• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.4867-4871
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• 2012

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Although the human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the major causative agent of cervical cancer, yet the viral infection alone is not sufficient for cancer progression. The etiopathogenesis of cervical cancer is indeed complex; a precise understanding of the complex cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying the initiation, progression and/or prevention of the uterine cervix is therefore essential. Autophagy is emerging as an important biological mechanism in targeting human cancers, including cervical cancer. Furthermore, autophagy, a process of cytoplasm and cellular organelle degradation in lysosomes, has been implicated in homeostasis. Autophagic flux may vary depending on the cell/tissue type, thereby altering cell fate under stress conditions leading to cell survival and/or cell death. Autophagy may in turn govern tumor metastasis and subsequent carcinogenesis. Inflammation is a known hallmark of cancer. Vascular insufficiency in tumors, including cervical tissue, leads to depletion of glucose and/or oxygen perturbing the osmotic mileu causing extracellular acidosis in the tumor microenvironment that may eventually result in autophagy. Thus, targeted manipulation of complex autophagic signaling may prove to be an innovative strategy in identification of clinically relevant biomarkers in cervical cancer in the near future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6939-6944
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• 2014

Sulfasalazine (SSZ) is an anti-inflammatory drug that has been used to treat inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis for decades. Recently, some reports have suggested that SSZ also has anti-cancer properties against human tumors. However, little is known about the effects of SSZ on oral cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-cancer effects of SSZ in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells and to elucidate the mechanisms involved. The authors investigated the anti-proliferative effect of SSZ using the MTT method in HSC-4 cells (an OSCC cell line). Cell cycle analysis, acidic vesicular organelle (AVO) staining, monodansylcadaverine (MDC) staining and Western blotting were also conducted to investigate the cytotoxic mechanism of SSZ. SSZ significantly inhibited the proliferation of HSC-4 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, SSZ induced autophagic cell death, increased microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain (MAP1-LC; also known as LC) 3-II levels, as well as induced punctate AVO and MDC staining, resulted in autophagic cell death. Furthermore, these observations were accompanied by the inhibition of the Akt pathway and the activation of ERK pathway. These results suggest that SSZ promotes autophagic cell death via Akt and ERK pathways and has chemotherapeutic potential for the treatment of oral cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1160-1165
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• 1998

When total cellular DNA was isolated from Porphyra tenera by ultracentrifugation on Hoechst dye/CsCl gradients method, plasmid like DNA's were concentrated at the upper band which were characterized with a A＋T rich organelle DNA's in the CsCl gradients. Based on their electrophoretic migration in different concentration of agarose gel, buffer system, and electric power etc. and the results of restriction digestion, the plasmid like DNA's were concluded to have circular conformation. This is the first report of putative circular plasmid DNA from the P. tenera, which is a autonomously replicating plasmid existing with a high copy number plasmid in the cell. The minimum size of this plasmid estimated by restriction endonuclease digestion was appeared to be 2.5kb in size.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.59-74
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• 2004

The study of whole patterns of changes in protein expression and their modifications, or proteomics, presents both technological advances as well as formidable challenges to biological researchers. Nutrition research and the food sciences in general will be strongly influenced by the new knowledge generated by the proteomics approach. This review examines the different aspects of proteomics technologies, while emphasizing the value of consideration of "traditional" aspects of protein separation. These include the choice of the cell, the subcellular fraction, and the isolation and purification of the relevant protein fraction (if known) by protein chromatographic procedures. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of proteins and their peptides formed by proteolytic hydrolysis have been substantially enhanced by the development of mass spectrometry technologies in combination with nanoscale fluidics analysis. These are described, as are the pros and cons of each method in current use.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.246-252
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• 2021

The Golgi complex plays a central role in protein secretion by regulating cargo sorting and trafficking. As these processes are of functional importance to cell polarity, motility, growth, and division, there is considerable interest in achieving a comprehensive understanding of Golgi complex biology. However, the unique stack structure of this organelle has been a major hurdle to our understanding of how proteins are secreted through the Golgi apparatus. Herein, we summarize available relevant research to gain an understanding of protein secretion via the Golgi complex. This includes the molecular mechanisms of intra-Golgi trafficking and cargo export in the trans-Golgi network. Moreover, we review recent insights on signaling pathways regulated by the Golgi complex and their physiological significance.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.315-322
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• 2006

TALP-32 is highly basic protein with a molecular weight of 32 kDa purified from human term placenta. Some basic proteins such as defensins and cecropins are known to induce cell death by increasing membrane permeability and some of them are under development as an anticancer drug especially targeting multi-drug resistant cancers. Therefore, we investigated cytotoxic effect and mechanism of TALP-32 When HeLa cell was incubated with TALP-32, cytotoxicity was increased in time and dose dependent manner. As time goes by, HeLa cells became round and plasma membrane was ruptured. Increase of plasma membrane permeability was determined with LDH release assay. Also in transmission electron microscopy, typical morphology of necrotic cell death, such as cell swelling and intracellular organelle disruption was observed, but DNA fragmentation and caspase activation was not. And necrotic cell death was determined with Annexin V/Pl staining. The cytotoxicity of TALP-32 was minimal and decreased or RBC and Hep3B respectively. These data suggests that TALP-32 induces necrosis on rapidly growing cells but not on slowly growing cells implicating the possibility of its development of anticancer peptide drug.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.950-955
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• 2023

