• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.51-55
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• 2013

The present study was conducted to examine the effect of antioxidant treatment during parthenogenetic activation procedure on the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos. Porcine in vitro matured oocytes were activated by a combination of electric stimulus and 2 mM 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DAMP) before in vitro culture. During the activation period, oocytes were treated with $50{\mu}M$ ${\beta}$-mercaptoethanol (${\beta}$-ME), $100{\mu}M$ L-ascorbic acid (Vit. C) or $100{\mu}M$ L-glutathione (GSH). To examine the ROS level, porcine parthenogenetic embryos were stained in $10{\mu}M$ dichlorohydrofluorescein diacetate ($H_2DCFDA$) dye 20 h after culture, examined under a fluorescence microscope, and the fluorescence intensity (pixels) were analyzed in each embryo. The parthenogenetic embryos were cultured for 6 days to evaluate the in vitro development. The apoptosis was measured by TUNEL assay. The $H_2O_2$ levels of parthenogenetic embryos were significantly lower in antioxidant treatment groups ($26.9{\pm}1.6{\sim}29.1{\pm}1.3$ pixels/embryo, p<0.05) compared to control ($33.2{\pm}1.7$ pixels/embryo). The development rate to the blastocyst stage was increased in antioxidant treatment groups (32.0~32.5%) compared to control (26.9%, p<0.05), although, there was no difference in apoptosis among groups. The result suggests that antioxidant treatment during parthenogenetic activation procedure can inhibit the ROS generation and enhance the in vitro development of porcine parthenogenetic embryos.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제17권7호
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• pp.1213-1216
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• 2007

The vector pCW5 with plasmid pC7, originally isolated in Lactobacillus paraplantarum C7 derived from kimchi, was constructed using a p32 strong promoter, the pC7 replicon, and green fluorescent protein (GFP) as the reporter. The constructed vector was transformed into E. coli and Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and GFP expression detected using a Western blot analysis. GFP fluorescence was recognized in E. coli and Leuconostoc mesenteroides using a confocal microscope. In addition, GFP fluorescence was also clearly detected in several industrially important lactic acid bacteria (LAB), including Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus paraplantarum, and Lactobacillus plantarum. Thus, pCW5 was shown to be effective for Leuconostoc mesenteroides when using GFP as the reporter, and it can also be used as a broad-host-range vector for other lactic acid bacteria.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• 제28권12호
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• pp.2283-2287
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• 2007

Amyloid fibril formation of amyloid β/A4 protein (Aβ) is critical to understand the pathological mechanism of Alzheimer's disease and develop controlling strategy toward the neurodegenerative disease. For this purpose, dequalinium (DQ) has been employed as a specific modifier for Aβ aggregation and its subsequent cytotoxicity. In the presence of DQ, the final thioflavin-T binding fluorescence of Aβ aggregates decreased significantly. It was the altered morphology of Aβ aggregates in a form of the bundles of the fibrils, distinctive from normal single-stranded amyloid fibrils, and the resulting reduced β-sheet content that were responsible for the decreased fluorescence. The morphological transition of Aβ aggregates assessed with atomic force microscope indicated that the bundle structure observed with DQ appeared to be resulted from the initial multimeric seed structure rather than lateral association of preformed single-stranded fibrils. Investigation of the seeding effect of the DQ-induced Aβ aggregates clearly demonstrated that the seed structure has determined the final morphology of Aβ aggregates as well as the aggregative kinetics by shortening the lag phase. In addition, the cytotoxicity was also varied depending on the final morphology of the aggregates. Taken together, DQ has been considered to be a useful chemical probe to control the cytotoxicity of the amyloid fibrils by influencing the seed structures which turned out to be central to develop therapeutic strategy by inducing the amyloid fibrils in different shapes with varied toxicities.

• 한국수정란이식학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.157-165
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• 2000

The efficiency of transgenic livestock production could be improved by early screening of transgene-integration and sexing of embryos at preimplantational stages before trasferring them into recipients. We examined the effciency of multiplex PCR analysis for the simultaneous confirmation of the trasgene and sex during the preimplantational development of bovine embryos and the possibility of green fluorescent protein(GFP) gene as a non-invasive marker for the early screening of transgenic embryos. The GFP gene was microinjected into the male pronuclei of bovine zygotes produced in vitro. The injected zygotes were co-cultured in TCM-199 containing 10% FCS with boving oviductal epithelial cells in a 5% CO2 incubator. Seventeen(13.0%) out of 136 gene-injected bovine zygotes developed by multiplex PCR analysis and the expression of GFP was detected by observing green fluorescence in embryos under a fluorescent microscope. Eight(67%) of 12 embryos at 2-cell to blastocyst stage were positive in the PCR analysis, but only two(11.8%) of 17 blastocysts expressed the GFP gene. Their sex was determined as 7 female and 5 male embryos by the PCR analysis. The results indicate that the screening of GFP gene and sex in bovine embryos by PCR analysis and fluorescence detection could be a promisible method for the preselection of transgenic embryos.

