• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Developmental Biology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.104-104
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• 2003

As an effort to direct differentiation of human embryonic stem (hES, MB03) cells to dopamine-producing neuronal cells, Nurr1 was transfected using conventional transfection protocol into MB03 and examined the expression of tyrosine hydroylase (TH) after differentiation induced by retinoic acid (RA) and ascorbic acid (AA). Experimentally, cells were transfected with linearized Nurr1 cDNA in pcDNA3.1 (+)-hygovernight followed by selection in medium containing hygromycin-B (150 $\mu$/ml). Expression of Nurr1 mRNA was confirmed by RT-PCR and protein by immunocytochemistry in the drug resistant clones. In order to study the effect of Nurr1 protein on the differentiation pattern of ES cells, one of the positive clones (MBNr24) was allowed to form embryoid body (EB) for 2 days and were induced to differentiate for another 4 days using RA (1 $\mu M$) and AA (50 mM) (2-/4+ protocol) followed by selection in N2 medium for 10 or 20 days. After 10 days in N2 medium, cells immunoreactive to anti-GFAP, anti-TH, or anti-NF200 antibodies were 38.8%, 11%, and 20.5%, respectively. After 20 days in N2 medium, cells expressing GFAP, TH, or NF200 were 28%, 15% and 44.8%, respectively but approximately 9% of MB03 expressed TH protein when the cells were induced to differentiate using a similar prorocol, These results suggest that ectopic expression of Nurr1 enhances generation of TH+ cells as well as neuronal cells when hES cells were differentiated by 2-/4+ protocol.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.360-365
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• 2010

Introduction: Mammalian tooth pulp is densely innervated by sensory nerves that are mostly C fibers and A delta fibers. However, there is evidence suggesting that many unmyelinated axons in the pulp are in fact parent meylinated axons. Immunohistochemical staining for neurofilament protein 200 kDa (NFP200) was performed to identify the demyelinated but parent myelinated axons. Materials and Methods: The pulp was removed from healthy premolars and 3rd molars extracted from juveniles and adults undergoing orthodontic treatment, and immunohistochemical staining were applied with NPF200 antibodies, which specifically dye myelinated axons. The specimens underwent an electron microscopy examination with diaminobenzidine (DAB) immunostaining after observation and analysis by fluorescence and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Results: The NPF200 immuno-positive axons in the radicular pulp areas were observed as bundles of many nerve fibers. Many small bundles were formed with fewer axons when firing to the coronal pulp areas and then reachrd a different direction. In the radicular pulp, unmyelinated axons and myelinated axons were present together. However, in the coronal pulp, unmyelinated axons were most common and NFP200 immuno-positive unmyelinated axons with a larger diameter than those in the radicular pulp were observed more frequently. On the other hand, most of the immuno-positive unmyelinated fibers were similar in size to that of typically well-known unmyelinated fibers. Conclusion: Myelinated fibers innervated to the dental pulp maintain their myelins in the radicular portion, but these fibers lost myelins in the coronal portion. After the loss of myelin, the size of the axoplasm also decreased.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.37 no.4 s.147
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• pp.221-228
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• 2006

A lectin was purified from Serrognathus platymelus castanicolor larvae and named as SPL. The purification was carried out by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE Sephadex A-50 and gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-200. The purity of the protein was verified by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and the purified lectin agglutinated erythrocytes of rabbit and human A, B, O, AB. SPL was tested it's ability to enhance the expressions of cytokines, $IL-1\alpha$, IL-2, IL-6, $TNF\alpha$ and $IFN\gamma$ by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from healthy donors. mRNA analyses were performed by RT-PCR at the moment of 1, 4, 8, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after stimulation of PBMC with purified SPL. The patterns of IL-2 band were slightly expressed from 24 h and the strongest band was appeared at 96 h. The expressions of $IL-1\alpha$ and IL-6 mRNA were strong from 1 to 8 h and those of $TNF\alpha$ were from 48 to 96 h. The mRNA encoding $IFN\gamma$ were not detected. The addition of SPL for macrophage cultures induced production of nitric oxide (NO) by cells in a dose-dependent manner. NO release was partially inhibited by $TNF\alpha$ antibodies. These results suggest that SPL has the ability to enhance cytokine expressions in PBMC and to induce the NO release by TNFa in macrophage cultures from PBMC cultures.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.375-380
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• 2016

