• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.47-62
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• 2009

Glenditsia spina (GS) can resolve carbuncle, relive swelling, dispel wind and destroy parasites. For these reasons, GS has been widely used as dermatologic agent clinically. In this study, the specific pathways of anti-proliferative effect of GS on human derived melanoma cells were identified. The molecular profile was measured using microarray technique to identify up- or down-regulated genes in SK-MEL-2 cell line. Pathway analysis was done by listing percentage of pathway involvement, and the represented pathways were obtained from KEGG. The transcription factor binding sequences were obtained by Transfac database. By the promoter analysis, up-regulated genes by GS were mainly associated with MAPK, Regulation of actin cytoskeleton, Wnt, Focal adhesion and Long term potentiation pathway. Down-regulated genes by GS were mainly associated with MAPK and Antigen processing and presentation pathway. And some of the transcription factors like Sp1 and NF-Y in up-regulated genes and Oct-1 in down-regulated genes by GS also identified.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2000

Background : Dopamine receptors are strong candidates for involvement in schizophrenia and are target of a wide variety of antipsychotics. Dopamine $D_5$ receptor(DRD5) gene polymorphisms may be associated with various treatment response. The purpose of our study was define to what significance can be held as a predictor of treatment response in this polymorphism. Method : The total number of 116 Korean chronic schizophrenic patients was assessed after 48 weeks treatment. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS) was rated for the clinical response to various antipsychotics. With the use of polymerase chain reaction amplification, we assessed this dopamine $D_5$ receptor polymorphism in schizophrenic patients who had been treated with antipsychotics, and related genotype with treatment response, to test the hypothesis that DRD5 polymorphism may lead to varying response to antipsychotics. Result : DRD5 polymorphism was not associated with treatment response to a variety of antipsychotics in chronic schizophrenic patients. Conclusion : Genetic variation of $D_5$ receptors do not predict treatment response to antispychotics.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.17
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• pp.71-77
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• 2001

The brain of the aged dog possesses senile plaques and amyloid angiopathy, which characterize Alzheimer's disease brains. We have defined the dementia condition of aged dogs and examined which mechanism(s) is responsible for the condition. A series of studies revealed that the dementia condition in aged dogs is significantly related to the number of apoptotic brain cells including both neurons and glial cells, but not to the number of senile plaques. On the other hand, 5-azacytidine (5AzC) is a cytidine analogue, and is thought to induce kinds of cell differentiation possibly through hypomethylation of genomic DNA. We have revealed neuronal apoptosis induced in 5AzC-treated fetal mice and PC12 cells. The ribosomal protein L4 (rpL4) gene is expressed prior to the apoptosis in the PC12 cell system. Therefore, the involvement of the rpL4 gene expression in age-related brain cell apoptosis in dogs may contribute to the investigation of Alzheimer's dementia.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.161-163
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• 2002

Apoptosis has been hypothesized to be involved in the pathogenesis in schizophrenia. A large number of genes are known to mediate the apoptotic process; Apo-1/Fas (CD95) is a well-known example of such genes. In the present study, MvaI restriction fragment length polymorphism, a polymorphic marker present within the Apo-1/Fas gene, was examined in a population consisting of 226 control subjects and 110 schizophrenia patients, all of them Korean in ethnicity. No statistically significant difference in the genotypic distribution and allelic frequencies was observed between the control and the schizophrenia patient group. To find out the precise effect of Apo-1/Fas gene polymorphisms on the susceptibility to schizophrenia, further studies are warranted to investigate possible involvement of other polymorphisms with a larger sample population.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.31.1-31.11
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• 2017

Background: Liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide-2 (LEAP-2) is an important component of innate immune system in teleosts. In order to understand isoform-specific involvement and regulation of LEAP-2 genes in mud loach (Misgurnus mizolepis, Cypriniformes), a commercially important food fish, this study was aimed to characterize gene structure and expression characteristics of two paralog LEAP-2 isoforms. Results: Mud loach LEAP-2 isoforms (LEAP-2A and LEAP-2B) showed conserved features in the core structure of mature peptides characterized by four Cys residues to form two disulfide bonds. The two paralog isoforms represented a tripartite genomic organization, known as a common structure of vertebrate LEAP-2 genes. Bioinformatic analysis predicted various transcription factor binding motifs in the 5'-flanking regions of mud loach LEAP-2 genes with regard to development and immune response. Mud loach LEAP-2A and LEAP-2B isoforms exhibited different tissue expression patterns and were developmentally regulated. Both isoforms are rapidly modulated toward upregulation during bacterial challenge in an isoform and/or tissue-dependent fashion. Conclusion: Both LEAP-2 isoforms play protective roles not only in embryonic and larval development but also in early immune response to bacterial invasion in mud loach. The regulation pattern of the two isoform genes under basal and stimulated conditions would be isoform-specific, suggestive of a certain degree of functional divergence between isoforms in innate immune system in this species.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.11
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• pp.597-598
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• 2015

