• Archives of Pharmacal Research
• /
• v.29 no.7
• /
• pp.577-581
• /
• 2006

Oxidative mechanisms are thought to have a major role in cataract formation and diabetic complications. Antioxidant enzymes play an essential role in the antioxidant system of the cells that work to maintain low steady-state concentrations of the reactive oxygen species. When HLE-B3 cells, a human lens cell line were exposed to 50-100 mM glucose for 3 days, decrease of viability, inactivation of antioxidant enzymes, and modulation of cellular redox status were observed. Significant increase of cellular oxidative damage reflected by lipid peroxidation and DNA damage were also found. The glycation-mediated inactivation of antioxidant enzymes may result in the perturbation of cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms and subsequently lead to a pro-oxidant condition and may contribute to various pathologies associated with the long term complications of diabetes.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.95-99
• /
• 2014

Cancer is unique amongst human diseases in that its cellular manifestations arise and evolve through the acquisition of somatic alterations in the genome. In particular, instability in the number and structure of chromosomes is a near-universal feature of the genomic alterations associated with epithelial cancers, and is triggered by the inactivation of tumour suppressor mechanisms that preserve chromosome integrity in normal cells. The nature of these mechanisms, and how their inactivation promotes carcinogenesis, remains enigmatic. I will review recent work from our laboratory on the tumour suppressor BRCA2 that addresses these issues, focusing on new insights into cancer pathogenesis and therapy that are emerging from improved understanding of the molecular basis of chromosomal instability in BRCA2-deficient cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.17-24
• /
• 2014

Gastric cancer is highly invasive, aggressively malignant, and amongst the most prevalent of all forms of cancer. Despite improved management strategies, early stage diagnosis of gastric cancer and accurate prognostic assessment is still lacking. Several recent reports have indicated that the pathogenesis of gastric cancer involves complex molecular mechanisms and multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Functional inactivation of the tumor suppressor protein PTEN (Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog) has been detected in multiple cases of gastric cancer, and already shown to be closely linked to the development, progression and prognosis of the disease. Inactivation of PTEN can be attributed to gene mutation, loss of heterozygosity, promoter hypermethylation, microRNA- mediated regulation of gene expression, and post-translational phosphorylation. PTEN is also involved in mechanisms regulating tumor resistance to chemotherapy. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of PTEN and its roles in gastric cancer, and emphasizes its potential benefits in early diagnosis and gene therapy-based treatment strategies.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.616-623
• /
• 2007

The effects of initial concentration and pulsed pressurization on the inactivation of Clostridium sporogenes spores suspended in deionized water were determined during thermal processing $(TP;\;105^{\circ}C,\;0.1MPa)$ and pressure-assisted thermal processing $(PATP;\;105^{\circ}C\;and\;700MPa)$ treatments for 40 min and 5min holding times, respectively. Different inoculum levels $(10^4,\;10^6\;and\;10^8CFU/ml)$ of C. sporogenes spores suspended in deionized water were treated at $105^{\circ}C$ under 700MPa with single, double, and triple pulses. Thermally treated samples served as control. No statistical significances (p>0.05) were observed among all different inoculum levels during the thermal treatment, whereas the inactivation rates $(k_1\;and\;k_2)$ were decreased with increasing the initial concentrations of C. sporogenes spores during the PATP treatments. Double- and triple-pulsed pressurization reduced more effectively the number of C. sporogenes spores than single-pulse pressurization. The study shows that the spore clumps formed during the PATP may lead to an increase in pressure-thermal resistance, and multiple-pulsed pressurization can be more effective in inactivating bacterial spores. The results provide an interesting insight on the spore inactivation mechanisms with regard to inoculum level and pulsed pressurization.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.524-529
• /
• 2007

Pressure inactivation behavior of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens spores was investigated in deionized water. The spores of B. amyloliquefaciens were subjected to $105^{\circ}C$ and 700 MPa. The magnitude of the decrease in viability after pressure treatment was similar to that after pressure treatment followed by heat shock. The increase of dipicolinic acid (DPA) release was correlated with the spore inactivation, and the hydrophobicity did not significantly change during the pressure-assisted thermal processing (PATP). Lag phase duration increased with increasing pressure process time. The mechanisms of spore germination and inactivation during the PATP were related to a complex physiological process.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.48 no.7
• /
• pp.373-379
• /
• 2015

