• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.429-438
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• 2007

Transport distraction osteogenesis has been introduced recently to correct skeletal malformations and discrepancies in the maxillofacial area. To reconstruct 3-dimensitonal mandibular shape, this transport distraction can be considered with the use of reconstruction plate. A 23-years-old male having unilateral mandibular body and angle defects, who had been operated of partial mandibular resection due to unicystic ameloblastoma, was treated by transport distraction procedures with ThreadLock transport $distractor^{(R)}$ (KLS Martin Co., Germany) through the rail of reconstruction plate (Osteomed Co., USA). After being distracted 35 mm defect from mandibular angle to body, and consolidated for 16 weeks, allogenic bone graft on docking site was performed with removal of transgingival pin. For more than 13 weeks follow up period after consolidation period, gradual increase of radiopacity in the radiographic examination was shown, and the curved mandibular continuity according to the reconstruction plate was made firmly. These transport distraction osteogenesis in the mandible was able to be considered as the good and minimally invasive technique for the reconstruction of mandibular discontinuity. Young patient was also very satisfactory for these results.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.217-228
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• 2012

As the size of container ships continues to increase, not many existing harbors can host the super-container ship due to its increased draft and the corresponding dredging requires huge budget. In addition, the minimization of waiting and loading/offloading time is the most important factor in harbor competitiveness. In this regard, mobile-harbor concept has been developed in Korea to achieve much improved harbor capacity and efficiency. In developing the concept, one of the most important elements is the operability of crane between two or more floating bodies in side-by-side arrangement. The container ship is to be stationed through a hawser connection to an outside-harbor fixed-pile station with the depth allowing its large draft. The mobile harbors with smart cranes are berthed to the sides of its hull for loading/offloading containers and transportation. For successful operation, the relative motions between the two or more floating bodies with hawser/fender connections have to be within allowable range. Therefore, the reliable prediction of the relative motions of the multiple floating bodies with realistic mooring system is essential to find the best hull particulars, hawser/mooring/fender arrangement, and crane/docking-station design. Time-domain multi-hull-mooring coupled dynamic analysis program is used to assess the hydrodynamic interactions among the multiple floating bodies and the global performance of the system. Both collinear and non-collinear wind-wave-current environments are applied to the system. It is found that the non-collinear case can equally be functional in dynamics view compared to the collinear case but undesirable phenomena associated with vessel responses and hawser tensions can also happen at certain conditions, so more care needs to be taken.

• 한국해양바이오학회지
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.102-109
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• 2014

Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are aquatic mammals that experienced drastic changes during the transition from terrestrial to aquatic environment. Morphological changes include streamlined body, alterations in the face, transformation of the forelimbs into flippers, disappearance of the hindlimbs and the acquisition of flukes on the tail. For a prolonged diving, cetaceans acquired hypoxia-resistance by developing various anatomical and physiological changes. However, molecular mechanisms underlying these adaptations are still limited. CREB-binding protein (CREBBP) is a transcriptional co-activator critical for embryonic development, growth control, metabolic homeostasis and responses to hypoxia. Natural selection analysis of five cetacean CREBBPs compared with those from 15 terrestrial relatives revealed strong purifying selection, supporting the importance of its role in mammals. However, prediction for amino acid changes that elicit functional difference of CREBBP identified three cetacean specific changes localized within a region required for interaction with SRCAP and in proximal regions to KIX domain of CREBBP. Mutations in CREBBP or SRCAP are known to cause craniofacial and skeletal defects in human, and KIX domain of CREBBP serves as a docking site for transcription factors including c-Myb, an essential regulator of haematopoiesis. In these respects, our study provides interesting insights into the functional adaptation of cetacean CREBBP for aquatic lifestyle.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.222-227
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• 2020

