• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2012

Epigenetic modification including genome-wide DNA demethylation is essential for normal embryonic development. Insufficient demethylation of somatic cell genome may cause various anomalies and prenatal loss in the development of nuclear transfer embryos. Hence, the source of nuclear donor often affects later development of nuclear transfer (NT) embryos. In this study, appropriateness of porcine embryonic germ (EG) cells as karyoplasts for NT with respect to epigenetic modification was investigated. These cells follow methylation status of primordial germ cells from which they originated, so that they may contain less methylated genome than somatic cells. This may be advantageous to the development of NT embryos commonly known to be highly methylated. The rates of blastocyst development were similar among embryos from EG cell nuclear transfer (EGCNT), somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) (16/62, 25.8% vs. 56/274, 20.4% vs. 16/74, 21.6%). Genomic DNA samples from EG cells (n=3), fetal fibroblasts (n=4) and blastocysts from EGCNT (n=8), SCNT (n=14) and ICSI (n=6) were isolated and treated with sodium bisulfite. The satellite region (GenBank Z75640) that involves nine selected CpG sites was amplified by PCR, and the rates of DNA methylation in each site were measured by pyrosequencing technique. The average methylation degrees of CpG sites in EG cells, fetal fibroblasts and blastocysts from EGCNT, SCNT and ICSI were 17.9, 37.7, 4.1, 9.8 and 8.9%, respectively. The genome of porcine EG cells were less methylated than that of somatic cells (p<0.05), and DNA demethylation occurred in embryos from both EGCNT (p<0.05) and SCNT (p<0.01). Interestingly, the degree of DNA methylation in EGCNT embryos was approximately one half of SCNT (p<0.01) and ICSI (p<0.05) embryos, while SCNT and ICSI embryos contained demethylated genome with similar degrees. The present study demonstrates that porcine EG cell nuclear transfer resulted in hypomethylation of DNA in cloned embryos yet leading normal preimplantation development. Further studies are needed to investigate whether such modification affects long-term survival of cloned embryos.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.456-465
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• 2012

Heterodimeric recombinant human bone morphogenetic proteins (rhBMPs) are powerful tools for bone tissue engineering. However, BMPs have several important limitations in their application to bone regeneration. BMPs have a short half-life and must be used in high concentrations, which may be cost-inefficient. To overcome these problems, we established a stable cell line that expressed the fusion protein comprised of recombinant human BMP2/7 heterodimer protein and PTD (rhBMP2/7-PTD). This stable cell line enabled high process yields by continuously expressing rhBMP2/7-PTD products at high levels throughout cultivation. This synthesized BMP7 was fused to a BMP2 protein with four glycine residues (to allow free bond rotation of the domains) and PTD. To demonstrate that the rhBMP2/7-PTD protein that was secreted from an rhBMP2/7-PTD-expressing stable cell line exhibited biological activity consistent with its role as an osteogenic differentiation induction growth factor, we evaluated BMP-induced ALP activity. Our results suggest that this cell line may be a powerful and efficient tool for applications such as bone tissue regeneration.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 2016

The phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity and neuronal cell protective effect of Cirsium japonicum extract were evaluated in this study. High performance liquid chromatography mass analysis showed that C. japonicum was composed of chlorogenic acid, linarin, and pectolinarin. C. japonicum extract showed its antioxidant activity with half-maximal inhibitory concentrations of 567 and $130{\mu}g/mL$ by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activity, respectively. The total antioxidant capacities of C. japonicum via DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays were 11.32, 100.15, and $12.76{\mu}g/mL$ trolox equivalents, respectively. In addition, the neuroprotective effect of C. japonicum extract was investigated by measuring cell viability via MTT, LDH and DCF-DA assay using $H_2O_2-damaged$ PC12 cells. C. japonicum extract showed neuronal cell protective effects in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicated that C. japonicum extract has potent antioxidant and neuronal protective effects. Therefore, C. japonicum can be regarded as an effective and safe functional food resource as natural antioxidants, and may decrease the risk of neurodegenerative disorders.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.225-232
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• 1997

