• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.12-18
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• 2015

Malformations of cortical development (MCD) cover a broad spectrum of developmental disorders which cause the various clinical manifestations including epilepsy, developmental delay, and intellectual disability. MCD have been clinically classified based on the disruption of developmental processes such as proliferation, migration, and organization. Molecular genetic studies of MCD have improved our understanding of these disorders at a molecular level beyond the clinical classification. These recent advances are resulted from the development of massive parallel sequencing technology, also known as next-generation sequencing (NGS), which has allowed researchers to uncover novel molecular genetic pathways associated with inherited or de novo mutations. Although an increasing number of disease-related genes or genetic variations have been identified, genotype-phenotype correlation is hampered when the biological or pathological functions of identified genetic variations are not fully understood. To elucidate the causality of genetic variations, in vivo disease models that reflect these variations are required. In the current review, we review the use of NGS technology to identify genes involved in MCD, and discuss how the functions of these identified genes can be validated through in vivo disease modeling.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.33-42
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• 2018

Myosin X is one of myosin superfamily members having unique cellular functions on cytoskeletal reorganization. One of the most important cellular functions of myosin X is to facilitate the formation of membrane protrusions. Since membrane protrusions are important factors for diverse cellular motile processes including cell migration, cell invasion, path-finding of the cells, intercellular communications and so on, it has been thought that myosin X plays an important role in various processes that involve cytoskeletal reorganization including cancer progression and development of neuronal diseases. Recent studies have revealed that the unique cellular function of myosin X is closely correlated with its unique structural characteristics and motor properties. Moreover, it is found that the molecular and cellular activities of myosin X are controlled by its specific binding partner. Since recent studies have revealed the presence of various specific binding partners of myosin X, it is anticipated that the structural, biochemical and cell biological understanding of the binding partner dependent regulation of myosin X function can uncover the role of myosin X in diverse cell biological processes and diseases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9049-9058
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• 2014

Casticin (3', 5-dihydroxy-3, 4', 6, 7-tetramethoxyflavone) is an active compound isolated from roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds of a variety of plants. It is well known for its pharmacological properties and has been utilized as an anti-hyperprolactinemia, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotetective, analgesic and immunomodulatory agent. Recently, the anticancer activity of casticin has been extensively investigated. The resulkts showed that it exerts protective potential by targeting apoptosis, considered important for cancer therapies. In this article, our aim was to review the pharmacological and therapeutic applications of casticin with specific emphasis on its anticancer functions and related molecular mechanisms. Chemotherapeutic effects are dependent on multiple molecular pathways, which may provide a new perspective of casticin as a candidate anti-neoplastic drug. This review suggests that additional studies and preclinical trials are required to determine specific intracellular sites of action and derivative targets in order to fully understand the mechanisms of its antitumor activity and validate this compound as a medicinal agent for the prevention and treatment of various cancers.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.837-842
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• 2003

In ab initio molecular dynamics, whenever information about the potential energy surface is needed for integrating the equations of motion, it is computed “on the fly” using electronic structure calculations. For Born-Oppenheimer methods, the electronic structure calculations are converged, whereas in the extended Lagrangian approach the electronic structure is propagated along with the nuclei. Some recent advances for both approaches are discussed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2649-2653
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• 2016

Background: Genetic alterations in gliomas have increasing importance for classification purposes. Thus, we are especially interested in studying IDH mutations which may feature potential roles in diagnosis, prognosis and response to treatment. Our aim was to investigate IDH mutations in diffuse glioma patients diagnosed in university hospital centre of Fez in Morocco. Materials and Methods: IDH1 codon 132 and IDH2 codon 172 were direct-sequenced in 117 diffuse glioma samples diagnosed and treated in University Hospital Hassan II between 2010 and 2014. Results: The R132H IDH1 mutation was identified in 43/117 tumor samples and R172K IDH2 mutation was detected in only one anaplastic oligodendroglioma. IDH mutations were observed in 63.2% of astrocytomas, 73.3% of diffuse oligodendrogliomas and 12.90% of glioblastomas. Conclusions: Our results confirmed other studies published earlier for other populations with some small discrepancies.

