• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.155-161
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• 2001

Anisotropic DWI - Mapping of the Proton Diffusion "tensor". In neural ordered tissue, it is thought that water diffusion is mainly influenced by the presence of myelin sheaths and intracellular structures. Perpendicular to the fiber tracts, the cholesterol-laden myelin lipid bilayers might restrict or hinder the spins from diffusing through the normally highly permeable cytomembrane. Diffusion along the fiber is more or less determined by subcellular structures, such as the endoplasmatic reticulum, mitochondria, neuro-filaments and macromolecules. In addition to that, the entire complex of axons and stabilizing tissue (i.e., glia cells, astrocytes) is also assumed to influence diffusion due to the tortuosity of proton translation, but the uniform distribution of such cells throughout the brain might render this notion less important as initially anticipated.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2020

In the process of protein transcription and translation, various protein complexes bind to DNA, and all processes are precisely controlled. Among the proteins constituting this complex, a peptide derived from eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 2 was synthesized. In addition, in order to increase the efficiency of transduction of this peptide into cells, peptides with polyarginine, one of the protein transduction domains (PTD), were synthesized. Cell growth inhibition was confirmed in HER2 positive breast cancer (SK-Br-3) and HER2 negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231), and cardiomyocytes (H9c2). The peptide with polyarginine had high transduction efficiency in all cells, and had excellent cancer cell growth inhibitory effects. The peptide used in this study might be useful peptide therapeutics for the treatment of cancer through future research.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2012

Most living organisms synchronize their physiological and behavioral activities with the daily changes in the environment using intrinsic time-keeping systems called circadian clocks. In mammals, the key molecular features of the internal clock are transcription- and translational-based negative feedback loops, in which clock-specific transcription factors activate the periodic expression of their own repressors, thereby generating the circadian rhythms. CLOCK and BMAL1, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)/PAS transcription factors, constitute the positive limb of the molecular clock oscillator. Recent investigations have shown that various levels of posttranslational regulation work in concert with CLOCK/BMAL1 in mediating circadian and cellular stimuli to control and reset the circadian rhythmicity. Here we review how the CLOCK and BMAL1 activities are regulated by intracellular distribution, posttranslational modification, and the recruitment of various epigenetic regulators in response to circadian and cellular signaling pathways.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.1209-1213
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• 2005

Nuclear membrane is one of the main barriers in intracellular delivery of genetic materials. The previous report showed that glucocorticoid receptor dilated the nuclear pore to 60 nm in the presence of a ligand. It was also suggested that the transport of genetic material to nucleus might be facilitated by glucocorticoid. In this study, the effect of glucocorticoid preincubation in the polymeric gene delivery was investigated. The cells were preincubated with dexamethasone, a potent glucocorticoid, and transfection assays were performed with polyethylenimine (PEI) and polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer. As a result, the transfection efficiency of PEI or PAMAM to the cells in the presence of dexamethasone was enhanced, compared to the cells without dexamethasone. This effect was not observed in the cells preincubated with cholesterol. The polymer/DNA complex was stable in the presence of dexamethasone. In addition, the cytotoxicities of the polymeric carriers to the cells were observed in the presence of dexamethasone. In conclusion, dexamethasone enhances the transfection efficiency of polymeric carriers and may be useful in the development of polymeric gene carriers.

• BMB Reports
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• v.41 no.12
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• pp.827-832
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• 2008

Many age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the accumulation of abnormally folded proteins within neurons. One of the major proteolytic pathways in the cell is the autophagy pathway, which targets cytoplasmic contents and organelles to the lysosomes for bulk degradation under various physiological and stressful conditions. Although the importance of autophagy in cellular physiology is well appreciated, its precise roles in neurodegeneration remain largely unclear. Recent studies indicate that components of the endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) are important in the autophagy pathway. Reduced activity of some ESCRT subunits leads to the accumulation of autophagosomes and failure to clear intracellular protein aggregates. Interestingly, rare mutations in CHMP2B, an ESCRT-III subunit, are associated with frontotemporal dementia linked to chromosome 3 (FTD3). Mutant CHMP2B proteins seem to disrupt the fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes in cell culture models. These findings suggest a potential mechanism for the pathogenesis of FTD3 and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases as well.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.187-194
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• 2007

In order to utilize different nitrogen sources and to survive in a situation of nitrogen limitation, microorganisms have developed sophisticated mechanisms to adapt their metabolism to a changing nitrogen supply. In this communication, the recent knowledge of nitrogen regulation in the amino acid producer Corynebacterium glutamicum is summarized. The core adaptations of C. glutamicum to nitrogen limitation on the level of transcription are controlled by the global regulator AmtR. Further components of the signal pathway are GlnK, a $P_{II}-type$ signal transduction protein, and GlnD. Mechanisms involved in nitrogen control in C. glutamicum regulating gene expression and protein activity are repression of transcription, protein-complex formation, protein modification by adenylylation, change of intracellular localization, and proteolysis.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.180.1-180.1
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• 2003

Eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I (top I) is an essential enzyme that act to relax supercoiled DNA during the transcription, replication and mitosis. Intracellular levels of top I are elevated in a number of human solid tumors, relative to the respective normal tissues, suggesting that controlling the topI level is important to treat cancer. Top I poisons show their antitumor activities by stabilizing the cleavable ternary complex consisting of top I enzyme, DNA, and drug. Thus, top I is a promising target for the development of new cancer chemotherapeutics against a number of solid tumors. (omitted)

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.753-761
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• 2020

To determine the role of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) in Klebsiella pneumoniae, the growth and metabolism of PDHC-deficient mutant in glycerol-based medium were analyzed and compared with those of other strains. Under aerobic conditions, the PDHC activity was fourfold higher than that of pyruvate formate lyase (PFL), and blocking of PDHC caused severe growth defect and pyruvate accumulation, indicating that the carbon flux through pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A mainly depended on PDHC. Under anaerobic conditions, although the PDHC activity was only 50% of that of PFL, blocking of PDHC resulted in more growth defect than blocking of PFL. Subsequently, combined with the requirement of CO₂ and intracellular redox status, it was presumed that the critical role of PDHC was to provide NADH for the anaerobic growth of K. pneumoniae. This presumption was confirmed in the PDHC-deficient mutant by further blocking one of the formate dehydrogenases, FdnGHI. Besides, based on our data, it can also be suggested that an improvement in the carbon flux in the PFL-deficient mutant could be an effective strategy to construct high-yielding 1,3-propanediol-producing K. pneumoniae strain.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1054-1063
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• 2015

Mitochondria play a crucial role in eukaryotic cells; the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) generates adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which serves as an energy source for numerous critical cellular activities. However, the ETC also generates deleterious reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a natural byproduct of oxidative phosphorylation. ROS are considered the major cause of aging because they damage proteins, lipids, and DNA by oxidation. We analyzed the chronological life span, growth phenotype, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and intracellular ATP and mitochondrial superoxide levels of 33 single ETC component-deleted strains during the chronological aging process. Among the ETC mutant strains, 14 ($sdh1{\Delta}$, $sdh2{\Delta}$, $sdh4{\Delta}$, $cor1{\Delta}$, $cyt1{\Delta}$, $qcr7{\Delta}$, $qcr8{\Delta}$, $rip1{\Delta}$, $cox6{\Delta}$, $cox7{\Delta}$, $cox9{\Delta}$, $atp4{\Delta}$, $atp7{\Delta}$, and $atp17{\Delta}$) showed a significantly shorter life span. The deleted genes encode important elements of the ETC components succinate dehydrogenase (complex II) and cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV), and some of the deletions lead to structural instability of the membrane-$F_1F_0$-ATP synthase due to mutations in the stator stalk (complex V). These short-lived strains generated higher superoxide levels and produced lower ATP levels without alteration of MMP. In summary, ETC mutations decreased the life span of yeast due to impaired mitochondrial efficiency.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.539-548
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• 2015

Prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$), a major product of cyclooxygenase, binds to four different prostaglandin $E_2$ receptors (EP1, EP2, EP3, and EP4) which are G-protein coupled transmembrane receptors (GPCRs). Although GPCRs including EP receptors have been shown to be associated with their specific G proteins, recent evidences suggest that GPCRs can regulate MAPK signaling via non-G protein coupled pathways including Src. EP2 is differentially expressed in various tissues and the expression of EP2 is induced by extracellular stimuli. We hypothesized that an increased level of EP2 expression may affect MAPK signaling. The overexpression of EP2 in HEK 293 cells resulted in significant increase in intracellular cAMP levels response to treatment with butaprost, a specific EP2 agonist, while overexpression of EP2 alone did not increase intracellular cAMP levels. However, EP2 overexpression in the absence of $PGE_2$ induced an increase in the level of p38 phosphorylation as well as the kinase activity of p38, suggesting that up-regulation of EP2 may promote p38 activation via non-G protein coupled pathway. Inhibition of Src completely blocked EP2-induced p38 phosphorylation and overexpression of Src increased the level of p38 phosphorylation, indicating that Src is upstream kinase for EP2-induced p38 phosphorylation. EP2 overexpression also increased the Src activity and EP2 protein was co-immunoprecipitated with Src. Furthermore, sequential co-immunoprecipitation studies showed that EP2, Src, and ${\beta}$-arrestin can form a complex. Our study found a novel pathway in which EP2 is associated with Src, regulating p38 pathway.