• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2014

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been emerging out of the efforts to research human diseases and ethnic disparities. A semantic network is needed for in-depth understanding of the impacts of SNPs, because phenotypes are modulated by complex networks, including biochemical and physiological pathways. We identified ethnicity-specific SNPs by eliminating overlapped SNPs from HapMap samples, and the ethnicity-specific SNPs were mapped to the UCSC RefGene lists. Ethnicity-specific genes were identified as follows: 22 genes in the USA (CEU) individuals, 25 genes in the Japanese (JPT) individuals, and 332 genes in the African (YRI) individuals. To analyze the biologically functional implications for ethnicity-specific SNPs, we focused on constructing a semantic network model. Entities for the network represented by "Gene," "Pathway," "Disease," "Chemical," "Drug," "ClinicalTrials," "SNP," and relationships between entity-entity were obtained through curation. Our semantic modeling for ethnicity-specific SNPs showed interesting results in the three categories, including three diseases ("AIDS-associated nephropathy," "Hypertension," and "Pelvic infection"), one drug ("Methylphenidate"), and five pathways ("Hemostasis," "Systemic lupus erythematosus," "Prostate cancer," "Hepatitis C virus," and "Rheumatoid arthritis"). We found ethnicity-specific genes using the semantic modeling, and the majority of our findings was consistent with the previous studies - that an understanding of genetic variability explained ethnicity-specific disparities.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.157-164
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• 2011

Five assays for anti-HBs were compared to improve potency test of Human lgG preparations. The three commercial EIA kits were optimized including dose response curve ranges and compared by conducting a co-laboratory study. After selecting the most reproducible EIA kit, methods comparison was performed with 22 samples in 5 different days. As a result, EIA (7.7 ${\pm}$ 5.3%) and MEIA (AxSYM: 3.7 ${\pm}$ 1.9%, IMx: 1.6 ${\pm}$ 0.8%) showed precision and accuracy (100.1 ${\pm}$ 12.6%). Therefore, the validated EIA assay was established and it is believed to be comparable to current MEIA.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 1998

Foreign proteins, $endo-{\beta}-1,4-glucanase$ of Bacillus subtilis, preS1+S2 region of hepatitis B virus large surface antigen, human ${\beta}_2-adrenergic$ receptor ($h{\beta}_{2}AR$), and bovine growth hormone (bGH) were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and secreted into the medium. These proteins were expressed using the alcohol dehydrogenase I (ADH1) promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and secreted by signal sequence of the 97 K killer toxin gene of doublestranded linear DNA plasmid (pGKL1) of S. cerevisiae. All these proteins underwent severe modifications; in particular, N-glycosylation in the case of $endo-{\beta}-1,4-glucanase$, $h{\beta}_2AR$, and preS1+S2. Seventy four percent of the expressed $endo-{\beta}-1,4-glucanase$ was secreted into the culture medium. Highly modified proteins were detected in the culture medium and in the cell. Expressed $h{\beta}_2AR$, which has seven transmembrane domains, remained in the cell. The degrees of secretion and modification and the states of proteins in the culture medium and in the cell were quite different. These results indicated that the nature of the protein has a critical role in its secretion and modifications.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.330-335
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• 2019

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) encoding the HBV x protein (HBx) is a known causative agent of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Its pathogenic activities in HCC include interference with several signaling pathways associated with cell proliferation and apoptosis. Mutant C-terminal-truncated HBx isoforms are frequently found in human HCC and have been shown to enhance proliferation and invasiveness leading to HCC malignancy. We investigated the molecular mechanism of the reduced doxorubicin cytotoxicity by C-terminal truncated HBx. Cells transfected with C-terminal truncated HBx exhibited reduced cytotoxicity to doxorubicin compared to those transfected with full-length HBx. The doxorubicin resistance of cells expressing C-terminal truncated HBx correlated with upregulation of the ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1(ABCB1) transporter, resulting in the enhanced efflux of doxorubicin. Inhibiting the activity of ABCB1 and silencing ABCB1 expression by small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) increased the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. These results indicate that elevated ABCB1 expression induced by C-terminal truncation of HBx was responsible for doxorubicin resistance in HCC. Hence, co-treatment with an ABCB1 inhibitor and an anticancer agent may be effective for the treatment of patients with liver cancer containing the C-terminal truncated HBx.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.280-287
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• 2015

Probiotics are microbial food supplements or components of bacteria which have traditionally been added to dairy foods for extra health boost. Our aim was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effect of Bifidobacterium adolescentis SPM0212 as probiotics, which we previously found has potential anti-hepatitis B virus activity. The study was conducted using Wistar albino rats and probiotics were treated orally for 9 days consecutively and acute liver injury was induced by administration of carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) on the 7th and 8th days. Liver damage was assessed by quantifying serum activities of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), as well as by histopathological examination. B. adolescentis SPM0212 significantly prevented the elevation of SGOT and SGPT levels, and reduced the negative effect of $CCl_4$ on body and organ weights. Histopathological study revealed the livers of the carbon tetrachloride treated rats showed almost complete loss of normal hepatocyte architecture, but that rats treated with B. adolescentis SPM0212 showed minimal damage and normal hepatocyte architecture. Our results suggest that B. adolescentis SPM0212 be considered useful probiotics for protecting the liver from xenobiotics and hepatitis B virus, and as well as useful as a functional food for maintaining human health.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.551-558
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• 2003

