• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 1999

To elucidate the preventive effect of oriental medicine Gungchi -hwadamsun (GH) on stress, we investigated the physiological change of rats which were applied immobilization stress. For immobilization stress, rats were placed in restrainer for 12 hours a day for 3 days. During application of stress, body weight of rats was measured. After sacrifice, 8 organs were taken for measurement of organ weight. Brain was sectioned into 4 parts that are Frontal Cortex, Corpus Striatum, Hypothalamus and Hippocampus. Each part was homogenated and its catecholamine and serotonin contents were measured with HPLC. In our study, stress mainly induced increase of concentration of neurotransmitters in brain, but had mild effect on other physical function of rats. GH inhibited stress induced changes of neurotransmitter content in brain.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.75-83
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• 1998

아프리키 왕달팽이(Achatina fulica) 외투막(mantle edge) 내 근육 속의 신경근연접에 관한 미세구조 연구결과는 다음과 같았다. 신경근연접종말의 형태는 방추형이거나 불규칙형이었으며, 연접막과 근형질막상이 연접간극(synaptic cleft)의 넓이는 30mm 정도로 나타났다. 연접강속에는 전자밀도가 높은 둥근 과립(직경 100mm)과 중등도는 과립(직경 70mm)그리고 전자밀도가 낮은 소포(직경70mm)등 3종류가 관찰되었으며, 연접종말의 외측에는 0.2 - 0.4$\mu\textrm{m}$ 정도크기의 전자밀도가 높은 둥근 과립들이 존재하였다. 전자밀도가 중등도인 둥근 과립 중 일부는 연접막 밖으로 배출(exocytosis) 되었으며, 근형질막과 연접막이 합체되는 현상도 관찰되었다. 근형질(sarcoplasm)내에서 수축성단백질인 액틴과 미오신섬유의 배열은 불규칙하였으며, 세포질성 치밀체(cytoplasmic dense body)도 관찰되었다.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2000

To investigate the neurobiological bases of learning and memory is one of the ambitious goals of modern neuroscience. The progress in this field of recent years has not only brought us closer to understanding the molecular mechanism underlying long-lasting changes in synaptic strength, but it has also provided further evidence that these mechanisms are required for memory formation. Since twenty years ago, several studies for the tests of the hypothesis that NMDA-dependent hippocampal long-term potentiation(LTP) underlies learning have been reported. Also, in the recent year, data from mutant mice showed that a potential role for NMDA-dependent LTP in hippocampal CA1 and spatial learning. Although the current evidence for the role of NMDA receptor in learning and memory is not still obvious, NMDA receptor seems to act as a critical switch for activation of a cascade of events that underlie synaptic plasticity.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.385-391
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• 2006

Heterotrimeric GTP binding proteins (G proteins) mediate signals generated by neurotransmitters and hormones Among G proteins, Go is found in a large quantity in brain and growth cone membranes of neurons. In spite of its abundance in neurons, the role of Go is not fully understood. In our previous study, we identified promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein (PLZF) as an interacting partner of alpha subunit of Go ($Go{\alpha}$) and confirmed their interaction employing several biochemical assays. To date, it is reported that PLZF functioned as a cell growth suppressor and a transcription repressor. To determine effect of $Go{\alpha}$ and PLZF interaction on the cellular function of PLZF, we performed luciferase reporter gene assay and BrdU incorporation assay. Co-expression of $Go{\alpha}$ and PLZF synergistically increased the effect of PLZF alone. These results suggest that $Go{\alpha}$ may act as cellular activator of PLZF. This novel feature of Go may provide insights into understanding diverse role of Go-coupled receptor as well as its cellular actions.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.327-333
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• 2009

Heterotrimeric GTP binding proteins, G-proteins, mediate signal transduction generated by neurotransmitters and hormones. Among G-proteins, Go proteins are the most abundant in brain and classified as a member of Gi family. Ras-like protein in all tissues (Rit), one of the small GTPases, is a member of a Ras superfamily and identified as an important regulator of neuronal differentiation and cell transformation. Recently, we have reported that Rit functioned as a candidate downstream effector for alpha subunit of Go proteins ($Go{\alpha}$) and regulated neurite outgrowth triggered by $Go{\alpha}$ activation. In this study, we showed that the GTPase domain of $Go{\alpha}$ contributed to the direct interaction with Rit. We also demonstrated that $Go{\alpha}$ could lead to an increase of Rit activity suggesting that Rit play a role as a downstream effector of $Go{\alpha}$.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.149-154
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• 2015

