• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.381-397
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• 2021

Off-flavor materials (geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB)) produced by microorganisms, such as, cyanobacteria and actinomycetes, cause freshwater use problems worldwide. Due to unpleasant taste and odor, these microorganisms have raised issues especially in drinking water resources. Recently, there has been increasing concern about 2-MIB and causal cyanobacteria, namely, Pseudanabaena, in Korea. However, material production and ecological dynamics remain largely unexplored. This study reviewed the distribution of Pseudanabaena, its species diversity, and the research trend of molecular ecology related to 2-MIB production in Korea. Based on published literature, we found that seven species of Pseudanabaena which include P. mucicola, P. limnetica, P. redekei, P. catenata, P. galeata, P. yagii, and P. cinerea appeared to occur in a variety of Korean water systems. All of these Pseudanabaena species were found in the North-Han River system (Lakes Soyang, Chuncheon, Uiam, and Paldang). Some of these species were also detected in other watersheds, but the precise species diversity was not identified. Species belonging to the Pseudanabaena genus are hard to classify through general microscopic alpha taxonomy, due to their very small cell size and similar morphological characters. Moreover, the potential of 2-MIB production cannot be detected by microscopic observation. Combining molecular ecological techniques, such as, environmental genomic materials (eDNA, eRNA) analyses to conventional methods could be useful to better understand the off-flavor material production and dynamics, thereby providing more efficient management strategies of freshwater systems.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.50-60
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• 2022

The concentration levels and distribution characteristics of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were investigated and evaluated for total 100 soil samples as a part of the survey on soil contamination in Gwangju. The results (median and range) of T-PAHs (sum of 16 PAH concentrations), C-PAHs (sum of carcinogenic PAH concentrations) and T-TEQs (sum of 16 TEQ concentrations) were 20.8 (7.6~1158.1), 2.2 (N.D~509.6), and 0.3 (N.D~424.6) ㎍/kg, respectively. There was a positive correlation between C-PAHs/T-PAHs and T-TEQs/T-PAHs except one point where the concentration of benzo(a)pyrene was high. The ratios of the C-PAHs/T-PAHs were 31.7% for low molecular weight-PAHs and 68.3% for high molecular weight-PAHs, suggesting that PAHs generation mainly arose from combustion sources. The ratio of isomers of individual PAHs, Phe/Ant, Flu/Pyr, Ant/(Ant+Phe), Flu/(Flu+Pyr), and BaA/(BaA+Chr), also confirmed the predominance of PAHs from combustion activities. Statistical tracing of the source of PAHs through principal component analysis indicated that the main sources of combustion were automobile fuel and coal. The overall results of this study suggested HMW-PAHs, T-PAHs, C-PAHs and T-TEQs should be separately evaluated to better assess the toxicity and environmental behavior of individual PAHs.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.9
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• pp.465-471
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• 2022

Understanding and monitoring virus-mediated infections has gained importance since the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Studies of high-throughput omics-based immune profiling of COVID-19 patients can help manage the current pandemic and future virus-mediated pandemics. Although COVID-19 is being studied since past 2 years, detailed mechanisms of the initial induction of dynamic immune responses or the molecular mechanisms that characterize disease progression remains unclear. This study involved comprehensively collected biospecimens and longitudinal multi-omics data of 300 COVID-19 patients and 120 healthy controls, including whole genome sequencing (WGS), single-cell RNA sequencing combined with T cell receptor (TCR) and B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing (scRNA(+scTCR/BCR)-seq), bulk BCR and TCR sequencing (bulk TCR/BCR-seq), and cytokine profiling. Clinical data were also collected from hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and HLA typing, laboratory characteristics, and COVID-19 viral genome sequencing were performed during the initial diagnosis. The entire set of biospecimens and multi-omics data generated in this project can be accessed by researchers from the National Biobank of Korea with prior approval. This distribution of large-scale multi-omics data of COVID-19 patients can facilitate the understanding of biological crosstalk involved in COVID-19 infection and contribute to the development of potential methodologies for its diagnosis and treatment.

• Journal of Radiopharmaceuticals and Molecular Probes
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.105-111
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• 2021

