• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.517-521
• /
• 2003

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein complex whose function is to add telomeric repeats to chromosomal ends. Telomerase consists of two essential components, telomerase RNA template (hTR) and catalytic subunit (hTERT). hTERT is expressed only in cells and tissues positive for telomerase activity, i.e., tumor and fetal cells. In this report, the possibility of utilization of the hTERT promoter in targeted cancer gene therapy was tested. The hTERT promoter was cloned in the replacement of the CMV promoter, and the HSV-TK gene was subcloned to be controlled by the hTERT gene promoter in the adenovirus shuttle plasmid. Then, the recombinant adenovirus Ad-hT-TK was constructed and was infected into normal and human gynecological cancer cell lines. The selective tumor specific cell death by Ad-hT-TK was identified through these experiments, showing that Ad-hT-TK could be used for targeted cancer gene therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.2151-2159
• /
• 2015

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are rare and heterogenous tumors and surgery to remove the primary tumor is the mainstay of treatment for resectable disease. However, curative surgery is often not feasible, because half of patients with pNET have metastases at the time of diagnosis. Palliative dubulking surgery and liver-directed therapies are appropriate options for these patients. Streptozocin-based regimens are standard, although temozolamide-based treatments are rapidly gaining wide clinical application. Somatostatin analogs are mainly indicated in hormonally active tumors to ameliorate symptoms. In addition, anti-tumoral activity has been proven in well-differentiated NETs. Recently, there has been tremendous progress in the molecular biology of pNETs; thereby, the efficacy of sunitinib and everolimus in the treatment of patients with metastatic pNETs has been proven by large placebo-controlled phase III trials. Currently, there are no definitively proven predictive biomarkers to evaluate response to medical therapies in patients with pNET. Therefore, further studies are needed to individualize and optimize their management. This article reviews systemic chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and anti-secretory treatments for the management of patients with unresectable or metastatic pNETs, summarized in the light of recent advances.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.17
• /
• pp.6989-6999
• /
• 2014

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the major healthcare problems worldwide and its processes of genesis include a sequence of molecular pathways from adenoma to carcinoma. The discovery of microRNAs, a subset of regulatory non-coding RNAs, has added new insights into CRC diagnosis and management. Together with several causes of colorectal neoplasia, aberrant expression of oncomiRs (oncogenic and tumor suppressor miRNAs) in cancer cells was found to be indirectly result in up- or down-regulation of targeted mRNAs specific to tumor promoter or inhibitor genes. The study of miRNAs as CRC biomarkers utilizes expression profiling methods from traditional tissue samples along with newly introduced non-invasive samples of faeces and body fluids. In addition, miRNAs could be employed to predict chemo- and radio-therapy responses and be manipulated in order to alleviate CRC characteristics. The scope of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of scientific literature describing aberrantly expressed miRNAs, and consequently dysregulation of targeted mRNAs along with the potential role of miRNAs in CRC diagnosis and prognosis, as well as to summarize the recent findings on miRNA-based manipulation methods with the aim of advancing in anti-CRC therapies.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.129-133
• /
• 2014

BACKGROUND: This study was performed for selecting yeast mutants with a high tolerance for targeted metals, and determining whether yeasts strains tolerant to multiple heavy metals could be induced by sequential adaptations. METHODS AND RESULTS: A mutant yeast strain tolerant to the heavy metals cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) was selected by sequential elevated exposures to each metal with intermittent mutant isolation steps. A Cd-tolerant mutant was isolated by growing yeast cells in media containing $CdCl_2$ concentrations that were gradually increased to 1 mM. Then the Cd-tolerant mutant was gradually exposed to increasing levels of $CuCl_2$ in growth media until a concentration of 7 mM was reached, thus generating a strain tolerant to both Cd and Cu. In the subsequent steps, this mutant was exposed to $NiCl_2$ (up to 8 mM), and a resultant isolate was further exposed to $ZnCl_2$ (up to 60 mM), allowing the derivation of a yeast mutant that was simultaneously tolerant to Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn. CONCLUSION: This method of inducing tolerance to multiple targeted heavy metals in yeast will be useful in the bioremediation of heavy metals.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
• /
• 2017.05a
• /
• pp.81-81
• /
• 2017

Nanotechnology is of great importance to molecular biology and medicine because life processes are maintained by the action of a series of molecular nanomachines in the cell machinery. Recent advances in nanoscale materials that possess emergent physical properties and molecular organization hold great promise to impact human health in the diagnostic and therapeutic arenas. In order to be effective, nanomaterials need to navigate the host biology and traffic to relevant biological structures, such as diseased or pathogenic cells. Moreover, nanoparticles intended for human administration must be designed to interact with, and ideally leverage, a living host environment. Inspired by nature, we use peptides to transfer biological trafficking properties to synthetic nanoparticles to achieve targeted delivery of payloads. In this talk, development of nanoscale materials will be presented with a particular focus on applications to three outstanding health problems: bacterial infection, cancer detection, and traumatic brain injury. A biodegradable nanoparticle carrying a peptide toxin trafficked to the bacterial surface has antimicrobial activity in a pneumonia model. Trafficking of a tumor-homing nanoprobes sensitively detects cancer via a high-contrast time-gated imaging system. A neuron-targeted nanoparticle carrying siRNA traffics to neuronal populations and silences genes in a model of traumatic brain injury. Unique combinations of material properties that can be achieved with nanomaterials provide new opportunities in translational nanomedicine. This framework for constructing nanomaterials that leverage bio-inspired molecules to traffic diagnostic and therapeutic payloads can contribute on better understanding of living systems to solve problems in human health.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.263-266
• /
• 2007