Mood disorder is a common psychiatric illness with a high lifetime prevalence in the general population. Many prescribed antidepressants modulate monoamine neurotransmitters including serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. There has been greater focus on the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the human brain, glutamate, in the pathophysiology and treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Recently, ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, has received attention and has been investigated for clinical trials and neurobiological studies. In this article, we will review the clinical evidence for glutamatergic dysfunction in MDD, the progress with ketamine as a rapidly acting antidepressant, and other N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist for treatment-resistant depression.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.407-413
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• 2004

Heterotrimeric GTP binding proteins (G proteins) transduce signals of a variety of hormones and neurotransmitters. Go is one of the most abundant G proteins in the brain and classified as the Gi/Go family due to their sequence homology to Gi proteins. While the Gi proteins inhibit adenylyl cyclase and decrease the intracellular cAMP concentration, the functions of Go is not clearly understood despite their sequence homology to Gi. The promeylocytic leukemia zinc finger protein (PLZF) is a DNA binding transcription factor and is expressed highly in central nervous system (CNS). Several studies reported that PLZF may be involved in regulation segmentation/differentiation during CNS development. Here, I report that the alpha subunit of Go (Go ) interacts with PLZF. The interaction between Goa and PLZF was verified by using GST pulldown assay and co-immunoprecipitation. Our findings indicate that Goa could modulate gene expression via interaction with PLZF during neuronal or brain development.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.217-225
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• 2020

Scuttle fly which moves abruptly after standing for a while and stop suddenly to rush off again, is a fly species in the Phoridae family. This species like rotten organic materials and it is known to proliferate even in the industrial materials including organic solvents. These characteristic behaviors of the scuttle fly seem to be related to muscular and nervous system or neurotransmitters. Thus, we focused at the neurotransmitter, corazonin (Crz) that is known to be related to resistance to stress and investigated the developmental process of the neurons in the scuttle fly. Corazonin is a neuropeptide being expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) and is known to control mainly physiological functions and behaviors. Its many functions that have been proposed are still in controversy. In this studies, we found that there are three groups of corazoninergic neurons in the larval CNS of the scuttle fly and these neurons undergo distinguishable changes through metamorphic process compared to different fly species. Larva has 3 pairs of Crz neurons at the dorsolateral area of the brain, 1 pair at the dorsomedial brain and 8 pairs at the ventral nerve cord.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-42
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• 1999

The vocal fold has three major function-phonation, respiration and protection, and is richly innervated. The vocal 1314 its autonomic innervation-adrenergic and cholinergic from superior cervical ganglion and the vagus nerve, respectively. The action of both system account for vasoregulation and glandular activity. In e vocal fold several kin of neuropeptides, including SP, CGRP, VIP, TH, NPY, ENK have been reported at the animal including cat or dog. But information regarding the distribution of autonomic nerve fibers containing neuropeptides in the human vocal fold is lacking. Two neuropeptides are of special interest : 1) vasoactive intestinal polypeptide(VIP)that is known to be contained in the parasympathetic(cholinergic) neuron. 2) tyrosine hydroxylase(TH)is located in the cytoplasm of noradrenergic neuron and is the rate-limiting enzyme in noradrenaline synthesis. To understand specific autonomic function of vocal fold we did immunohistochemical examination of VIP and TH in the human vocal fold.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.12-19
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• 2016

Neuropeptides produced from prohormones by selective action of endopeptidases are vital signaling molecules, playing a critical role in a variety of physiological processes, such as addiction, depression, pain, and circadian rhythms. Neuropeptides bind to post-synaptic receptors and elicit cellular effects like classical neurotransmitters. While each neuropeptide could have its own biological function, mass spectrometry (MS) allows for the identification of the precise molecular forms of each peptide without a priori knowledge of the peptide identity and for the quantitation of neuropeptides in different conditions of the samples. MS-based neuropeptidomics approaches have been applied to various animal models and conditions to characterize and quantify novel neuropeptides, as well as known neuropeptides, advancing our understanding of nervous system function over the past decade. Here, we will present an overview of neuropeptides and MS-based neuropeptidomic strategies for the identification and quantitation of neuropeptides.