• Toxicological Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.37-50
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• 1986

This paper describes the effects of nitrofen (Hi-TOK), a herbicide on the fetuses of rats. The results were observed as follows: The internal soft tissue anomalies were classified as diaphragmatic hernia, cardiac malformation (T.G.V., V.S.D., S.V.), dilatation of ventricle in brain, dilatation of renal pelvis, underdevelopment of fetal lung, shortening of cortex length and increasing of immatured glomeruli counts in the fetal kidney. The heart and diaphragm appear to be the target organs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.55-64
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• 2006

The fetal central nervous system (CNS) is sensitive to diverse environmental factors, such as alcohol, heavy metals, irradiation, mycotoxins, neurotransmitters, and DNA damage, because a large number of processes occur during an extended period of development. Fetal neural damage is an important issue affecting the completion of normal CNS development. As many concepts about the brain development have been recently revealed, it is necessary to compare the mechanism of developmental abnormalities induced by extrinsic factors with the normal brain development. To clarify the mechanism of fetal CNS damage, we used one experimental model in which 5-azacytidine (5AZC), a DNA damaging and demethylating agent, was injected to the dams of rodents to damage the fetal brain. 5AzC induced cell death (apoptosis)and cell cycle arrest in the fetal brain, and it lead to microencephaly in the neonatal brain. We investigated the mechanism of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in the neural progenitor cells in detail, and demonstrated that various cell cycle regulators were changed in response to DNA damage. p53, the guardian of genome, played a main role in these processes. Further, using DNA microarray analysis, tile signal cascades of cell cycle regulation were clearly shown. Our results indicate that neural progenitor cells have the potential to repair the DNA damages via cell cyclearrest and to exclude highly affected cells through the apoptotic process. If the stimulus and subsequent DNA damage are high, brain development proceeds abnormally and results in malformation in the neonatal brain. Although the mechanisms of fetal brain injury and features of brain malformation afterbirth have been well studied, the process between those stages is largely unknown. We hypothesized that the fetal CNS has the ability to repair itself post-injuring, and investigated the repair process after 5AZC-induced damage. Wefound that the damages were repaired by 60 h after the treatment and developmental processes continued. During the repair process, amoeboid microglial cells infiltrated in the brain tissue, some of which ingested apoptotic cells. The expressions of genes categorized to glial cells, inflammation, extracellular matrix, glycolysis, and neurogenesis were upregulated in the DNA microarray analysis. We show here that the developing brain has a capacity to repair the damage induced by the extrinsic stresses, including changing the expression of numerous genes and the induction of microglia to aid the repair process.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2007

The stem cell research is emerging as a cutting edge topic for a new treatment for many chronic diseases. Recently, dental stem cell would be possible for regeneration of tooth itself as well as periodontal tissue. However, the study of the cell characterization is scarce. Therefore, we performed the genetic profiling and the characterization of mouse fetus/neonate derived dental tissue and cell to find the identification during dental development. We separated dental arch from mandibles of 14.5 d fetal mice and neonate 0 d under the stereoscope, and isolated dental cells primarily from the tissues. Then, we examined morphology and the gene expression profiles of the primary cells and dental tissues from fetus/neonate and adult with RT-PCR. Primary dental cells showed heterogeneous but the majority was shown as fibroblast-like morphology. The change of population doubling time levels (PDLs) showed that the primary dental cells have growth potential and could be expanded under our culture conditions without reduction of growth rate. Immunocytochemical and flow cytometric analyses were performed to characterize the primary dental cell populations from both of fetus (E14.5) and neonate. Alpha smooth muscle actin (${\alpha}-SMA$), vimentin, and von Willebrand factor showed strong expression, but desmin positive cells were not detected in the primary dental cells. Most of the markers were not uniformly expressed, but found in subsets of cells, indicating that the primary dental cell population is heterogeneous, and characteristics of the populations were changed during culture period. And mesenchymal stem cell markers were highly expressed. Gene expression profile showed Wnt family and its related signaling molecules, growth factors, transcription factors and tooth specific molecules were expressed both fetal and neonatal tissue. The tooth specific genes (enamelin, amelogenin, and DSPP) only expressed in neonate and adult stage. These expression patterns appeared same as primary fetal and neonatal cells. In this study we isolated primary cells from whole mandible of fetal and neonatal mice. And we investigated the characteristics of the primary cells and the profile of gene expressions, which are involved in epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during tooth development. Taken together, the primary dental cells in early passages or fetal and neonatal mandibles could be useful stem cell resources.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.114-122
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• 1995