⁸⁹Zr is a positron-emitting radioisotope, which has known as well-suited radioisotope for use in a monoclonal antibody-based imaging agent for immuno-PET. The purpose of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the diagnostic ability of general trastuzumab and thio-trastuzumab as HER2 positive receptors based on Df hexadentate iron chelator. Desferrioxamine-p-SCN (Df-Bz-NCS) and desferroixamine-maleimide (Df-Mal) were purchased from Macrocyclics (Dallas, TX, USA). The trastuzumab was purchased from Roche (Schweiz), and thio-trastuzumab was obtained from professor Hyo-Jeong Hong group (Kangwon National University). The radioisotope ⁸⁹Zr was produced by domestic purification system and KIRAMS using medical cyclotron (50 MeV, Scantronix). The conjugates of Df-trastuzumab and Df-thio-trastuzumab were prepared with Df-Bz-NCS and Df-Mal under basic aqueous solution (pH 8-9) at room temperature, respectively. The conjugates purified by PD-10 column were mixed with dried ⁸⁹Zr chloride. ⁸⁹Zr-labeled conjugates were purified and concentrated by Amicon ultra centrifugal filter. The preparation step and time of ⁸⁹Zr-labeled conjugates was shorted as 4 steps within 2 hours. ⁸⁹Zr-labeled conjugates showed the highly radiochemical purity of over 98%, and were very stable until 7 days by the analysis of radio-ITLC method. Each radio-labeled conjugates were also exhibited the highly stability in both PBS buffer and mouse serum. Immuno-PET imaging of ⁸⁹Zr-labeled conjugates in mice bearing gastric cancer xenograft tumors with HER2 expression showed high tumor uptake in the NCI-N87 HER2-expressing. However, ⁸⁹Zr-Df-Mal-thio-trastuzumab showed a relatively lower tumor-to-background ratio than ⁸⁹Zr-Df-Bz-trastuzumab, as well as whole-body distribution. In the results, ⁸⁹Zr-Df-Bz-trastuzumab was evaluated to have a relatively higher HER2 diagnostic ability than ⁸⁹Zr-Df-Mal-thio-trastuzumab.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.397-405
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• 2005

Background : Laminin-1 is known to have regular functions in the development and course of differentiation of the lungs. The morphogenesis and distribution of laminin-1 still remains as a mystery and its distribution and changes in the molecular structure of laminin-1 in the pathogenesis of the lung still is a subject of great controversy. In this study, experiments were done to delineate the distribution and changes in the amount of laminin-1 after inducing inflammation of the lungs by exposing experimental animals to CS gas and especially, to find compositions of laminin-1 within type II pneumocytes. Materials and Methods : The experimental subjects of study were newborn rats and the extracted tissue from the experimental rats were viewed under light microscope and electron microscope after the sections were treated with immunohistochemical methods and immunogold reaction methods using bounded gold particles. Results : 1) Lymphocytes and mononuclear phagocytes invaded the alveolar septa in the 2 day group rats after CS gas exposure and intense interstitial inflammation was seen in the 3 day group. 2) Laminin immunoreactions decreased to a moderate degree in the 2 and 3 day group rats after CS gas exposure and strong laminin immunoreactions were seen again in the 5 and 7 day group rats. 3) Gold particles in basal lamina of the lung blood-air barrier decreased and in the type I pneumocytes decreased in the 2 and 3 day group rats after CS gas exposure. 4) Gold particles were seen only on the surface of the cell membranes of type II pneumocytes of the 1 and 2 day group rats after CS gas exposure. 5) Few gold particles around the lamellar bodies and cytoplasm of type II pneumocytes in the control rat group and at 12 hours after CS gas exposure. Gold particles are seen only on the surface of type II pneumocytes of the 1 and 2 day group rats after CS gas exposure and are evenly distributed in small amounts in the cells of the 3 day group after CS gas exposure. Conclusion : CS gas exposure in the rats caused inflammation of lung alveolar septa and also induced a decrease in laminin-1 in basal lamina and loss of laminin-1 in the cytoplasm of type II pneumonocytes. As the inflammatory cells disappeared, an increase in the distribution of laminin-1 occurred. This reflects tissue regeneration functions of laminin-1 in the pneumocytes of rats and the distribution of laminin-1 in type II pneumocytes can be seen through the electron microscope using immunogold methods.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.13-21
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• 2006

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread soil contaminants and major environmental concerns. PAHs have extremely low water solubility and are strongly sorbed to soil. A potential technology for remediation of PAHcontaminated soils is a soil washing with surfactant solutions. While the use of surfactants significantly enhances the performance of soil remediation, operation costs are increased. Selective adsorption of PAHs by activated carbons is proposed to reuse the surfactants in the soil-washing process. The adsorption isotherms of pure chemicals (Triton X-100 and phenanthrene) onto three granular activated carbons were obtained. The selective adsorption of phenanthrene in mixed solution was examined at various concentrations of phenanthrene and Triton X-100. The selectivity results were discussed with pore size distribution of activated carbons and molecular sizes of phenanthrene and the Triton X-100 monomer. The selectivity for phenanthrene was much larger than 1 regardless of the particle size of activated carbons. The selective adsorption using activated carbons with proper pore size distribution would greatly reduce the material cost for the soil washing process by the reuse of the surfactants.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.397-405
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• 1985