• 전기학회논문지
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• 제56권12호
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• pp.2208-2213
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• 2007

In this study we have developed a hyperspectrum imaging system for highly sensitive and effective imaging analysis. An optical setup was designed using acoustic optical tunable filter (AOTF) for high sensitive hyperspectrum imaging. Light emitted by mercury lamp gets split in to diffracted and undiffracted beams while passing though AOTF. GFP transfected HEK-293 cell line was used as a model for in vitro imaging analysis. Cells were first, analyzed by fluorescence microscope followed by flow cytometric analysis. Flow cytometric analysis showed 66.31% transfection yield in GFP transfected HEK-293 cells. Various images of GFP transfected HEK-293 cell were grabbed by collecting the diffracted light using a CCD over a dynamic range of frequency of 129-171 MHz with an interval of 3 MHz. Subsequently, for in vivo image analysis of GFP transfected cells in mouse, a whole-body-imaging system was constructed. The blue light of 488 nm wavelength was obtained from a Xenon arc lamp using an appropriate filter and transmitted through an optical cable to a ring illuminator. To check the efficacy of the newly developed whole-body-imaging system, a comparative imaging analysis was performed on a normal mouse in presence and absence of Xenon arc irradiation. The developed hyperspectrum imaging analysis with AOTF showed the highest intensity of green fluorescent protein at 153 MHz of frequency and 494 nm of wavelength. However, the fluorescence intensity remained same as that of the background below 138 MHz (475 nm) and above 162 MHz (532 nm). The mouse images captured using the constructed whole-body-imaging system appeared monochromatic in absence of Xenon arc irradiation and blue when irradiated with Xenon arc lamp. Nevertheless, in either case mouse images appeared clearly.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• 제18권5호
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• pp.551-557
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• 2014

In this study, we demonstrated multimodal nonlinear optical (NLO) microscopy integrated simultaneously with two-photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF), second-harmonic generation (SHG), and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) in order to obtain targeted cellular and label-free images in an immunofluorescence assay of the atherosclerotic aorta from apolipoprotein E-deficient mice. The multimodal NLO microscope used two laser systems: picosecond (ps) and femtosecond (fs) pulsed lasers. A pair of ps-pulsed lights served for CARS (817 nm and 1064 nm) and SHG (817 nm) images; light from the fs-pulsed laser with the center wavelength of 720 nm was incident into the sample to obtain autofluorescence and targeted molecular TPEF images for high efficiency of fluorescence intensity without cross-talk. For multicolor-targeted TPEF imaging, we stained smooth-muscle cells and macrophages with fluorescent dyes (Alexa Fluor 350 and Alexa Fluor 594) for an immunofluorescence assay. Each depth-sectioned image consisted of $512{\times}512$ pixels with a field of view of $250{\times}250{\mu}m^2$, a lateral resolution of $0.4{\mu}m$, and an axial resolution of $1.3{\mu}m$. We obtained composite multicolor images with conventional label-free NLO images and targeted TPEF images in atherosclerotic-plaque samples. Multicolor 3-D imaging of atherosclerotic-plaque structural and functional composition will be helpful for understanding the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.195-202
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• 2005

Free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by UV exposure or other environmental factors are critical players in cellular damage and aging. In order to develop a new antiphotoaging agent, this work focused on the antioxidant effects of the extract of tinged autumnal leaves of Acer palmatum. One compound was isolated from an ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the A. palmatum extract using silica gel column chromatography. The chemical structure was identified as apigenin-8-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside, more commonly known as vitexin, by spectral analysis including LC-MS, FT-IR, UV, $^{1}H-$, and $^{13}C-NMR$. The biological activities of vitexin were investigated for the potential application of its anti-aging effects in the cosmetic field. Vitexin inhibited superoxide radicals by about $70\%$ at a concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/mL$ and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals by about $60\%$ at a concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/mL$. Intracellular ROS scavenging activity was indicated by increases in dichlorofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence upon exposure to UVB $20\;mJ/cm^2$ in cultured human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) after the treatment of vitexin. The results show that oxidation of 5-(6-)chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlo-rodihydrofluorescein diacetate ($CM-H_{2}DCFDA$) is inhibited by vitexin effectively and that vitexin has a potent free radical scavenging activity in UVB-irradiated HDFs. In ROS imaging using a confocal microscope we visualized DCF fluorescence in HDFs directly. In conclusion, our findings suggest that vitexin can be effectively used for the prevention of UV-induced adverse skin reactions such as free radical production and skin cell damage.