The performance characteristics of high rate discharge LiSOCl2 cells are highly affected by carbon cathode. During the cell discharge, SOCl2 reduction takes place at the porous carbon cathode, resulting in the precipitation of reaction products, mainly LiCl, within the pores of the substrate. This leads to eventual passivation of the cathode surface and resulting cell failure. To improve the cathode performance, we ex-amined discharge reactions of cathodes (half-cell, 50 mA/$\textrm{cm}^2$ constant current) with various surface density and thickness. The carbon cathode with the optimum capacity for our application is surface density 0.04 g/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and thickness 1.4mm carbon. The carbon cathode with surface density 0.04g/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and thickness 1.4 mm exhibits decreased polarization, increased discharge duration time and capacity (Ah/$\textrm{cm}^2$) as compared with that with surface density 0.04g/$\textrm{cm}^2$ and thickness 0.8mm. The porosities analyses on the two carbon cathodes show that total pore volume of the carbon cathode with thickness 1.4 mm is larger than that with thickness 0.8mm. The increased volume of mesopores (0.05$\mu$m~0.5$\mu$m) and macropores(>0.5$\mu$m) is ob-served with the carbon cathode with thickness 1.4mm as compared with that with thickness 0.8mm, which can be related with the observed capacity increase. We observed LiCl crystals, cubic crystallites and fused, plate-like aggregates, and some elemental S as discharge products by EDS and XRD.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.199-205
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• 2017

In a small cell base station used in densely populated areas, a dual polarized multiple antenna(MIMO) is mainly used to increase the cell capacity. This paper demonstrates a dual-polarization antenna with high cross-polarization discrimination(XPD) that can improve the capacity of a small cell using a dual polarization multiple antenna (MIMO). By using the symmetric structure and differential feeding, high XPD in all directions is achieved. In addition, a very similar radiation pattern is observed between each polarization. Because of high XPD and similar radiation pattern in all directions, proposed antenna is well adopted for small-cell multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) system. Experimental results shows that the proposed antenna has a bandwidth of 180 MHz (2.51~2.7 GHz), a maximum gain of 4.5 dBi (3.5~4.5 dBi), and a half-power beam width of 85 degrees. In addition, average XPD of 26.4 dB in all directions, more than 13.8 dB increase than previous dual-polarization antennas which use single emitter by using different feeding or selectively use polarization through switching.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 1996

This study was carried out to determine effectively the sex of rabbit embryos using H-Y antiserum. H-Y antiserum was obtained from inbred SD strain female rat which was immunized by injection of testis cell of inbred SD strain male rate into its spleen. The titer of antiserum was identified by sperm cytotoxicity test and culture of rabbit embryos with antiserum. The developed or undeveloped embryos were separated by exposure the embryos to the antiserum with H-Y antibody. Developed embryo were transferred to the recipients and sex of offspring were examined. 1. In the sperm cytotoxicity test, the rate of dead sperm showed no difference between two antisera from spleen and testis cell as antigens. It is confirmed that H-Y antibody in antiserum was absorbed by H-Y antigen in male rat spleen cells. 2. When rabbit morulae were exposed to antiserum and complement, the rate of embryos developed or arrested was 51 and 49% respectively and the rate was closely same as natural sex ratio of 50:50%. 3. When rabbit morulae were cultured for 12h in the medium containing antiserum produced by antigen of testis cell, the rate of embryos developed or arrested was 48 and 52% respectively and the rate was closely same as natural sex ratio of 50:50%. 4. Eighty rabbit embryos which were not affected by H-Y antiserum were transferred to four recipients. Two recipients were pregnant and born 13 pups among which 2 (14%) were male and 11 (86%) were female. In conclusion, existence of H-Y antibody in the serum from female rat immunized by injecting testis cell from newborn male rat to the spleen of the female rat was confirmed. When rabbitmorulae were exposed to H-Y antiserum and complement, about a half of embryos were developed to blastocysts. When the rabbit embryos not affected by H-Y antiserum were transferred, the rate of female offspring was 86%. Therefore, it was identified that most of embryos which were not affected by H-Y antiserum were female.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.659-663
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• 2002

The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness of bone scans in routine preoperative examinations of patients with newly diagnosed non-small cell lung carcinoma. Material and Method: We reviewed the medical records of 258 patients who were newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer in our hospital between January 2000 and December 2000. More than half of the patients (132) were deemed to be inoperable due to their advanced stage based on the CT scans. The remaining 126 patients were considered potentially operable. For these patients, clinical evaluation including the presence of bone pain, serum alkaline phosphatase, and calcium levels was used as clinical predictors of bone metastasis. All patients received bone scans. Bone X-rays, MRI or bone biopsy were performed to confirm the presence of bone metastasis. The usefulness of the bone scan was evaluated by comparing its power of predicting bone metastasis to that of the clinical information. Result: In all patients, the positive and negative predictive values of bone scans for the bone metastasis were 44%, and 99%, respectively. Those of the clinical information were 38% , and 94%. However, in potentially operable patients, the negative predictive value of the clinical information was as high as 99%. Conclusion: If newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer patients are presented as potentially operable on the basis of CT scan with no clinical evidence of distant metastases, curative resection could be considered without performing routine bone scans because of the low probability of bone metastasis. However, if there are positive clinical findings, further evaluations, including bone scan should be followed as metastasis will be documented in more than 30% of patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7229-7234
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• 2014

