• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.447-453
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• 2016

Acanthamoeba, a free-living amoeba, is widely distributed in the environment, water sources, soil, dust, and air. It can cause keratitis in contact lens wearers with poor hygiene and also fatal granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE) in immunocompromised hosts. The aim of this study was to gain some insights into the distribution and genotypes of the potentially pathogenic species of Acanthamoeba present in water sources in north of Iran. Total 43 Acanthamoeba species were isolated from 77 water samples taken from different water sources within the Mazandaran province in Northern Iran (Sari city and suburbs). Isolates were identified based on cyst and trophozoite morphological characteristics as well genetics. PCR fragments corresponding to the small-subunit 18S rRNA gene were sequenced for 20 of 43 positive isolates. The results revealed that 83.3% of sequenced isolates belonged to the T4 genotype and the rest belonged to the T2 genotype. Our results indicated that Acanthamoeba is widely distributed in Sari city. As the incidence in Iran of amoebic keratitis has increased in recent years, the exact estimation of the prevalence of this amoeba and its predominant genotype may play a crucial role in prevention of the disease. Sari city has several rivers, seashores, and natural recreational amenities, which attract visitors during the year. This is the first report of Acanthamoeba genotypes from water sources in Sari city, Mazandaran province of Iran, and the results suggest that more attention is needed to protect the visiting population and immunocompromised individuals.

• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.335-339
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• 2001

Grapevine leafroll-associated 3 closterovirus (GLRaV-3) is phloem limited virus, and one of the most severe viral diseases found in Korea. However, nonhomogenous distribution and low concentration and seasonal variations of GLRaV-3 in grapevines remain as main problems which prevent the introduction and molecular biology or serology experiments. Virus-infected plantlet in vitro was obtained from node tissue cuttings, which was GLRaV-3 infected 'kyoho' vines. The amount of purified virus was highest in vitro plantlet. Moreover, viruses seem to be relatively homogeneously distributed in all organs including leaf, stem and callus derived from in vitro plantlets. RT-PCR detection using in vitro plantlet tissue as template was most effective. When comparing ELISA to RT-PCR, RT-PCR detection was 1,000 times as effective as ELISA. These results can be explained by improved quality such as tenderness or less tannins in plantlet in vitro. In conclusion, until infected herbaceous host will be available, tissue culture can be usefully adopted as a technique for a good source of GLRaV-3 closterovirus for further studies.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.346-353
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• 2009

Drug metabolism is a critical determinant of the therapeutic and adverse effects of many psychotropic drugs. The metabolism depends on the pharmacokinetics of a drug, which includes its absorption, distribution, and elimination. Psychotropic drugs are metabolized mainly by cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes; about 20 of these enzymes exist and they are often responsible for the rate-limiting step of drug metabolism. CYP2D6 is the best-characterized P450 enzyme that exhibits polymorphism in humans. This study determined the relationship between the CYP2D6*10 (P34S) polymorphism and the response to mirtazapine in 153 Koreans with major depressive disorder (MDD). The genotype frequencies were compared using logistic regression analysis, and between-genotype differences in the decrease in the 21-item Hamilton Depression (HAMD21) score over the 12-week treatment period were analyzed using a linear regression analysis. The proportion of remitters was lower in patients with MDD possessing the S allele than in P allele carriers after 2 weeks of mirtazapine treatment. Similarly, the reductions in the HAMD21 and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores in S allele carriers were smaller than those in patients with the P allele after 2 weeks of mirtazapine treatment. In the analysis of depression symptoms, the sleep and delusion scores had smaller reductions in S allele carriers. Based on the Liverpool University Neuroleptic Side Effect Rating Scale (LUNSERS), the psychic adverse effects of mirtazapine were associated with CYP2D6 P34S, while weight gain was not. These results suggest that CYP2D6 P34S affects the outcome of mirtazapine treatment in patients with MDD, and that this polymorphism may be a good genetic marker for predicting the clinical outcome of mirtazapine treatment.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.624-629
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• 2015

Since the emergence of proteomics methods, many proteins specific for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) have been identified. Despite their usefulness for the specific diagnosis of RCC, such proteins do not provide spatial information on the diseased tissue. Therefore, the identification of cancer-specific proteins that include information on their specific location is needed. Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) based imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) has emerged as a new tool for the analysis of spatial distribution as well as identification of either proteins or small molecules in tissues. In this report, surgical tissue sections of papillary RCC were analyzed using MALDI-IMS. Statistical analysis revealed several discriminative cancer-specific m/z-species between normal and diseased tissues. Among these m/z-species, two particular proteins, S100A11 and ferritin light chain, which are specific for papillary RCC cancer regions, were successfully identified using LC-MS/MS following protein extraction from independent RCC samples. The expressions of S100A11 and ferritin light chain were further validated by immunohistochemistry of human tissues and tissue microarrays (TMAs) of RCC. In conclusion, MALDI-IMS followed by LC-MS/MS analysis in human tissue identified that S100A11 and ferritin light chain are differentially expressed proteins in papillary RCC cancer regions.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.865-872
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• 2014

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is a long-term adverse effect of chemotherapy treatment. However, current available treatment regimens are not optimal. Emerging evidence suggests that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) could restore the structure and function of injured tissues, but the homing and restorative effects of BMSCs on chemotherapy injured ovaries are still not clear. In this study, we found that granulosa cell (GC) apoptosis induced by cisplatin was reduced when BMSCs were migrated to granulosa cells (GCs) in vitro. Chemotherapy-induced POF was induced by intraperitoneal injection of cisplatin in rats. BMSCs labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) were injected into the rats via the tail vein to investigate the homing and distribution of BMSCs in vivo. The number of BMSCs in the ovarian hilum and medulla was greater than in the cortex, but no BMSCs were found in the follicles and corpus lutea. In addition, the BMSCs treatment group's antral follicle count and estradiol levels increased after 30 days, compared with the POF group. Hence, our study demonstrates that intravenously delivered BMSCs can home to the ovaries, and restore its structure and function in POF model rats.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.74-79
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• 2002