Inositol polyphosphate multikinase (IPMK) is required for the biosynthesis of inositol phosphates (IPs) through the phosphorylation of multiple IP metabolites such as IP3 and IP4. The biological significance of IPMK's catalytic actions to regulate cellular signaling events such as growth and metabolism has been studied extensively. However, pharmacological reagents that inhibit IPMK have not yet been identified. We employed a structure-based virtual screening of publicly available U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs and chemicals that identified the antidepressant, vilazodone, as an IPMK inhibitor. Docking simulations and pharmacophore analyses showed that vilazodone has a higher affinity for the ATP-binding catalytic region of IPMK than ATP and we validated that vilazodone inhibits IPMK's IP kinase activities in vitro. The incubation of vilazodone with NIH3T3-L1 fibroblasts reduced cellular levels of IP5 and other highly phosphorylated IPs without influencing IP4 levels. We further found decreased Akt phosphorylation in vilazodone-treated HCT116 cancer cells. These data clearly indicate selective cellular actions of vilazodone against IPMK-dependent catalytic steps in IP metabolism and Akt activation. Collectively, our data demonstrate vilazodone as a method to inhibit cellular IPMK, providing a valuable pharmacological agent to study and target the biological and pathological processes governed by IPMK.

• 한국항해항만학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국항해항만학회 2009년도 공동학술대회
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• pp.435-438
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• 2009

항로표지용 등부표는 주요 항로 및 항만 입출항 선박 안전 유도를 위한 해상교통 안전 시설로서 현재는 해상교통환경 변화로 다기능이 요구되는 상황이다. 최근 고광도 등명기와 항로표지원격감시제어 및 e-Navigation 지원시스템구축과 해양기상관측장비 등을 구축함에 따라 항로표지용 등부표에 더욱 안정적인 전원 공급을 위한 고성능 축전지가 요구되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 리튬이차전지 중에서도 안전성이 우수한 리튬폴리머전지 설계기술을 적용, 기존 산화물계보다 안전성이 보다 더 우수한 $LiFePO_4$를 양극재료로 사용하여 단전지를 개발하고 단전지의 전기적 특성 고찰하였다. 또한 단전지를 이용한 3.6kWh급 축전지를 제작하여 그 성능을 연축전지와 비교 분석하였다.

• 정보처리학회논문지:소프트웨어 및 데이터공학
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• 제8권10호
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• pp.421-426
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• 2019

본 논문에서는 단백질 복합체에서 단백질 사이의 접촉 영역이 갖는 기하학적 특징을 가시화하는 방법을 제안한다. 단백질 또는 리간드가 요철이 있는 곡면으로 표현될 때, 두 곡면이 서로 접하면서 교차하지 않는 성질을 형태 상보성이라 한다. 단백질-단백질 또는 단백질-리간드 도킹 연구에서 형태 상보성과 화학적인 성질, 엔트로피 등이 접촉 영역의 발견에 중요한 역할을 한다는 것을 볼 수 있다. 일반적으로 형태 상보성이 높은 영역을 발견한 뒤, 이 영역에 속한 아미노산들의 잔기 극성 및 소수성 등을 이용하여 접촉 영역을 예측한다. 접촉 영역을 예측하기 위한 연구에서는 기존에 알려진 복합체에서 접촉 영역이 갖는 기하학적인 특징을 조사하는 작업이 필요하며, 이를 위해 기하학적인 특징을 가시화하는 작업은 필수적이다. 본 논문에서는 단백질 복합체에서 접촉 영역을 발견하고, 두 개의 단백질 각각의 접촉 면에 속한 근거리의 정점들의 기하학적인 특징을 법선 벡터 및 평균 곡률로써 가시화하는 방법을 제안한다.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.550-561
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• 2019

Background: Gastric ulcer (GU) is a common gastrointestinal disease that can be induced by many factors. Finding an effective treatment method that contains fewer side effects is important. 20 (S)-ginsenoside Rg3 is a kind of protopanaxadiol and has shown superior antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects in many studies, especially cancer studies. In this study, we examined the treatment efficacy of 20 (S)-ginsenoside Rg3 on GU. Methods: Three kinds of GU models, including an alcohol GU model, a pylorus-ligated GU model, and an acetic acid GU model, were used. Mouse endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in blood and epidermal growth factor (EGF), superoxide dismutase, and NO levels in gastric mucosa were evaluated. Hematoxylin and eosin staining of gastric mucosa and immunohistochemical staining of ET-1, inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2), and epidermal growth factor receptors were studied. Ulcer index (UI) scores and UI ratios were also analyzed to demonstrate the GU conditions in different groups. Furthermore, Glide XP from $Schr{\ddot{o}}dinger$ was used for molecular docking to clarify the interactions between 20 (S)-ginsenoside Rg3 and EGF and NOS2. Results: 20 (S)-ginsenoside Rg3 significantly decreased the UI scores and UI ratios in all the three GU models, and it demonstrated antiulcer effects by decreasing the ET-1 and NOS2 levels and increasing the NO, superoxide dismutase, EGF, and epidermal growth factor receptor levels. In addition, high-dose 20 (S)-ginsenoside Rg3 showed satisfactory gastric mucosa protection effects. Conclusion: 20 (S)-ginsenoside Rg3 can inhibit the formation of GU and may be a potential therapeutic agent for GU.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.630-636
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• 2021