Trichoderma spp. are known as a rich source of secondary metabolites with biological activity belonging to a variety of classes of chemical compounds. These fungi also are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of antibiotic substances and to parasitize other fungi. In search for new substances, which might act as anticancer agents, the overall objective of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic effects of Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma asperellum cultural filtrates against human cervical and breast cancer cell lines (HeLa and MCF-7 cells respectively). To achieve this objective, cells were exposed to 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/ml of both T. harzianum cultural filtrate (ThCF) and T. asperellum cultural filtrate (TaCF) for 24h, then the cell viability and the cytotoxic responses were assessed by using trypan blue and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-biphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays. Morphological changes in cells were investigated by phase contrast inverted microscopy. The results showed that ThCF and TaCF significantly reduce the cell viability, have cytotoxic effects and alter the cellular morphology of HeLa and MCF-7 cells in a concentration dependent manner. A concentration of 80 and 100mg/ml of ThCF resulted in a sharp decline in the cell viability percent of HeLa and MCF-7 respectively (25.2%, 26.5%) which was recorded by trypan blue assay. The half-maximal inhibitory concentrations ($IC_{50}$) of ThCF and TaCF in HeLa and MCF-7 were recorded as 16.6, 12.0, 19.6 and 0.70mg/ml respectively by MTT assay. These results revealed that ThCF and TaCF have a substantial ability to reduce the viability and proliferation of human cervical and breast cancer cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.330-336
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• 2002

The lgtB genes that encode $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferases from Neisseria meningitidis ATCC 13102 and gonorrhoeae ATCC 31151 were isolated by a polymerase chain reaction using the pfu DNA polymerase. They were expressed under the control of lac and T7 promoters in Escherichia coli M15 and BL21 (DE3). Although the genes were efficiently expressed in E. coli M15 at $37^{\circ}C$ (33 kDa), most of the $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferases that were produced were insoluble and proteolysed into enzymatically inactive polypeptides that lacked C-terminal residues (29.5 kDa and 28 kDa) during the purification steps. When the temperature of the cell growth was lowered to $25^{\circ}C$, however, the solubility of the $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferases increased substantially. A stable N-terminal his-tagged recombinant enzyme preparation could be achieved with E. coli BL21 (DE3) that expressed lgtB. Therefore, the cloned $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferases were expressed under the control of the T7 promoter in E. coli BL21 (DE3), mostly to the soluble form at $25^{\circ}C$. The proteins were easily purified to homogeneity by column chromatography using Ni-NTA resin, and were found to be active. The galactosyltransferases exhibited pH optimum at 6.5-7.0, and had an essential requirement for the $Mn^{+2}$ ions for its action. The $Mg^{+2}$ and $Ca{+2}$ ions showed about half of the galactosyltransferase activities with the $Mn^{+2}$ ion. In the presence of the $Fe^{+2}$ ion, partial activation was observed with the $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferase from N. meningitidis(64% of the enzyme activity with the $Mn^{+2}$$Ni^{+2}$, $Zn^{+2}$, and $Cu^{+2}$ ions could not activate the $\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferase activity. The inhibited enzyme activity with the $Ni^{+2}$ ion was partially recovered with the $Mn^{+2}$$Fe^{+2}$, $Zn^{+2}$, and $Cu^{+2}$ ions, the $Mn^{+2}$$\beta$-1,4-galactosyltransferase activity was 1.5-fold stimulated with the non-ionic detergent Triton X-100 (0.1-5%).

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.230-234
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• 1999

Potassium channels play an important role in regulating vascular smooth muscle tone. Four types of $K^+$ channels areknown to be expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells, and maxi $Ca^{2+}-activated\;K^+$ channel $(BK_{Ca})$ is a dominant type of $K^+$ channels in these cells. Because total ginseng saponins and ginsenoside $Rg_3$ cause vasodilation with unclear mechanisms, we hypothesized that total ginseng saponins and ginsenoside $Rg_3$ induce vasodilation via activation of maxi $Ca^{2+}-activated\;K+$ channels. Whole-cell BKe. currents were voltage-dependent with half maximum activation at -14 mV, and the currents were sensitive to nanomolar ChTX and millimolar TEA. External application of total ginseng saponins increased the anlplitude of the whole-cell BKe. current in a concentration-dependent manner. Single-channel analysis indicates that total ginseng saponins caused the channel opening for a longer period of time. Ginsenoside $Rg_3$ increased the amplitude of whole-cell $K_{Ca}$ currents without affecting voltage dependence of the currents and increased single-channel open time. Hence, the results suggest that ginseng saponin-induced vasodilation may be due to activation of $K_{Ca}$.