In addition to the well-established use of positron emission tomography (PET) in clinical oncology, novel roles for PET are rapidly emerging in the field of gene therapy. Methods for controlled gene delivery to living bodies, made available through advances in molecular biology, are currently being employed in animals for research purposes and in humans to treat diseases such as cancer. Although gene therapy is still in its early developmental stage, it is perceived that many serious illnesses could be treated successfully by the use of therapeutic gene delivery. A major challenge for the widespread use of human gene therapy is to achieve a controlled and effective delivery of foreign genes to target cells and subsequently, adequate levels of expression. As such, the availability of noninvasive imaging methods to accurately assess the location, duration, and level of transgene expression is critical for optimizing gene therapy strategies. Current endeavors to achieve this goal include methods that utilize magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging, and nuclear imaging techniques. As for PET, reporter systems that utilize genes encoding enzymes that accumulate positron labeled substrates and those transcribing surface receptors that bind specific positron labeled ligands have been successfully developed. More recent advances in this area include improved reporter gene constructs and radiotracers, introduction of potential strategies to monitor endogenous gene expression, and human pilot studies evaluating the distribution and safety of reporter PET tracers. The remarkably rapid progress occurring in gene imaging technology indicates its importance and wide range of application. As such, gene imaging is likely to become a major and exciting new area for future application of PET technology.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.416-422
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• 2013

In order to incorporate silver ions into the alginate, silver-alginate was prepared with aqueous solutions of silver nitrate. In the study, the silver-alginate was prepared by blending with poly vinylpyrrolidone solutions and the electrospinning was performed by using this blend solution. Antibacterial properties of silver-alginate/PVP solutions were estimated for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by the colony counting test. Electrospinning conditions of silver-alginate/PVP solution were the tip-to-collector distance of 22 cm, the flow rate of the solution at 0.01 mL/min, and the voltage at 26 kV. The form and size of silver-alginate/PVP nanofibers were estimated by SEM and Image J. The average diameter of the electrospun SA5P15 fibers was 124 nm and showed a narrow diameter distribution. The reduction of bacteria for SA5P15 exhibited 99.9% after 24 h.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6411-6413
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• 2013

Adenocarcinoma of esophagus (AE) is a complex disease, affected by a variety of genetic and environmental factors. Much evidence has shown that the MutY glycosylase homologue (MUTYH) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of many cancers. However, there have been no reports on influence on AE in the Han Chinese population. The objective of this study was to investigate this issue. A gene-based association study was conducted using three single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) reported in previous studies. The three SNPs (rs3219463, rs3219472, rs3219489) were genotyped in 207 unrelated AE patients and 249 healthy controls in a case-control study using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The results revealed that the genotype distribution of rs3219472 differed between the case and control groups (OR=1.66,95%CI=1.11-2.48, P=0.012), indicating that an association may exist between MUTYH and AE. These findings support a signifcant role for MUTYH in AE pathogenesis in the Han Chinese population.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.304-310
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• 1978

The relative permeabilities, distribution coefficients and diffusion coefficient of some salts which are important components in blood plasma through a poly(HEMA) membrane were measured. The crosslinker which was used for preparing the membrane was tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate(TEGDMA), the weight percentage of the latter was about 2.8. We found that the diffusion coefficients ($D_m$) of the solutes decrease exponentially with increasing molecular weight, and also that $D_m$'s decrease linearly (except urea) with cylindrical radius (a). These facts were explained by a sieve pore flow model. The relative permeability and diffusion coefficient of urea at various temperature were larger than those of other solutes such as glycine, ${\beta}$-alanine, D-glucose, saccharose and maleic acid. The result indicates that the poly(HEMA) membrane might be suitable for hemodialysis application.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.2505-2511
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• 2014

Indium oxide nanocrystals ($In_2O_3$ NCs) with sizes of 5.5 nm-10 nm were synthesized by hot injection of the mixture precursors, indium acetate and oleic acid, into alcohol solution (1-octadecanol and 1-octadecence mixture). Field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE-TEM), High resolution X-Ray diffraction (X-ray), Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were employed to investigate the size, surface molecular structure, and crystallinity of the synthesized $In_2O_3$ NCs. When covered by oleic acid as a capping group, the $In_2O_3$ NCs had a high crystallinity with a cubic structure, demonstrating a narrow size distribution. A high mobility of $2.51cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ and an on/off current ratio of about $1.0{\times}10^3$ were observed with an $In_2O_3$ NCs thin film transistor (TFT) device, where the channel layer of $In_2O_3$ NCs thin films were formed by a solution process of spin coating, cured at a relatively low temperature, $350^{\circ}C$. A size-dependent, non-monotonic trend on electron mobility was distinctly observed: the electron mobility increased from $0.43cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ for NCs with a 5.5 nm diameter to $2.51cm^2/V{\cdot}s$ for NCs with a diameter of 7.1 nm, and then decreased for NCs larger than 7.1 nm. This phenomenon is clearly explained by the combination of a smaller number of hops, a decrease in charging energy, and a decrease in electronic coupling with the increasing NC size, where the crossover diameter is estimated to be 7.1 nm. The decrease in electronic coupling proved to be the decisive factor giving rise to the decrease in the mobility associated with increasing size in the larger NCs above the crossover diameter.