Eupafolin, a constituent of the aerial parts of Phyla nodiflora, has neuroprotective property. Because reducing the synaptic release of glutamate is crucial to achieving pharmacotherapeutic effects of neuroprotectants, we investigated the effect of eupafolin on glutamate release in rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes and explored the possible mechanism. We discovered that eupafolin depressed 4-aminopyridine (4-AP)-induced glutamate release, and this phenomenon was prevented in the absence of extracellular calcium. Eupafolin inhibition of glutamate release from synaptic vesicles was confirmed through measurement of the release of the fluorescent dye FM 1-43. Eupafolin decreased 4-AP-induced [Ca²⁺]_i elevation and had no effect on synaptosomal membrane potential. The inhibition of P/Q-type Ca²⁺ channels reduced the decrease in glutamate release that was caused by eupafolin, and docking data revealed that eupafolin interacted with P/Q-type Ca²⁺ channels. Additionally, the inhibition of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) prevented the effect of eupafolin on evoked glutamate release. Eupafolin also reduced the 4-AP-induced activation of CaMK II and the subsequent phosphorylation of synapsin I, which is the main presynaptic target of CaMKII. Therefore, eupafolin suppresses P/Q-type Ca²⁺ channels and thereby inhibits CaMKII/synapsin I pathways and the release of glutamate from rat cerebrocortical synaptosomes.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.483-491
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• 2021

Two putative genes, lip29 and est29, encoding lipolytic enzymes from the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus thermocatenulatus KCTC 3921 were cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant Lip29 and Est29 were purified 67.3-fold to homogeneity with specific activity of 2.27 U/mg and recovery of 5.8% and 14.4-fold with specific activity of 0.92 U/mg and recovery of 1.3%, respectively. The molecular mass of each purified enzyme was estimated to be 29 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The alignment analysis of amino acid sequences revealed that both enzymes belonged to GDSL lipase/esterase family including conserved blocks with SGNH catalytic residues which was mainly identified in plants before. While Est29 showed high specificity toward short-chain fatty acids (C4-C8), Lip29 showed strong lipolytic activity to long-chain fatty acids (C12-C16). The optimal activity of Lip29 toward p-nitrophenyl palmitate as a substrate was observed at 50℃ and pH 9.5, respectively, and its activity was maintained more than 24 h at optimal temperatures, indicating that Lip29 was thermostable. Lip29 exhibited high tolerance against detergents and metal ions. The homology modeling and substrate docking revealed that the long-chain substrates showed the greatest binding affinity toward enzyme. Based on the biochemical and insilico analyses, we present for the first time a GDSL-type lipase in the thermophilic bacteria group.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.6.1-6.10
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• 2021

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is expressed at elevated levels by most cancer cells, which can stimulate vascular endothelial cell growth, survival, proliferation as well as trigger angiogenesis modulated by VEGF and VEGFR (a tyrosine kinase receptor) signaling. The angiogenic effects of the VEGF family are thought to be primarily mediated through the interaction of VEGF with VEGFR-2. Targeting this signaling molecule and its receptor is a novel approach for blocking angiogenesis. In recent years virtual high throughput screening has emerged as a widely accepted powerful technique in the identification of novel and diverse leads. The high resolution X-ray structure of VEGF has paved the way to introduce new small molecular inhibitors by structure-based virtual screening. In this study using different alkaloid molecules as potential novel inhibitors of VEGF, we proposed three alkaloid candidates for inhibiting VEGF and VEGFR mediated angiogenesis. As these three alkaloid compounds exhibited high scoring functions, which also highlights their high binding ability, it is evident that these alkaloids can be taken to further drug development pipelines for use as novel lead compounds to design new and effective drugs against cancer.