• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.64-69
• /
• 2006

Gap junctional channels, allowing rapid intercellular communication and synchronization of coupled cell activities, play crucial roles in many signaling processes, including a variety of cell activities. Consequently, a modulation of the gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) should be a potential pharmacological target. In the present, the GJIC of a epithelial-derived rat mammary cells (BICR-M1Rk) was assessed in the presence of ginseng saponin, by using an established method of scrape-loading dye transfer assay. The transfer of Lucifer yellow (diameter: 1.2 nm) among the neighboring BICR-M1Rk cells, in which connexin43 (Cx43) is a major gap junction channel-forming protein, was significantly retarded at a concentration of $10{\mu}g/ml$ ginseng saponin. By using both methods of RT-PCR and Western blotting, it was demonstrated that ginseng saponin modulated neither the mRNA synthesis of Cx43 nor the translational process of Cx43. This ginseng saponin-induced modification of GJIC was a similar phenomenon observed under the $\beta$-glycyrrhetinic acid treatment, a well-known gap junction channel blocker. Taken together, it is reasonable to conclude that the ginseng saponin inhibits GJIC only by modulating the gating property of gap junction channels.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.26-32
• /
• 2022

Living cells generate, sense, and respond to mechanical forces through their interaction with neighboring cells or extracellular matrix, thereby regulating diverse cellular processes such as growth, motility, differentiation, and immune responses. Dysregulation of mechanosensitive signaling pathways is found associated with the development and progression of various diseases such as cancer. Yet, little is known about the mechanisms behind mechano-regulation, largely due to the limited availability of tools to study it at the molecular level. The recent development of molecular tension probes allows measurement of cellular forces exerted by single ligand-receptor interaction, which has helped in revealing the hitherto unknown mechanistic details of various mechanosensitive processes in living cells. Here, we provide an introductory overview of two methods based on molecular tension probes, tension gauge tether (TGT), and molecular tension fluorescence microscopy (MTFM). TGT utilizes the irreversible rupture of double-stranded DNA tether upon application of force in the piconewton (pN) range, whereas MTFM utilizes the reversible extension of molecular springs such as polymer or single-stranded DNA hairpin under applied pN forces. Specifically, the underlying principle of how molecular tension probes measure cell-generated mechanical forces and their applications to mechanosensitive biological processes are described.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.483-496
• /
• 2024

This paper proposes a location-based inter-beam handover event considering terminal mobility to enhance the service quality for terminals in satellite networks. The terminal continuously measures the distance between the serving cell and neighboring cell centers, and checks whether the handover event condition is satisfied, taking into account the terminal's velocity. Performance analysis results demonstrate that the proposed location-based handover event reduces the frequency of unnecessary handover event triggering compared to the conventional received signal strength-based handover event, thereby improving the service continuity of the terminal.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.575-586
• /
• 2005

FC(free choresterol) plays an important role in normal and pathophysiological cells including that of messenger molecule or dilator of blood vessels in such illnesses as artheriosclerosis, hypertension and myocardial infarction. Smooth muscle and endothelial cell functions in the arteria wall are unified by complex intercellular signalling processes. In arteria comprised of one layer of smooth muscle cells surrounding the endothelium, the close apposition of the two cell types enables a signal derived from one cell to rapidly diffuse to neighboring cells. Experimentation was conducted to investigate the potential contribution of Sohaphyangwon(SHHW) on levels of FC generated by goaded microphages, and mechanisms of protection against ACAT inhibitor. It was found that J774 macrophages, which normally do not express FC were expressed by oxLDL and ACAT inhibitor. SHHW protected cells were found to be resistant to oxLDL and delayed death following the FC. Inhibition of FC formation abolished the protective effect against ACAT inhibitor exposure. Cadiovascular diseases include abnormalities of blood vessels dysfunction of the renin-angiotension system. What relation herbal medicine may have with vessel endothelium necrosis was here studied. In Oriental Medicine, SHHW water extract used for diseases in relation to cardiovascular systems. The resistence to cardiovascular disease of ACAT inhibitor induced J774 macrophage cells were studied through analysis of cell morphological patterns and immunochemistry of SHHW. The results of this study suggest that SHHW has protective effects on the cardiovascular system, and that it is effective in both prevention and treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system, particularity against necrosis of blood.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.23
• /
• pp.10299-10306
• /
• 2015

The esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is thought to develop through a multi-stage process. Epigenetic gene silencing constitutes an alternative or complementary mechanism to mutational events in tumorigenesis. Posttranscriptional regulation of human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) and antigen processing machinery (APM) proteins expression may be associated with novel epigenetic modifications in cancer development. In the present study, we determined the expression levels of HLA-I antigen and APM components by immunohistochemistry. Then by a bisulfite-sequencing PCR (BSP) approach, we identified target CpG islands methylated at the gene promoter region of APM family genes in a ESCC cell line (ECa109), and further quantitative analysis of CpG site specific methylation of these genes in cases of Kazakh primary ESCCs with corresponding non-cancerous esophageal tissues using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Here we showed that the development of ESCCs was accompanied by partial or total loss of protein expression of HLA-B, TAP2, LMP7, tapasin and ERp57. The results demonstrated that although no statistical significance was found of global target CpG fragment methylation level sof HLA-B, TAP2, tapasin and ERp57 genes between ESCC and corresponding non-cancerous esophageal tissues, there was significant differences in the methylation level of several single sites between the two groups. Of thesse only the global methylation level of LMP7 gene target fragments was statistically higher ($0.0517{\pm}0.0357$) in Kazakh esophageal cancer than in neighboring normal tissues ($0.0380{\pm}0.0214$, p<0.05). Our results suggest that multiple CpG sites, but not methylation of every site leads to down regulation or deletion of gene expression. Only some of them result in genetic transcription, and silencing of HLA-B, ERp57, and LMP7 expression through hypermethylation of the promoters or other mechanisms may contribute to mechanisms of tumor escape from immune surveillance in Kazakh esophageal carcinogenesis.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.103-109
• /
• 2010