Angiostrongyliasis is difficult to be diagnosed for the reason that no ideal method can be used. Serologic tests require specific equipment and are not always available in poverty-stricken zone and are time-consuming. A lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) may be useful for angiostrongyliasis control. We established a LFIA for the diagnosis of angiostrongyliasis based on 2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against antigens of Angiostrongylus cantonensis adults. The sensitivity and specificity were 91.1% and 100% in LFIA, while those of commercial ELISA kit was 97.8% and 86.3%, respectively. Youden index was 0.91 in LFIA and 0.84 in commercial ELISA kit. LFIA showed detection limit of 1 ng/ml of A. cantonensis ES antigens. This LFIA was simple, rapid, highly sensitive and specific, which opened an alternative approach for the diagnosis of human angiostrongyliasis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.433-440
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• 2013

Toxocariasis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by larvae of ascarid nematodes of dogs or cats, Toxocara canis or T. cati. Diagnosis of human toxocariasis currently relies on serology that uses T. canis excretory-secretory antigen to detect specific IgG antibodies by ELISA. We investigated the serodiagnostic efficacy of ELISA using crude antigen of T. canis larvae (TCLA). Serum specimens of 64 clinically confirmed toxocariasis, 115 healthy controls, and 119 other tissue-invading helminthiases were screened by ELISA using TCLA. The ELISA using TCLA showed 92.2% (59/64 patient samples) sensitivity and 86.6% (103/119) specificity. Its positive diagnostic predictivity was 78.7% and negative predictivity was 97.8%. No serum of healthy controls reacted but that of anisakiasis (45.5%), gnathostomiasis (19.2%), clonorchiasis (15.8%), sparganosis (11.1%), and cysticercosis (6.3%) cross-reacted. Immunoblot analysis on TCLA recognized antigenic proteins of 28- and 30-kDa bands in their dominant protein quantity and strong blotting reactivity. The present results indicate that the ELISA using our TCLA antigen is acceptable by the sensitivity and specificity for serodiagnosis of human toxocariasis. ELISA with TCLA is recommended to make differential diagnosis for patients with any sign of organ infiltration and eosinophilia.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.763-766
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• 2013

A synthetic peptide was prepared based on the antigenic region of Paragonimus westermani pre-procathepsin L, and its applicability for immunodiagnosis for human paragonimiasis (due to Paragonimus heterotremus) was tested using an ELISA to detect IgG4 antibodies in the sera of patients. Sera from other helminthiases, tuberculosis, and healthy volunteers were used as the references. This peptide-based assay system gave sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of 100%, 94.6%, 96.2%, 100%, and 88.9%, respectively. Cross reactivity was frequently seen against the sera of fascioliasis (75%) and hookworm infections (50%). Since differential diagnosis between paragonimiasis and fascioliasis can be easily done by clinical presentation and fascioliasis serology, this cross reaction is not a serious problem. Sera from patients with other parasitoses (0-25%) rarely responded to this synthetic antigen. This synthetic peptide antigen seems to be useful for development of a standardized diagnostic system for paragonimiasis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.751-754
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• 2013

Neurognathostomiasis is a severe form of human gnathostomiasis which can lead to disease and death. Diagnosis of neurognathostomiasis is made presumptively by using clinical manifestations. Immunoblotting, which recognizes antigenic components of molecular mass 21 kDa and 24 kDa in larval extracts of Gnathostoma spinigerum (Gs 21/24), has high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of neurognathostomiasis. However, only very small amounts of the Gs 21/24 antigens can be prepared from parasites harvested from natural or experimental animals. To overcome this problem, we recently produced a recombinant matrix metalloproteinase (rMMP) protein from G. spinigerum. In this study, we evaluated this rMMP alongside the Gs 21/24 antigens for serodiagnosis of human neurognathostomiasis. We studied sera from 40 patients from Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, Thailand, with clinical criteria consistent with those of neurognathostomiasis, and sera from 30 healthy control adults from Thailand. All sera were tested for specific IgG antibodies against both G. spinigerum crude larval extract and rMMP protein using immunoblot analysis. The sensitivity and specificity for both antigenic preparations were all 100%. These results show that G. spinigerum rMMP protein can be used as an alternative diagnostic antigen, in place of larval extract, for serodiagnosis of neurognathostomiasis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.292-297
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• 1994

