• Journal of applied mathematics & informatics
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• v.37 no.5_6
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• pp.469-480
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• 2019

A generalized tiling is defined as a generalization of the properties of tiling a region of ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$ with dominoes, and comprises tiling with rhombus and any other tilings that admits height functions which can be ordered into a distributive lattice. By using properties of the distributive lattice, we prove that the Markov chain consisting of moving from one height function to the next by a flip is fast mixing and the mixing time ${\tau}({\epsilon})$ is given by ${\tau}({\epsilon}){\leq}(kmn)^3(mn\;{\ln}\;k+{\ln}\;{\epsilon}^{-1})$, where mn is the area of the grid ${\Gamma}$ that is a k-regular polycell. This result generalizes the result of the authors (T-tetromino tiling Markov chain is fast mixing, Theor. Comp. Sci. (2018)) and improves on the mixing time obtained by using coupling arguments by N. Destainville and by M. Luby, D. Randall, A. Sinclair.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2017

Background: Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) is a traditional herbal medicine made by steaming and drying fresh ginseng. It strengthens the endocrine and immune systems to ameliorate various inflammatory responses. The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)/prostaglandin E2 pathway has important implications for inflammation responses and tumorigenesis. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ($PPAR{\gamma}$) is a transcription factor that regulates not only adipogenesis and lipid homeostasis, but also angiogenesis and inflammatory responses. Methods: The effects of the KRG on inhibition of hypoxia-induced COX-2 via $PPAR{\gamma}$ in A549 cells were determined by luciferase assay, Western blot, and/or quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The antimigration and invasive effects of KRG were evaluated on A549 cells using migration and matrigel invasion assays. Results and conclusion: We previously reported that hypoxia-induced COX-2 protein and mRNA levels were suppressed by KRG. This study examines the possibility of $PPAR{\gamma}$ as a cellular target of KRG for the suppression of hypoxia-induced COX-2. $PPAR{\gamma}$ protein levels and $PPAR{\gamma}$-responsive element (PPRE)-driven reporter activities were increased by KRG. Reduction of hypoxia-induced COX-2 by KRG was abolished by the $PPAR{\gamma}$ inhibitor GW9662. In addition, the inhibition of $PPAR{\gamma}$ abolished the effect of KRG on hypoxia-induced cell migration and invasion. Discussion: Our results show that KRG inhibition of hypoxia-induced COX-2 expression and cell invasion is dependent on $PPAR{\gamma}$ activation, supporting the therapeutic potential for suppression of inflammation under hypoxia. Further studies are required to demonstrate whether KRG activates directly $PPAR{\gamma}$ and to identify the constituents responsible for this activity.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.15-21
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• 1997

In vitro somatic mutation induced by ${\gamma}$-radiation and pentachlorophenol(PCP) which is representative of chemical pollutant was measured at the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase(hprt) locus in human T- lymphocytes by a cell cloning assay. Mutant cells were selected by their ability to form a clone in the presence of purine analogue 6-thioguanine. The mutant frequencies by ${\gamma}$-irradiation to a dose of 1.0 Gy, 2.0 Gy and 3.0 Gy were 40%, 400% and 750% higher than those in controls. Significant changes were not observed in mutant frequencies in the 0.2 Gy and 0.5 Gy irradiated groups. When the doses of PCP were 15 ppm, 25 ppm and 50 ppm, the mutant frequencies increased by 30%, 90% and 520%, respectively. No changes were observed in the 10 ppm treated group. Similar types of dose-response relationship were shown in the two different mutagens. Reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction technique(RT/PCR) was needed for the mutation spectrum to discriminate combined exposure to radiation and chemicals.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.261-268
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• 2000

Fibrinolytic enzyme (FE-2) was purified from the fruiting bodies of Tricholoma saponaceum using DEAE-Cellulose chromatography and Mono-S column chromatography, The enzyme has a molecular weight of 18.23 kDa and include Zn$^{2+}$ ion as found by ICP/MS. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme was A-L-Y-V-G-X-S-P-X-Q-Q-S-L-L-V It has a pH optimum at pH 7.5, suggested that FE-2 was a neutral pretense. The activity of FE-2 was highly inhibited by EDTA and 1,10-phenanthroline, indicating that the enzyme is a metalloprotease. The activity of FE-2 was increased by $Mg^{2+}$, Zn$^{2+}$, Fe$^{2+}$, and Co$^{2+}$, but the enzyme activity was totally inhibited by Hg$^{2+}$. No inhibition was found with PMSF, E-64, pepstatin and 2-mercaptoethanol. The enzyme hydrolyzed both $A\alpha$ and B$\beta$ chains of human fibrinogen. The $\gamma$ chain was resistant to hydrolysis by FE-2.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.56-64
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• 2005