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is associated with a severe liver disease and increased frequency in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Overexpression of HCV core protein is known to transform fibroblast cells. Phospholipase D (PLD) activity is commonly elevated in response to mitogenic signals, and PLD has been also reported to be overexpressed and hyperactivated in some human cancer. The aim of this study was to understand how PLD can be regulated in HCV core protein-transformed NIH3T3 mouse fibroblast cells. We observed that in unstimulated state, basal PLD activity was higher in NIH3T3 cells overexpressing HCV core protein than in vector-transfected cells. Although expression of PLD and protein kinase C (PKC) in core protein-transformed cells was similar with that of control cells, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), which is known to activate PKC, stimulated significantly PLD activity in core protein-transformed cells, compared with that of the control cells. PLD activity assay using PKC isozyme-specific inhibitor, and PKC translocation experiment showed that PKC-$\delta$ was mainly involved in the PMA-induced PLD activation in the core-transformed cells. Taken together, these results suggest that PLD might be implicated in core protein-induced transformation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2012

Hesperidin, a flavanone present in citrus fruits, has been studied as potential therapeutic agents that have anti-tumor activity and apoptotic effects in several cancers, but there is no report about the apoptotic effect of hesperidin in human malignant pleural mesothelioma through the specificity protein 1 (Sp1) protein. We investigated whether hesperidin inhibited cell growth and regulated Sp1 target proteins by suppressing the levels of Sp1 protein in MSTO-211H cells. The $IC_{50}$ value of hesperidin was determined to be 152.3 ${\mu}M$ in MSTO-211H cells for 48 h. Our results suggested that hesperidin (0-160 ${\mu}M$) decreased cell viability, and induced apoptotic cell death. Hesperidin increased Sub-$G_1$ population in MSTO-211H cells. Hesperidin significantly suppressed mRNA/protein level of Sp1 and modulated the expression level of the Sp1 regulatory protein such as p27, p21, cyclin D1, Mcl-1, and survivin in mesothelioma cells. Also, hesperidin induced apoptotic signaling including: cleavages of Bid, caspase-3, and PARP, upregulation of Bax, and down-regulation of Bcl-$_{xl}$ in mesothelioma cells. These results show that hesperidin suppressed mesothelioma cell growth through inhibition of Sp1. In this study, we demonstrated that Sp1 acts as a novel molecular target of hesperidin in human malignant pleural mesothelioma.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 2022

Pregnancy requires an important interpretation of thyroid function tests. The presence of anti-thyroid antibodies and viral infectious agents affect the health of both the fetus and the mother. Hence, a selective evaluation of thyroid function in pregnancy is required. This study is a retrospective cross-sectional survey to examine the correlation between thyroid hormones and viral infections during pregnancy. The results showed that the triiodothyronine (T3) decreased with increasing age, especially in the hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive group (P<0.01). In addition, although negative for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), thyroxine (FT4) showed a significant increase in near-threshold or twin pregnant women (P<0.05). The thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was highly distributed at the age of 30, and there was no statistically significant correlation with other viral infection factors. In addition, as a result of dividing and analyzing the result of TSH by the quantiles, FT4 and T3 showed a positive correlation but showed a negative correlation with TSH (P<0.05). Therefore, the evaluation of prenatal thyroid screening during pregnancy and viral infection factors should reflect the time of pregnancy, exposure to infection, and the quantitative values. Adequate thyroid hormone and viral infections availability is important for an uncomplicated pregnancy and optimal fetal development.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7045-7056
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• 2013

Since the first report of RNA interference (RNAi) less than a decade ago, this type of molecular intervention has been introduced to repress gene expression in vitro and also for in vivo studies in mammals. Understanding the mechanisms of action of synthetic small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) underlies use as therapeutic agents in the areas of cancer and viral infection. Recent studies have also promoted different theories about cell-specific targeting of siRNAs. Design and delivery strategies for successful treatment of human diseases are becomingmore established and relationships between miRNA and RNAi pathways have been revealed as virus-host cell interactions. Although both are well conserved in plants, invertebrates and mammals, there is also variabilityand a more complete understanding of differences will be needed for optimal application. RNA interference (RNAi) is rapid, cheap and selective in complex biological systems and has created new insight sin fields of cancer research, genetic disorders, virology and drug design. Our knowledge about the role of miRNAs and siRNAs pathways in virus-host cell interactions in virus infected cells is incomplete. There are different viral diseases but few antiviral drugs are available. For example, acyclovir for herpes viruses, alpha-interferon for hepatitis C and B viruses and anti-retroviral for HIV are accessible. Also cancer is obviously an important target for siRNA-based therapies, but the main problem in cancer therapy is targeting metastatic cells which spread from the original tumor. There are also other possible reservations and problems that might delay or even hinder siRNA-based therapies for the treatment of certain conditions; however, this remains the most promising approach for a wide range of diseases. Clearly, more studies must be done to allow efficient delivery and better understanding of unwanted side effects of siRNA-based therapies. In this review miRNA and RNAi biology, experimental design, anti-viral and anti-cancer effects are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

In this review, recent foodborne outbreaks caused by viruses in the Republic of Korea (2010-2019) were analyzed. The human norovirus was found to be the major foodborne virus causing an average of 94.9% of the viral outbreaks. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with electrophoresis has been widely used to detect viruses, but several rapid detection methods, including real-time PCR, multiplex PCR, and quantum dot assay, have also been suggested. For norovirus inactivation studies, surrogates such as murine norovirus and feline calicivirus have been widely used to identify the reduction rate owing to the limitations in laboratory cultivation. Conversely, direct cell infection studies have been conducted for other foodborne viruses such as adenovirus, astrovirus, rotavirus, and hepatitis A or E virus. Moreover, virucidal mechanisms using various physical and chemical treatments have been revealed. These recent studies suggest that rapid in situ detection and effective control are valuable for ensuring food safety against viral infections.