therefore be a candidate for the treatment of OSF.