Defining the mechanisms of B cell diversification which establish the immune repertoire is fundamental to understand how the immune response is regulated. In this report, B cell differentiation and diversification focused on the regulation of immunoglobulin $V_H$ gene expression during ontogeny were analyzed by in situ hybridization technique. Fetal liver B cells in .different gestational days from 16d to 20d showed the predominant expression of $V_H7183$ and $V_HQ52$ without transition of repertoire during the observed gestation days. The two subsets of fetal liver B cells separated according to different differentiation stages based on the presence of tell surface immunoglobulin also did not indicate apparent difference in expressed $V_H$ gene family profiles. B cells in fetal spleen as an another hematopoietic lymphoid tissue in fetus also expressed similar $V_H$ gene repertoire to that in fetal liver B cells. This distinct pattern of $V_H$ gene expression in fetal B cells from that of adult B cells were not changed even after four weeks contact with adult bone marrow microenvironment supplied by the established adult bone marrow stromal cell layers. Thus, the restricted $V_H$ gene repertoire of B cells in fetus which is distinct from that in adult appears to be associated more with the genetic potential of fetal B cell progenitors and less with environmental influences or differentiation stages or compartmentalization.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.84-96
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• 1993

This study was to investigate the effects of maternal diabetes on the lung tissue of the fetal rat using lectin histochemistry and electron microscope technique. Maternal diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (75 mg/kg the body weight) into pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats on the 7th day of gestation. Fetuses of streptozotocin induced diabetic rats exhibited delayed lung maturation and reduced air space. In lectin histochemistry, the binding of Maclura pomifera (MPA) to fetal lungs from diabetic mothers was reduced, but no significant changes in the bindings of Concanavalin A (Con A), Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), Ricinus communis I (RCA I) and Griffonia simplicifolia (GSI-$B_4$) were noted. Because the MPA has affinity to terminal N-acetyl-D-galactosamine residues constantly linked O-glycosidically to serine or threonine, the present findings may indicates that maternal diabetes interfere with the processes of O-linked glycosylation in fetal rat lung.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.189-193
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• 2009

During development lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells are the first hematopoietic cells to enter the secondary lymphoid anlagen and induce lymphoid tissue neogenesis. LTi cells induce lymphoid tissue neogensis by expressing a wide range of proteins that are associated with lymphoid organogenesis. Among these proteins, membrane-bound lymphotoxin (LT) $\alpha1\beta2$ has been identified as a critical component to this process. LT$\alpha1\beta2$ interacts with the LT$\beta$-receptor on stromal cells and this interaction induces up-regulation of adhesion molecules and production of chemokines that are necessary for the attraction, retention and organization of other cell types. Constitutive expression of LT$\alpha1\beta2$ in adult LTi cells can result in the formation of a lymphoid-like structure called tertiary lymphoid tissue. In this review, we summarize the function of fetal and adult LTi cells and their involvement in secondary and tertiary lymphoid tissue development in murine models.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.75-91
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• 1986

Differentiation of the rat testis was studied by light and electron microscope from the fetal stage up to the newborn or adult stage. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the ultrastructural changes of seminiferous tubules and interstitial tissue during the developmental process. The results were as follows: the seminiferous tubule diameter began to increase from birth and was fully developed at 30 to 40 days of age through intratubular cell proliferations. Basement membrane and myoid cells lining the seminiferous tubules were differentiated at 17 days gestation. At the fetal stage, seminiferous tubules were primarily composed of Sertoli cells and the differentiation of Sertoli and germ cells progressed from the newborn stage. Spermatids and immature spermatozoa are appeared at 40 days of age, so from this time, spermatogenesis occurred actively until the adult stage. Sertoli cells aided germ cell differentiation and phagocytosed the parts of the spermatid cytoplasm. Leydig ce]] development follows a biphasic pattern: a fetal phase and then an adult phase from 20 days of age. In conclusion, the rat testis is already developed to some extent by the fetal stage and is functional after 50 days of age. Therefore, these findings indicate that differentiation of Sertoli and Leydig cells precedes the onset of spermatogenesis.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.231-236
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• 2001