The adsorption behaviors of some oxime compounds well known as metal chelating agents on the Amberlite XAD resins were compared by measuring their distribution coefficients (log Kd) in various media, respectively. Among the oxime compounds, salicylaldoxime (SAO) and $\alpha-benzoinoxime(${\alpha}$-BzO)$ which showed large log Kd values were chosen. The characteristics of XAD-4 resins impregnated with SAO and ${\alpha}$-BzO have been studied to apply them for the adsorption and recovery of minute quantities of metal ions in aqueous solution. The optimum conditions for adsorption of SAO and ${\alpha}$-BzO on the resin were 30% methanol media having pH range of 1~8(for SAO) and 1~9 (for ${\alpha}$-BzO), respectively. The distribution coefficients of two oxime compounds were decreased as temperature increased. From the adsorption enthalpy data of SAO and ${\alpha}$-BzO, ranging from 4.96 to 6.66 Kcal/mol, it is suggested that their adsorption mechanism on XAD-4 resin is likely due to molecular adsorption equivalent to dipole-dipole interaction. The impregnated resins were considerably stable in the aqueous solutions of pH 5.0~10.0 and in 0.1~5M hydrochloric acid solutions. The former is the medium for adsorption of metal ions, while the latter is for recovery of the adsorbed metal ions. The adsorption mole ratio of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II) ions on SAO-XAD-4 and ${\alpha}$-BzO-XAD-4 resins were about 1 : 2 at the optimum conditions, respectively. The adsorbed metal ions were recovered completely by eluting with 3M HCl-50% methanol solution

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.532-542
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• 2014

This study describe seasonal patterns in the variation of phytoplankton frequency in the water surface and basal layers and their spatial distributions at seven stations in Hwadang-ri, Goseng-gun in 2013. The phytoplankton community at Hwadang-ri was very diverse, with 60 taxa identified, representing three classes. Diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) exhibited the greatest diversity, with 41 taxa identified. These were followed by the dinoflagellates Dinophyceae, Cryptophyceae, and Eugenophyceae, with 16 taxa, two taxa, and one taxon, respectively. Water surfaces were shown with the relative individual density or abundance across areas. Except in January, Shannon-Weaver indices of diversity of the water surface layer were lower than those of the basal layer. In addition, evenness indices of the basal layer were higher than those of the water surface layer, except in January. For the community as a whole, the values of ${\beta}$-diversity were low for the seven stations: 1.125 for the water surface layer and 1.481 for the basal layer. Seasonal values for ${\beta}$-diversity were similar at the seven stations: 1.725 for the water surface layer and 1.347 for the basal layer. The phytoplankton community showed high taxonomic homogeneity in all four seasons, in addition to similar trends in seasonal development at depths in the same stations. However, the size distribution of the abundance and biomass showed a statistically significant west-east difference.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.247-254
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• 2016

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a necessary precondition of cervical cancer. A change from cytology to molecular HPV testing is, however, challenging. A new HPV DNA chip test for the infection of 22 HPV genotypes were developed in Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection in the Seoul area. Over the last year, a total of 5,614 samples were tested. Using a chip test, HPV genotypes were detected in 1,596 (28.4%); of which, 679 (42.5%) were considered as high risk and low risk HPV were 152 (9.5%). 831 were single positive samples (n=1596). The most frequently found genotypes in all HPV-single positive samples (n=831) were HPV-16 (16.5%), 58 (15.2%), 52 (8.8%), 51 (7.1%) and 56 (5.9%). Mixed genotypes (n=219) were detected in 2 (n=176, 11.0%), 3 (n=37, 5.9%), and 4 (n=2, 0.1%) positive samples (n=1596). This study demonstrated that epidemical investigated HPV infection in patients of general hospital. These findings could be used to indicate a nationwide distribution of HPV and the adoption of vaccines. It is hoped that additional epidemiological research regarding the outcomes that are important to decision makers will be conducted.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.224-233
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• 2018

Primary cilia are solitary, non-motile, axonemal microtubule-based antenna-like organelles that project from the plasma membrane of most mammalian cells and are implicated in transducing hedgehog signals during development. It was recently proposed that aberrant SHH signaling may be implicated in the progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, the distribution and role of primary cilia in IPF remains unclear. Here, we clearly observed the primary cilia in alveolar epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells of human normal lung tissue. Then, we investigated the distribution of primary cilia in human IPF tissue samples using immunofluorescence. Tissues from six IPF cases showed an increase in the number of primary cilia in alveolar cells and fibroblasts. In addition, we observed an increase in ciliogenesis related genes such as IFT20 and IFT88 in IPF. Since major components of the SHH signaling pathway are known to be localized in primary cilia, we quantified the mRNA expression of the SHH signaling components using qRT-PCR in both IPF and control lung. mRNA levels of SHH, the coreceptor SMO, and the transcription factors GLI1 and GLI2 were upregulated in IPF compared with control. Furthermore, the nuclear localization of GLI1 was observed mainly in alveolar epithelia and fibroblasts. In addition, we showed that defective KIF3A-mediated ciliary loss in human type II alveolar epithelial cell lines leads to disruption of SHH signaling. These results indicate that a significant increase in the number of primary cilia in IPF contributes to the upregulation of SHH signals.