• 한국콘크리트학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국콘크리트학회 2008년도 춘계 학술발표회 제20권1호
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• pp.1009-1012
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• 2008

섬유복합재료의 우수한 인장 성능은 섬유가 매트릭스의 균열 면에서 가교작용을 함으로써 발현되기 때문에 섬유의 분산성이 복합재료의 성능에 결정적인 영향을 미치게 된다. 그러나 PVA(Polyvinyl alcohol) 섬유를 보강 섬유로 사용하는 섬유복합재료의 경우 PVA 섬유와 매트릭스 사이의 낮은 명암비와 PVA의 비전도성 특징으로 인하여 섬유의 위치 및 분포 특성을 정량적으로 평가히는 방법은 연구가 미흡한 실정이다. 이 연구에서는 PVA 섬유를 보강 섬유로 사용하는 섬유 복합재료의 섬유 분포 특성 등을 평가할 때 가장 중요한 과정인 섬유의 검출에 대하여 검출 성능을 향상 시킬 수 있는 알고리즘을 제시하였다. 제안한 알고리즘은 형광 현미경을 사용하여 얻은 섬유 이미지를 유형별로 분류하고, 분류된 분류된 섬유 이미지의 특성에 따라 분수령 알고리즘(watershed algorithm)과 형태학적 재구성(morphological reconstruction)을 이용하여 보다 정확히 섬유를 검출하는 과정으로 구성된다. 이 과정에서 섬유 이미지를 총 5가지 유형으로 분류하였으며, 인공신경회로망을 분류기로 구축하였다. 또한 구축한 분류기를 통해 분류된 5가지 섬유 이미지 유형 중에서 잘못 검출된 섬유이미지를 분수령 알고리즘과 형태학적 재구성을 통하여 섬유를 정확히 검출할 수 있는 기법을 제안하였다.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제29권8호
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• pp.712-719
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• 2006

In this study, we prepared core-shell type nanoparticles of a poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) grafted-dextran (DexLG) copolymer with varying graft ratio of PLGA. The synthesis of the DexLG copolymer was confirmed by $^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The DexLG copolymer was able to form nanoparticles in water by self-aggregating process, and their particle size was around $50\;nm{\sim}300\;nm$ according to the graft ratio of PLGA. Morphological observations using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) showed that the nanoparticles of the DexLG copolymer have uniformly spherical shapes. From fluorescence probe study using pyrene as a hydrophobic probe, critical association concentration (CAC) values determined from the fluorescence excitation spectra were increased as increase of DS of PLGA. $^1H-NMR$ spectroscopy using $D_2O$ and DMSO approved that DexLG nanoparticles have core-shell structure, i.e. hydrophobic block PLGA consisted inner-core as a drug-incorporating domain and dextran consisted as a hydrated outershell. Drug release rate from DexLG nano-particles became faster in the presence of dextranase in spite of the release rate not being significantly changed at high graft ratio of PLGA. Core-shell type nanoparticles of DexLG copolymer can be used as a colonic drug carrier. In conclusion, size, morphology, and molecular structure of DexLG nanoparticles are available to consider as an oral drug targeting nanoparticles.

• 폴리머
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.232-238
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• 2004

약물 전달체로서 메톡시 폴리(에틸렌 글리콜) (MPEG, methoxypolyethylene glycol)과 생분해성 폴리에스테르 계열의 카프로탁톤 ($\varepsilon$-CL, $\varepsilon$-caprolactone)으로 구성된 MPEG-PCL 블록 공중합체를 개환중합을 통해 합성하였다. MPEG-PCL의 결정성과 열적특성은 X선 굴절계와 시사주차열량계를 통하여 분석하였다 모델 단백질로서 알부민 (FITC-BSA, albumin bovine-fluorescein isothiocyanate)과 블록 공중합체를 동결 제분 후, 직접압축 성형방법에 의해 웨이퍼를 제조하였다. 알부민의 방출은 pH 7.4 인산염완충액을 사용하여 37$^{\circ}C$에서 14일 동안 관찰하였다. 알부민의 방출양은 형광분광기를 통하여 FITC의 강도에 의해 결정되었다. 웨이퍼의 형태학적 관찰은 디지털 카메라와 전자주사현미경을 통하여 관찰하였다. 알부민의 방출 속도와 초기 burst는 MPEG-PCL 블록 공중합체의 분절 내에서 폴리(에틸렌 글리롤)의 분자량이 증가할수록 또한 폴리카프로락톤의 분자량이 감소할수록 많은 초기방출과 단축된 방출기간을 보였다.