SINE-R retroposons have been derived from human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K family and found to be hominoid specific. Both SINE-R retroposons and HERV-K family are potentially capable of affecting the expression of closely located genes. From cDNA library of human fetal brain, we identified seven SINE-R retroposons and compared them with sequences derived from GenBank database. The SINE-R retroposons from human feta1 brain showed 85∼97% sequence similarities with the human-specific retroposon SINE-R.C2. They also showed 88∼96% sequence similarities with the sequence of the schizo-cDNA clone that derived from postmortem frontal cortex tissue of a schizophrenic patient. Phylogenetic analysis using the neiqhbor-joining method revealed that the seven new SINE-R retroposons from cDNA library of the human feta1 brain have proliferated independently during human evolution. The data indicate that such SINE-R retroposons are expressed in human fetal brain and deserve further investigation as potential leads to understanding of neuropsychiatric diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.295-307
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• 1992

In order to study the differentiation of the epithelial cells during the development of fetal rat lung tissue, histological changeB in organotypic culture and in vivo were examined. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to analvre the histological change in rat lung from the 15th nary of gestation to the 111th nary after birth. In organotypic culture system, the pulmonary epithelial cell differentiation was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results obtained from this study were as follows. 1. During deveiopment of lung, the glandular stage lasted from the Isth day to the lsth naut of gestation; the canalicular stage from the 17th nay to the 19th naut of gestation; the saccuiar stage from 20th nary to the birth. Alveolar stage was observed at the 3rd nary of postnatal rat lung. 2. In organotvpic culture of fetal rat lung cells organized alveolar-like structures resembling those of in uiuo state were observed on the gelatin matrix. In contrast with in vivo state, fetal lung cells formed group of type ll pneumocytes predominently along the contours of the matrix. These cells have large apical surface, short microvilli and secreted materials which may be sunactant. These results suggested that an orsanotypic culture retaining epithelial- -mesenchvmal relationships is appropriate culture model to study the pulmonary epithelial cell (especially type ll pneumocvte) differentation.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.1010-1020
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• 2022

Objective: The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of maternal undernutrition during late pregnancy on the expressions of genes involved in growth and development in ovine fetal perirenal brown adipose tissue (BAT). Methods: Eighteen ewes with singleton fetuses were allocated to three groups at day 90 of pregnancy: restricted group 1 (RG1, 0.33 MJ metabolisable energy [ME]/kg body weight [BW]^0.75/d, n = 6), restricted group 2 (RG2, 0.18 MJ ME/kg BW^0.75/d, n = 6), and a control group (CG, ad libitum, 0.67 MJ ME/kg BW^0.75/d, n = 6). The fetuses were removed at day 140 of pregnancy. All data were analyzed by using the analysis of variance procedure. Results: The perirenal fat weight (p = 0.0077) and perirenal fat growth rate (p = 0.0074) were reduced in RG2 compared to CG. In fetal perirenal BAT, the protein level of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) (p = 0.0001) was lower in RG1 and RG2 compared with CG and UCP1 mRNA expression (p = 0.0265) was decreased in RG2. The protein level of myogenic factor 5 (Myf5) was also decreased in RG2 (p = 0.0001). In addition, mRNA expressions of CyclinA (p = 0.0109), CyclinB (p = 0.0019), CyclinD (p = 0.0015), cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) (p = 0.0001), E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1) (p = 0.0323), E2F4 (p = 0.0101), and E2F5 (p = 0.0018) were lower in RG1 and RG2. There were decreased protein expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) (p = 0.0043) and mRNA expression of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α (C/EBPα) (p = 0.0307) in RG2 and decreased PPARγ mRNA expression (p = 0.0008) and C/EBPα protein expression (p = 0.0015) in both RG2 and RG1. Furthermore, mRNA expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) (p = 0.0083) and BMP7 (p = 0.0330) decreased in RG2 and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor co-activator-1α (PGC-1α) reduced in RG2 and RG1. Conclusion: Our observations support that repression of regulatory factors promoting differentiation and development results in the inhibition of BAT maturation in fetal perirenal fat during late pregnancy with maternal undernutrition.