This study was conducted to investigate antigenic potential of DA-3030, a recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, in guinea pigs and mice. In the active systemic anaphylaxis test, the guinea pigs sensitized with 1.25 or 12.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/head of DA-3030 alone did not show any anaphylactic reaction. In the homologous passive cutaneous anaphylaxis reaction, anti-DA-3030 antibody was not detected in guinea pigs sensitized with 1.25 or 12.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/head of DA-3030 alone. On the other hand, the guinea pigs sensitized with 12.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/heed of DA-3030 incorporated in Freund's complete adjuvant(FCA) or 1 mg/head of ovalbumin incorporated in FCA showed anaphylactic reaction. Anti-DA-3030 antibody was also detected in those guinea pigs. In immunodiffusion test using the sera sensitized with DA-3030 incorporated in FCA, precipitating antibodies were detected only in the sera sensitized with DA-3030 or DA-3030 incorporated in FCA showed. In 24-hour heterologous PCA reaction with sera of C57BL/6 mice immunized with 1.25 or 12.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/head of DA-3030 alone, none of the sera showed positive reaction. But sera of the animals immunized with 12.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/head of DA-3030 incorporated in aluminum hydroxide gel(Alum) or 5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/head of ovalbumin incorporated in alum showed positive PCA reaction. DA-3030 did not cause anaphylactic shock or passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in guinea pigs and mice when given alone although DA-3030 incorporated in FCA or Alum induced anaphylactic shock and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis. From these results, it may be concluded the DA-3030 does not induce systemic allergic reaction when administered alone in its clinical use.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1076-1080
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• 2008

Glucagon, a peptide hormone produced by alpha-cells of Langerhans islets, is a physiological antagonist of insulin and stimulator of its secretion. In order to improve its bioactivity, we modified its structure at the C-terminus by amidation catalyzed by a recombinant amidase in bacterial cells. The human gene coding for glucagon-gly was PCR amplified using three overlapping primers and cloned together with a rat ${\alpha}$-amidase gene in plasmid pMGA. Both genes were expressed under control of the strong constitutive promoter of aph and secretion signal melC1 in Streptomyces lividans. With Phenyl-Sepharose 6 FF, Q-Sepharose FF, SP-Sepharose FF chromatographies and HPLC, the peptide was purified to about 93.4% purity. The molecular mass of the peptide is 3.494 kDa as analyzed by MALDI TOF, which agrees with the theoretical mass value of the C-terminal amidated glucagon. The N-terminal sequence of the peptide was also determined, confirming its identity with human glucagon at the N-terminal part. ELISA showed that the purified peptide amide is bioactive in reacting with glucagon antibodies.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.410-415
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• 2002

Adrenal glucocorticoids, secreted by the stimulus of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), are catabolic hormones in the pig. The present study was conducted to find whether active immunization against ACTH would suppress cortisol secretion accompanied by an increased growth rate in growing-finishing barrows. ACTH was conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin or human histone using glutaraldehyde or 3-maleimidobenzoic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide, under a 2 (ACTH vs no hapten)${\times}$2 (carrier)${\times}$2 (crosslinker) factorial arrangement of treatments. Cross-bred barrows weighing approximately 25 kg were injected with an ACTHcarrier or carrier only conjugate every 4th wk and slaughtered at approximately 110 kg body weight. Antibodies against ACTH were detected in serum, as determined by $[^{125}I]$ACTH-binding activity, in most animals immunized against the ACTH conjugate, but not in carrier only-injected animals, except for the animals which had received the hapten conjugated to histone via glutaraldehyde. The $[^{125}I]$ACTH-binding activity of serum increased after the second booster injection, but overall ACTH antibody titer was very low. Main effect was not detected not only for the carrier and crosslinker but for the hapten in serum cortisol concentration, ADG, loin muscle area, backfat thickness and longissimus muscle composition including fat and protein. In addition, bound $[^{125}I]$ACTH percentage had no relation to cortisol concentration or to any of the above growth-related variables. Results suggest that ACTH or its conjugates used in the present study were not immunogenically potent enough to affect the glucocorticoid secretion and thus the growth of the immunized pigs.