• BMB Reports
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.661-667
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• 2005

Since conflicting results have been reported on non-specific immune response in type 1 diabetes, this study evaluates polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) functions in the infection free Long Evan diabetic rats (type 1) by using tests that include: polarization assay, phagocytosis of baker's yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) dye reduction. Polarization assay showed that neutrophils from diabetic rats were significantly activated at the basal level compared to those from the controls (p < 0.001). After PMN activation with N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), control neutrophils were found to be more polarized than those of the diabetic neutrophils and the highest proportions of polarization were found to be 67% and 57% at $10^{-7}\;M$ FMLP, respectively. In the resting state, neutrophils from the diabetic rats reduced significantly more NBT dye than that of the controls (p < 0.001). The percentages of phagocytosis of opsonized yeast cells by the neutrophils from control and diabetic rats were 87% and 61%, respectively and the difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Evaluation of the phagocytic efficiency of PMNs revealed that control neutrophils could phagocytose $381{\pm}17$ whereas those from the diabetic rats phagocytosed $282{\pm}16$ yeast cells, and the efficiency of phagocytosis varied significantly (p < 0.001). Further, both the percentages of phagocytosis and the efficiency of phagocytosis by the diabetic neutrophils were inversely related with the levels of their corresponding plasma glucose (p = 0.02; r = -0.498 and p < 0.05; r = -0.43, respectively), which indicated that increased plasma glucose reduced the phagocytic ability of neutrophils. Such relationship was not observed with the control neutrophils. These data clearly indicate that PMN functions are altered in the streptozotocin (STZ) - induced diabetic rats, and hyperglycemia may be the cause for the impairment of their functions leading to many infectious episodes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.223-233
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• 1998

Discovery of molecular chaperone has stimulate cell biologists and thus made it possible to re-examine the processes whereby proteins achieve and maintain their functional conformations within living cells. the term ‘Molecular chaperone’ was first coined to describe one particular protein involved in the assembly of nucleosomes, but the term has now been extended to describe the function of a wide variety of proteins that assist protein transport across membranes, folding of nascent polypeptide, the assembly and disassembly of oligomeric structures, and the recovery or removal of proteins damaged by various environmental stresses including heat shock. Progress of molecular chaperone research is still limited by the lack of 3-dimensional structural information and detailed interacts with taget proteins in the cell. However, several laboratories around the world are attempting to extend our knowledge on the functions of molecular chaperone, and such efforts seem justified to finally provide the answers to the most burning questions shortly.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.461-471
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• 2013

Optimized geometrical structure, atomic charges, molecular electrostatic potential, nonlinear optical (NLO) effects and thermodynamic properties of the title compound N-(2,5-methylphenyl)salicylaldimine (I) have been investigated by using ab initio quantum chemical computational studies. Calculated results showed that the enol form of (I) is more stable than keto form. The solvent effect was investigated for obtained molecular energies, hardneses and the atomic charge distributions of (I). Natural bond orbital and frontier molecular orbital analysis of the title compound were also performed. The total molecular dipole moment (${\mu}$), linear polarizability (${\alpha}$), and first-order hyperpolarizability (${\beta}$) were calculated by B3LYP method with 6-31G(d), 6-31+G(d,p), 6-31++G(d,p), 6-311+G(d) and 6-311++G(d,p) basis sets to investigate the NLO properties of the compound (I). The standard thermodynamic functions were obtained for the title compound with the temperature ranging from 200 to 450 K.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2020

Aging is often viewed as a progressive decline in fitness due to cumulative deleterious alterations of biological functions in the living system. Recently, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying aging biology has significantly advanced. Interestingly, many of the pivotal molecular features of aging biology are also found to contribute to the pathogenesis of chronic lung disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, for which advanced age is the most crucial risk factor. Thus, an enhanced understanding of how molecular features of aging biology are intertwined with the pathobiology of these aging-related lung disorders has paramount significance and may provide an opportunity for the development of novel therapeutics for these major unmet medical needs. To serve the purpose of integrating molecular understanding of aging biology with pulmonary medicine, in this review, recent findings obtained from the studies of aging-associated lung disorders are summarized and interpreted through the perspective of molecular biology of aging.

• Interdisciplinary Bio Central
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.2.1-2.7
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• 2012

Introduction: Histone deacetylases (HDAC) are a class of enzymes that remove acetyl groups from ${\varepsilon}$-N-acetyl lysine amino acids of histone proteins. Their action is opposite to that of histone acetyltransferase that adds acetyl groups to these lysines. Only few HDAC inhibitors are approved and used as anti-cancer therapeutics. Thus, discovery of new and potential HDAC inhibitors are necessary in the effective treatment of cancer. Materials and Methods: This study proposed a method using support vector machine (SVM) to classify HDAC8 inhibitors and non-inhibitors in early-phase virtual compound filtering and screening. The 100 experimentally known HDAC8 inhibitors including 52 inhibitors and 48 non-inhibitors were used in this study. A set of molecular descriptors was calculated for all compounds in the dataset using ADRIANA. Code of Molecular Networks. Different kernel functions available from SVM Tools of free support vector machine software and training and test sets of varying size were used in model generation and validation. Results and Conclusion: The best model obtained using kernel functions has shown 75% of accuracy on test set prediction. The other models have also displayed good prediction over the test set compounds. The results of this study can be used as simple and effective filters in the drug discovery process.