Humans have acquired many distinct evolutionary traits after the human-chimpanzee divergence. These phenotypes have resulted from genetic changes that occurred in the human genome and were retained by natural selection. Comparative primate genome analyses reveal that loss-of-function mutations are common in the human genome. Some of these gene inactivation events were revealed to be associated with the emergence of advantageous phenotypes and were therefore positively selected and fixed in modern humans (the "less-ismore" hypothesis). Representative cases of human gene inactivation and their functional implications are presented in this review. Functional studies of additional inactive genes will provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying acquisition of various human-specific traits. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(7): 373-379]

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.113-122
• /
• 2019

Long-non coding RNAs (LncRNAs) constitute a wide and extremely diverse family of RNA transcripts that are greater than 200 base pairs in length and are not translated into proteins. X-inactive specific transcript (XIST) was the first long non-coding RNA to be discovered, back in 1991. Its function in X-chromosome inactivation has been extensively studied for three decades, though other functional roles of XIST that involve a variety of fascinating mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Here, we review the emerging oncogenic role of XIST in various human cancers.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.427-433
• /
• 2009

Nuclear factor I-C (NFI-C) null mice demonstrated aberrant odontoblast differentiation and abnormal dentin formation. In order to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for these changes, we evaluated the expression of dentin matrix gene after over-expression and inactivation of NFI-C in MDPC-23 cells by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. Collagen type I (Col I), osteocalcin (OC), and dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) expression was decreased after inactivation of NFI-C. However, bone sialoprotein (BSP) expression was dramatically increased after inactivation of NFI-C. ALP and DMP4 expression was not changed after inactivation of NFI-C. The expression of alkaline phoshatase (ALP) and dentin matrix protein 4 (DMP4) was increased after over-expression of NFI-C, while Col I, OC, DSPP, and BSP expression was decreased. These findings suggest that odontoblasts after loss of NFI-C lost the phenotype of odontoblasts and acquired those of osteoblasts.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2015

High voltage pulsed electric fields (PEF) treatment is one of the more promising nonthermal technologies to fully or partially replace thermal processing. The objective of this research was to investigate the microbial inactivation mechanisms of PEF treatment in terms of intra- and extracellular changes in the cells. Saccharomyces cerevisae cells treated with PEF showed cellular membrane damage. This resulted in the leakage of UV-absorbing materials and intracelluar ions, which increased with increasing treatment time and electric fields strength. This indicates that PEF treatment causes cell death via membrane damage and physical rupture of cell walls. We further confirmed this by Phloxine B staining, a dye that accumulates in dead cells. Using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, we observed morphological changes as well as disrupted cytoplasmic membranes in PEF treated S. cerevisae cells. In addition, PEF treatment led to damaged chromosomal DNA in S. cerevisiae.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.5 no.5
• /
• pp.367-371
• /
• 2001

The chromosome 7-linked long QT syndrome (LQT2) is caused by mutations in the human ether-a- go-go-related gene (HERG) that encodes the rapidly activating delayed rectifier $K^+$ current, $I_{Kr},$ in cardiac myocytes. Different types of mutations have been identified in various locations of HERG channel. One of the mechanisms for the loss of normal channel function is due to membrane trafficking of channel protein. The decreased channel function in some deletion mutants appears to be due to loss of coupling with wild type HERG to form the functional channel as the tetramer. Most of missense mutants with few exceptions could interact with wild type HERG to form functional tetramer and caused dominant negative suppression with co-injection with wild type HERG showing variable effects on current amplitude, voltage dependence, and kinetics of activation and inactivation. Two missense mutants at pore regions of HERG found in Japanese LQT2 (A614V and V630L) showed accentuated inward rectification due to a negative shift in steady-state inactivation and fast inactivation. One mutation in S4 region (R534C) produced a negative shift in current activation, indicating the S4 serving as the voltage sensor and accelerated deactivation. The C-terminus mutation, S818L, could not express the current by mutant alone and did not show dominant negative suppression with co-injection of equal amount of wild type cRNA. Co-injection of excess amount of mutant with wild type produced dominant negative suppression with a shift in voltage dependent activation. Therefore, multiple mechanisms are involved in different mutations and functional abnormality in LQT2. Further characterization with the interactions between various mutants in HERG and the regulatory subunits of the channels (MiRP1 and minK) is to be clarified.