Vibrio vulnificusis a causative agent of serious diseases in humans resulting from the contact of wound with seawater or consumption of raw seafood. Several studies aimed at detecting V. vulnificus have targeted vvh as a representative virulence toxin gene belonging to the bacterium. In this study, we targeted the rpoS gene, a general stress regulator, to detect V. vulnificus. PCR specificity was identified by amplification of 8 V. vulnificus templates and by the loss of a PCR product with 36 non-V. vulnificus strains. The PCR assay had the 273-bp fragment and the sensitivity of 10 pg DNA from V. vulnificus. SYBR Green I-based real-time PCR assay targeting the rpoS gene showed a melting temperature of approximately $84^{\circ}C$ for V. vulnificus strains. The minimum level of detection by real-time PCR was 2 pg of purified genomic DNA, or $10^3$ V. vulnificus cells from pure cultured broth and $10^3$ cells in 1g of oyster tissue homogenates. These data indicate that real-time PCR is a sensitive, species-specific, and rapid method for detecting this bacterium using the rpoS gene in pure cultures and in infected oyster tissues.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.13-24
• /
• 2017

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report the effect of Korean Herbal Medicine (KHM) on a Renal Cell Carcinoma with multiple liver metastases patient. Methods: One renal cell carcinoma with multiple liver metastases patient was treated by KHM in conjunction with targeted anticancer agent (Afinitor). The effect of KHM was measured by scanning with Computed Tomography (CT), Blood Test, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group scale. Results: Multiple hepatic tumors were reduced after the treatment during 5 months (Partial Remission, PR). As treatment was performed, complications induced by targeted anticancer agent (Afinitor) were alleviated. Conclusions: This case provides us a possibility that Korean Herbal Medicine offers potential benefits for renal cell carcinoma with multiple liver metastases patient.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.74-81
• /
• 2006

Molecular targeting may be defined as the specific concentration of a diagnostic or therapeutic tracer by its Interaction with a molecular species that is distinctly present or absent in a disease state. Monoclonal antibody (mAb) is one of the successful agents for targeted therapy in cancer. To enhance the therapeutic effect, the concept of targeting radionuclides to tumors using radiolabeled mAbs against tumor-associated antigens, radioimmunotherapy, was proposed. The efficacy of radioimmunotherapy, however, has to be further optimized. Several strategies to improve targeting of tumors with radiolabeled mAbs have been developed, such as the use of mAb fragments, the use of high-affinity mAbs, the use of labeling techniques that are stable in vivo, active removal of the radiolabeled mAb from the circulation, and pretargeting strategies. Until now, however, there are many kinds of obstacles to be solved in the use of mAb for the targeted therapy. Major technical challenges to molecular targeting are related to the rapid and specific delivery of tracers to the target, the elimination of unwanted background activity, and the development of more specific targets to create a cytocidal effect. further development of this field will be determined by success in solving these challenges.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.12
• /
• pp.1955-1970
• /
• 2018

Several genetic strategies have been proposed for the successful transformation and expression of microbial transgenes in model and crop plants. Here, we bring into focus the prominent applications of microbial transgenes in plants for the development of disease resistance; mitigation of stress conditions; augmentation of food quality; and use of plants as "bioreactors" for the production of recombinant proteins, industrially important enzymes, vaccines, antimicrobial compounds, and other valuable secondary metabolites. We discuss the applicable and cost-effective approaches of transgenesis in different plants, as well as the limitations thereof. We subsequently present the contemporary developments in targeted genome editing systems that have facilitated the process of genetic modification and manifested stable and consumer-friendly, genetically modified plants and their products. Finally, this article presents the different approaches and demonstrates the introduction and expression of microbial transgenes for the improvement of plant resistance to pathogens and abiotic stress conditions and the production of valuable compounds, together with the promising research progress in targeted genome editing technology. We include a special discussion on the highly efficient CRISPR-Cas system helpful in microbial transgene editing in plants.

• Journal of Information Processing Systems
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.245-257
• /
• 2022

In the Internet of Things (IoT) era, the types of devices used by one user are becoming more diverse and the number of devices is also increasing. However, a forensic investigator is restricted to exploit or collect all the user's devices; there are legal issues (e.g., privacy, jurisdiction) and technical issues (e.g., computing resources, the increase in storage capacity). Therefore, in the digital forensics field, it has been a challenge to acquire information that remains on the devices that could not be collected, by analyzing the seized devices. In this study, we focus on the fact that multiple devices share data through account synchronization of the online platform. We propose a novel way of identifying the user's interest through analyzing the remnants of targeted advertising which is provided based on the visited websites or search terms of logged-in users. We introduce a detailed methodology to pick out the targeted advertising from cache data and infer the user's interest using deep learning. In this process, an improved learning model considering the unique characteristics of advertisement is implemented. The experimental result demonstrates that the proposed method can effectively identify the user interest even though only one device is examined.