Two distinct CD3 homologue genes, $CD3\gamma/\delta\;and\;CD\varepsilon$, were isolated from a olive flounder leukocyte cDNA library and a BAC library. $CD3\gamma/\delta$ consisted of 961 bp encoding 178 amino acid residues, and $CD3\varepsilon$ consisted of 1006 bp encoding 164 amino acid residues. When compared with other known CD3 peptide sequences, the most conserved region of the two olive flounder CD3 chain peptides are the cytoplasmic domain and the least conserved are the extracellular domain. A phylogenetic analysis based on the deduced amino acid sequence grouped the two olive flounder CD3 sequences with $CD3\varepsilon$ and $CD3\gamma/\delta$, respectively. The olive flounder CD3 cluster (consisting of $CD3\varepsilon\;and\;CD3\gamma/\delta$) spans only 10.4 kb. The $CD3\varepsilon\;and\;CD3\gamma/\delta$ genes are oppositely transcribed only 3.8 kb apart. Both olive flounder CD3 genes have five exons. The two olive flounder CD3 genes were predominantly expressed in PBLs, kidney, spleen, and gills.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.254-257
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• 1998

The gshI gene from the Escherichia coli K-12 strain codes for ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase which mediates the rate-limiting step of glutathione biosynthesis. The isolated gshI gene from E. coli K-12 has an unusual translation initiation codon, UUG. The 494th amino acid is Ala rather than Gly which was found in a mutant strain E. coli B. In order to improve the translational rate of the gshI gene of E. coli K-12, the initiation codon, UUG, was changed to the usual AUG codon by the site-specific mutagenesis. This change has resulted in a 53% increase of ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase activity. The enzyme activity was also improved by replacing $Ala^{494}$ with Val (A494V) or Leu (A494L). The replacement of $Ser^{495}$ with Thr (S495T) also resulted in a 62% increase of the enzyme activity. Therefore, the specific activity of ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ synthetase was increased with the increasing chain length of the aliphathic amino acid at the site of the 494th amino acid (Ala<$Val{\leq}Leu$).

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.76-82
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• 2002

In human U-937 cell exposed to ${\gamma}$-irradiation and $H_2O$$_2$, the level of mRNA efrpression in ceruloplasmin gene was measured by using comparative RT.PCR (reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction). At the normal growth condition, the level of ceruloplasmin transcript was estimated as 8.2% and 0.0068% of hprt (hypoxantine phosphoribosyl transferase) transcript and of $\beta$-actin transcript, respectively. In U-937 cells exposed to a dose of 100 rad ${\gamma}$-irradiation, the level of ceruloplasmin transcript was increased about 2.7 and 1.6 fold compared to un-treated cell by using compensation with the levels of hprt and $\beta$-actin transcript. By contrast, the expression of ceruloplasmin gene in U-937 cells exposed to $H_2O$$_2$(50 $\mu$M, 24 h), was shown no significant difference compared to un-treated cell. These results indicated that the expression system of ceruloplasmin gene may react only some specific oxygen species, such as reactive oxygen species induced by ${\gamma}$-irradiation.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.285-287
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• 1999

Changes in the expression level of splenocyte $IFN-{\gamma}$mRNA of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats infected with Paragonimus westermani were analyzed by competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by southern blot. The template RNA was extracted from the splenocytes of rats infected with 20 metacercariae of P. westermani. The products of competitive RT-PCR were subjected to southern blot and enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL), and analyzed with a densitometer. In comparison with that of uninfected control rat splenocytes (value of 1), the levels of mRNA expression of $IFN-{\gamma}$had changed to 0.747 at 1 week post infection (PI), 0.00175 at 2 week PI, 0.0217 at 3 week PI, 0.194 at 4 week PI and then to 0.537 at 5 week PI. The level at 7 week PI had returned to 1.25, comparable with that of uninfected rats. These results show that, when infected with p. westermani, the levels of $IFN-{\gamma}$ mRNA of SD rat splenocytes were remarkably reduced by more than 500 times at 2 week PI and restored to normal level at 7 week PI.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.212-217
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• 2007

Fucoidan (fucan sulfate) is a fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharide from brown algae such as Fucus vesiculosus, Ecklonia kurome, and Cladosiphon okamuranus. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fucoidan on the expression of diabetes-related genes in mouse cell line 3T3-L1. 3T3-L1 adipocytes were cultured for 48 hr with or without fucoidan (10, 100, and 500 ppm) on a 60 mm dish. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for measurement of peroxisome proliferators activated receptor ${\gamma}\;(PPAR{\gamma})$, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein ${\alpha}\;(C/EBP{\gamma})$, and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) RT-PCR analysis revealed that expression level of GLUT4, $PPAR{\gamma}$, and $C/EBP{\alpha}$ mRNAs increased with fucoidan treatment from 10 to 500 ppm in a dose-dependent manner. Fucoidan appears to enhance insulin sensitivity by increasing the expression level of diabetes-related genes in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Therefore, fucoidan is potentially useful as a natural therapeutic material for hyperglycemia in type II diabetes patients.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.1424-1429
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• 2010

A poly(${\gamma}$-glutamic acid) (${\gamma}$PGA)-cholesterol conjugate was synthesized and its properties were then evaluated. The conjugate exhibited an amphiphilic nature derived from the hydrophilic ${\gamma}$PGA backbone and the hydrophobic cholesterol side chain. The conjugate spontaneously formed nanoparticles, becoming an aqueous solution when at low concentrations, and at high concentrations the result was the formation of a physical gel. By utilizing the self-aggregating properties of the conjugate in water, an artificial chaperone was developed. A complex of protein, with the nanoparticles of the conjugate, was formed and the protein was released upon the dissociation of the nanoparticles through the addition of ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin. For denatured carbonic anhydrase, the activity was recovered in the artificial chaperone of the nanoparticle conjugate.