Functional regulation of a specific tissue or organ is controlled by a number of ways, including local cell-cell interaction. Of several forms of cell-cell junctional complexes, gap junctions are caught a great attention due to a formation of direct linkage between neighboring cells. Gap junctions are consisted of connexin (Cx) isoforms. In the present study, we evaluated expressional profiling of Cx isoforms in the rat initial segment (IS) of the male reproductive tract at different postnatal ages. The presence and expression of 13 Cx isoform mRNAs were determined by semi-quantitative real-time PCR analyses. A total of 8 Cx isoform mRNAs were detected in the IS of the male rats during postnatal development. The highest level of Cx30.3 mRNA was found at 5 months of age, while abundance of Cx31 mRNA was the highest at 1 year of age. Expression of Cx31.1 gene was relatively consistent during the postnatal development. Fluctuation of Cx32 and 37 gene expression was observed during the postnatal period. Significant elevation of Cx40 mRNA abundance was detected at 25 days of age and older ages. Expression patterns of Cx43 and 45 genes were similar with the highest level at 2 weeks of age, followed by gradual decreases at older ages. These results indicate differential regulation on expression of Cx isoforms in the rat IS during postnatal development. A complicated regulation of gene expression of Cx isoforms in the IS at different postnatal ages is suggested.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
• /
• v.12B no.4 s.100
• /
• pp.369-378
• /
• 2005

Document image is segmented and classified into text, picture, or table by a document layout analysis, and the words in table regions are significant for keyword spotting because they are more meaningful than the words in other regions. This paper proposes a method to extract words from table regions in document images. As word extraction from table regions is practically regarded extracting words from cell regions composing the table, it is necessary to extract the cell correctly. In the cell extraction module, table frame is extracted first by analyzing connected components, and then the intersection points are extracted from the table frame. We modify the false intersections using the correlation between the neighboring intersections, and extract the cells using the information of intersections. Text regions in the individual cells are located by using the connected components information that was obtained during the cell extraction module, and they are segmented into text lines by using projection profiles. Finally we divide the segmented lines into words using gap clustering and special symbol detection. The experiment performed on In table images that are extracted from Korean documents, and shows $99.16\%$ accuracy of word extraction.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.709-713
• /
• 2007

Basement membranes (BMs) are extracellular matrices associated with epithelia, endothelia, muscle, fat and peripheral nerve. They are involved in cell survival, migration, differentiation. BMs functions also include tissue formation and provide mechanical stability as a selective barriers. Laminins are heterotrimeric glycoproteins found in BMs and have a crucial role in cell adhesion and signalling. Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells are the best established mammalian model for studying epithelial cell biology The cells form an epithelial monolayer, with tight junctions separating an apical surface from a basolateral membrane facing the filter support and neighboring cells. In this study, using MDCK cells, the synthesis of the BM protein such as laminin with or without methanol extract of Chrysanthemum morifolium (CM) stimulation was analyzed by immunoblotting and CM showed significant increased cell density and enhanced synthesis of laminin.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.253-263
• /
• 2023

The biogenesis and biological roles of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the progression of liver diseases have attracted considerable attention in recent years. EVs are membrane-bound nanosized vesicles found in different types of body fluids and contain various bioactive materials, including proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and mitochondrial DNA. Based on their origin and biogenesis, EVs can be classified as apoptotic bodies, microvesicles, and exosomes. Among these, exosomes are the smallest EVs (30-150 nm in diameter), which play a significant role in cell-to-cell communication and epigenetic regulation. Moreover, exosomal content analysis can reveal the functional state of the parental cell. Therefore, exosomes can be applied to various purposes, including disease diagnosis and treatment, drug delivery, cell-free vaccines, and regenerative medicine. However, exosome-related research faces two major limitations: isolation of exosomes with high yield and purity and distinction of exosomes from other EVs (especially microvesicles). No standardized exosome isolation method has been established to date; however, various exosome isolation strategies have been proposed to investigate their biological roles. Exosome-mediated intercellular communications are known to be involved in alcoholic liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease development. Damaged hepatocytes or nonparenchymal cells release large numbers of exosomes that promote the progression of inflammation and fibrogenesis through interactions with neighboring cells. Exosomes are expected to provide insight on the progression of liver disease. Here, we review the biogenesis of exosomes, exosome isolation techniques, and biological roles of exosomes in alcoholic liver disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
• /
• v.37A no.9
• /
• pp.762-771
• /
• 2012

In this paper, we propose an adaptive power control scheme employing a self-optimization concept in femtocell systems, in order to improve system capacity, thereby reducing call-drop probability. In the proposed scheme, each femto base station(FBS) controls individual channel's transmission power base on two parameters; the neighboring cell's transmission power for each individual channel which is delivered from a femto-gateway and the received power strength from neighboring cells which is periodically measured by means of a spectrum sensing. Adaptive adjustment of individual channel's transmission power in accordance with femto mobile station(FMS) mobility features can also reduce undesirable handovers and evenly distribute traffic load over all femtocells. In addition, the manipulative control of channel's transmission power is able to keep the system coverage and the call-drop probability within an acceptable range, regardless of density of femtocells. Computer simulation shows that the proposed scheme outperforms existing schemes in terms of the system coverage and the call-drop probability.