Cell division is an essential process for the survival and development of living organisms. It is critical that duplicated chromosomes are properly segregated into daughter cells during mitosis. The centrosome is the core organelle that forms the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC), which generates the microtubules that make up the mitotic spindle during cell division. The centrosome is also involved in cell signaling and motility. In normal cells, there is one centrosome in G1 that replicates into two in the S phase and matures through G2. During the M phase, duplicated centrosomes move to both ends of the cell, and spindle microtubules that are generated from MTOC move the chromosome to both ends. The cells then split into two to complete the cell division. However, a phenomenon called centrosome amplification (CA), in which the number of centrosomes is higher than normal, is common in cancer cells and can lead to chromosome instability (CIN). This paper discusses the process of centrosome replication and the role of PLK4 in this process. The possible consequences of centrosome amplification and how the PLK4 inhibitor may be able to treat certain types of cancer cells, such as breast cancer and neuroblastoma, will also be discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Pathology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.119.1-119
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• 2003

The glyoxysomal nature of microbodies was determined in Botryosphaeria dothidea hyphae based on morphology and in situ enzyme characteristics by transmission electron microscopy and cytochemistry. Bound by a single membrane, microbodies had a homogeneous matrix and varied in size ranging from 200 to 400 m in diameter. Microbodies had crystalline inclusion(s) which consisted of parallel arrays of fine tubules in their matrices. Microbodies and lipid globules were frequently placed in close association with each other, forming microbody-lipid globule complexes in hyphae. The cytochemical activities of catalase and malate synthase were localized in matrices of microbodies, showing intense electron-density of the organelle. In addition, the immunogold labeling detected the presence of catalase in multivesicular bodies and hyphal cell walls as well as in matrices and crystalline inclusions of microbodies, supporting the enzyme secretion through cell walls. Meanwhile, isocitrate Iyase was localized only in matrices of microbodies. These results suggest that microbodies, particularly complexed with lipid globules, in the fungal hyphae are functionally defined as glyoxysomes, where glyoxysomal enzymes are biochemically active for the glyoxylate cycle to be a metabolic pathway in gluconeogenesis. (Mycology and Fugus Diseases)

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1985.08b
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• pp.35-48
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• 1985

Plastids, which are organelles unique to plant cells, bear their own genome that is organized into DNA-protein complexes (nucleoids). Regulation of gene expression in the plastid has been extensively investigated because this organelle plays an important role in photosynthesis. Few attempts, however, have been made to characterize the regulation of plastid gene expression at the chromosomal structure, using plastid nucleoids. In this report, we summarize the recent progress in the characterization of DNA-binding proteins in plastids, with special emphasis on CND41, a DNA binding protein, which we recently identified in the choloroplast nucleoids from photomixotrophically cultured tobacco cells. CND41 is a protein of 502 amino acids which consisted of a transit peptide of 120 amino acids and a mature protein of 382 amino acids. The N-terminal of the 'mature' protein has lysine-rich region which is essential for DNA-binding. CNA41 also showed significant identities to some aspartyl proteases. Protease activity of purified CND41 has been recently confirmed and characterized. On the other hand, characterization of accumulation of CND41 both in wild type and transgenic tobacco with reduced amount of CND41 suggests that CND41 is a negative regulator in chloroplast gene expression. Further investigation indicated that gene expression of CND41 is cell-specifically and developmentally regulated as well as sugar-induced expression. The reduction of CND41 expression in transgenic tobacco also brought the stunted plant growth due to the reduced cell length in stem. GA3 treatment on apical meristem reversed the dwarf phenotype in the transformants. Effects of CND41 expression on GA biosynthesis will be discussed

• Proceedings of the Botanical Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.07a
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• pp.10-18
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• 1998

For improvement of plants in disease resistance, it is most important to elucidate the mechanism to perceive and respond to the signal molecules of invaders. A model system with pea and its pathogen, Mycosphaerella pinodes, showed that the fungal elicitor induced defense responses in all plant species tested but that the suppressor of the fungus blocked or delayed the expression of defense responses and induced accessibility only in the host plant. In the world, many researchers believe that the pathogens` signals are recognized only on the receptors in the plasma membranes. Though we found that the ATPase and polyphosphoinositide metabolism in isolated plasma membranes responded to these fungal signals, we failed to detect specific actions of the suppressor in vitro on these plasma membrane functions. Recently, we found that ATPase (NTPases) and superoxide generating system in isolated cell wall were regulated by these fungal signals even in vitro, especially, by the suppressor in a strictly species-specific manner and also that the cell wall alone prepared an original defense system. The effects of both fungal signals on the isolated cell wall functions in vitro coincide perfectly with those on defense responses in vivo. In this treatise, we discuss the key role of the cell wall, which is plant-specific and the most exterior organelle, in determining host-parasite specificity and molecular target for improvement of plants.