Mitochondrial respiratory defect is a key bioenergetics feature of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. However, their involvement and roles in HCC development and progression remain unclear. Recently, we identified 10 common mitochondrial defect (CMD) signature genes that may be induced by retrograde signaling-mediated transcriptional reprogramming in response to HCC mitochondrial defects. HCC patients with enriched expression of these genes had poor prognostic outcomes, such as shorter periods of overall survival and recurrence-free survival. Nuclear protein 1 (NUPR1), a key transcription regulator, was up-regulated by Ca⁺⁺-mediated retrograde signaling. NUPR1-centric network analysis and a biochemical promoter-binding assay demonstrated that granulin (GRN) is a key downstream effector of NUPR1 for the regulation of HCC cell invasiveness; association analysis of the NUPR1-GRN pathway supported this conclusion. Mitochondrial respiratory defects and retrograde signaling thus play pivotal roles in HCC progression, highlighting the potential of the NUPR1-GRN axis as a novel diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for HCC.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2012

In the present study, toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was investigated in the nematode, Caenohabditis elegans focusing on the upstream signaling pathway responsible for regulating oxidative stress, such as mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades. Formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was observed in AgNPs exposed C.elegans, suggesting oxidative stress as an important mechanism in the toxicity of AgNPs towards C. elegans. Expression of genes in MAPK signaling pathways increased by AgNPs exposure in less than 2-fold compared to the control in wildtype C.elegans, however, those were increased dramatically in sod-3 (gk235) mutant after 48 h exposure of AgNPs (i.e. 4-fold for jnk-1 and mpk-2; 6-fold for nsy-1, sek-1, and pmk-1, and 10-fold for jkk-1). These results on the expression of oxidative stress response genes suggest that sod-3 gene expression appears to be dependent on p38 MAPK activation. The high expressions of the pmk-1 gene 48 h exposure to AgNPs in the sod-3 (gk235) mutant can also be interpreted as compensatory mechanisms in the absence of important stress response genes. Overall results suggest that MAPK-based integrated stress signaling network seems to be involved in defense to AgNPs exposure in C.elegans.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.851-856
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• 2014

ATAD2, a remarkably conserved, yet poorly characterized factor is found upregulated and associated with poor prognosis in a variety of independent cancers in human. Studies conducted on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae ATAD2 homologue, Yta7, are now indicating that the members of this family may primarily be regulators of chromatin dynamics and that their action on gene expression could only be one facet of their general activity. In this review, we present an overview of the literature on Yta7 and discuss the possibility of translating these findings into other organisms to further define the involvement of ATAD2 and other members of its family in regulating chromatin structure and function both in normal and pathological situations.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2011

TGF-$\beta$ activated kinase-1 (TAK1) plays a pivotal role in developmental processes in many species. Previous research has mainly focused on the function of TAK1 in model organisms, and little is known about the function of TAK1 in hymenoptera insects. Here, we isolated and characterized the TAK1 gene from Apis cerana cerana. Promoter analysis of AccTAK1 revealed the presence of transcription factor binding sites related to early development. Real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry experiments revealed that AccTAK1 was expressed at high levels in fourth instar larvae, primarily in the abdomen, in the intestinal wall cells of the midgut and in the secretory cells of the salivary glands. In addition, AccTAK1 expression in fourth instar larvae could be dramatically induced by treatment with pesticides and organic solvents. These observations suggest that AccTAK1 may be involved in the regulation of early development in the larval salivary gland and midgut.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.115-122
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• 2001

Potato virus X (PVX) is a flexuous rod-shaped virus containing a single plus-strand RNA. Viral RNA synthesis is precisely regulated by regulatory viral sequences and by viral and/or host proteins. RNA sequence element as well as stable RNA stem-loop structure in the 5' end of the genome affect accumulation of genomic RNA and subgenomic RNA (sgRNA). The putative sgRNA promoter regions upstream of the PVX triple gene block (TB) and coat protein (CP) gene were critical for both TB and CP sgRNA accumulation. Mutations that disrupted complementarity between a region at the 5' end of the genomic RNA and the sequences located upstream of each sgRNA initiation site is important for PVX RNA accumulation. Compensatory mutations that restore complementarity restored sgRNA accumulation levels. However, the extent of reductions in RNA levels did not directly correlate with the degree of complementarity, suggesting that the sequences of these elements are also important. Gel-retardation assays showed that the 5' end of the positive-strand RNA formed an RNA-protein complex with cellular proteins, suggesting possible involvement of cellular proteins for PVX replication. Future studies on cellular protein binding to the PVX RNA and their role in virus replication will bring a fresh understanding of PVX RNA replication.