• BMB Reports
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.28-40
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• 2002

Apoptosis is a mode of cell death that plays an important role in both pathological and physiological processes. Research during the last decade has delineated the entire machinery needed for cell death, and its constituents were found to pre-exist in cells. The apoptotic cascade is triggered when cells are exposed to an apoptotic stimulus. It has been known for several years that inhibitors of protein synthesis can potentiate apoptosis that is induced by cytokines and other inducers. Until 1996, it was not understood why protein synthesis inhibitors potentiate apoptosis. Then three reports appeared that suggested the role of the transcription factor NF-${\kappa}B$ activation in protecting the cells from TNF-induced apoptosis. Since then several proteins have been identified that are regulated by NF-${\kappa}B$ and are involved in cell survival, proliferation, and protection from apoptosis. It now seems that when a cell is attacked by an apoptotic stimulus, the cell responds first by activating anti-apoptotic mechanisms, which mayor may not be followed by apoptosis. Whether or not a cell undergoes proliferation, the survival, or apoptosis, appears to involve a balance between the two mechanisms. Inhibitors of protein synthesis seem to suppress the appearance of protein that are involved in anti-apoptosis. The present review discusses how NF-${\kappa}B$ controls apoptosis.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.86-89
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• 1999

An OTHBVS cell line from HepG2 was established. This cell line stably expresses the human hepatitis B virus (HBV) middle S protein that includes the preS2 region which is important for HBV particle entry into the hepatocyte. To establish this cell line, the middle S open reading frame (ORF), with a promoter located in the 5' region and enhancer located in the 3' region, was cloned downstream from the metallothionine (MT) promoter of the OT1529 vector. In this vector, expression of the middle S protein was constructed to be regulated by its own promoter and enhancer. Expression of the large S protein which contains the preS1 region in addition to the middle S protein was designed to be regulated by the MT promoter. When extracts of OTHBVS cells were examined with an S protein detection kit (RPHA, Korea Green Cross Co.), an S protein was detected. Total mRNA of OTHBVS cell examined by northern blot analysis with an S ORF probe revealed small/middle S transcripts (2.1 kb). When the MT promoter was induced by Zn, large S transcripts (2.4 kb) were detected. The GP36 and GP33 middle S proteins were presumably detected, but large S proteins were not detected by immunostain analysis using anti-preS2 antibody.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.28.1-28.13
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• 2024

Vaccines are the most effective intervention currently available, offering protective immunity against targeted pathogens. The emergence of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has prompted rapid development and deployment of lipid nanoparticle encapsulated, mRNA-based vaccines. While these vaccines have demonstrated remarkable immunogenicity, concerns persist regarding their ability to confer durable protective immunity to continuously evolving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants. This review focuses on human B cell responses induced by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination, with particular emphasis on the crucial role of germinal center reactions in shaping enduring protective immunity. Additionally, we explored observations of immunological imprinting and dynamics of recalled pre-existing immunity following variants of concern-based booster vaccination. Insights from this review contribute to comprehensive understanding B cell responses to mRNA vaccination in humans, thereby refining vaccination strategies for optimal and sustained protection against evolving coronavirus variants.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.94-98
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• 2016

The objective of the present study was to elucidate the effect of bisphosphonates, anti-osteoporosis agents, on glucose uptake in retinal capillary endothelial cells under normal and high glucose conditions. The change of glucose uptake by pre-treatment of bisphosphonates at the inner blood-retinal barrier (iBRB) was determined by measuring cellular uptake of $[^3H]3$-O-methyl glucose (3-OMG) using a conditionally immortalized rat retinal capillary endothelial cell line (TR-iBRB cells) under normal and high glucose conditions. $[^3H]3$-OMG uptake was inhibited by simultaneous treatment of unlabeled D-glucose and 3-OMG as well as glucose transport inhibitor, cytochalasin B. On the other hand, simultaneous treatment of alendronate or pamidronate had no significant inhibitory effect on $[^3H]3$-OMG uptake by TR-iBRB cells. Under high glucose condition of TR-iBRB cells, $[^3H]3$-OMG uptake was increased at 48 h. However, $[^3H]3$-OMG uptake was decreased significantly by pre-treatment of alendronate or pamidronate compared with the values for normal and high glucose conditions. Moreover, geranylgeraniol (GGOH), a mevalonate pathway intermediate, increased the uptake of $[^3H]3$-OMG reduced by bisphosphonates pre-treatment. But, pre-treatment of histamine did not show significant inhibition of $[^3H]3$-OMG uptake. The glucose uptake may be down regulated by inhibiting the mevalonate pathway with pre-treatment of bisphosphonates in TR-iBRB cells at high glucose condition.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.577-581
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• 2009

Interactions between the surface and capsid proteins of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) are critical for the assembly of virus particles. In this study, we developed a cell-based method to visualize the interactions between the capsid and surface proteins of HBV. Capsid-GFP, a capsid protein fused to a green fluorescence protein (GFP), forms nucleocapsid-like structures in the cytoplasm of mammalian cells. It relocates to the plasma membranes in cells expressing PH-PreS, a fusion protein consisting of the PreS region of the HBV surface protein and the PH domain of PLC-$\gamma$. Membrane localization of the capsid-GFP in these cells is prevented by an inhibitory peptide that blocks the interaction between the capsid and surface proteins. This dynamic localization of capsid-GFP is applicable for screening compounds that may potentially inhibit or prevent the assembly process of HBV particles.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.5
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• pp.402-408
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• 2009

Background: Pre-B-cell colony enhancing factor (PBEF) has been suggested as a novel biomarker in sepsis and acute lung injury. We measured the PBEF in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of acute critically ill patients with lung infiltrates in order to evaluate the clinical utility of measuring PBEF in BAL fluid. Methods: BAL fluid was collected by bronchoscope from 185 adult patients with lung infiltrates. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was then performed on the collected fluids to measure the PBEF. Results: Mean patient age was 59.9 ${\pm}$14.5 years and 63.8% of patients were males. The mean concentration of PBEF in BAL fluid was 17.5 ${\pm}$88.3 ng/mL, and patients with more than 9 ng/mL of PBEF concentration (n=26, 14.1%) had higher Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores on the BAL exam day. However, there were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between survivors and non-survivors. In patients with leukocytosis (n=93) seen on the BAL exam day, the linear regression analysis revealed a significant, positive relationship between PBEF and APACHE II ($r^2$=0.06), SOFA score ($r^2$=0.08), Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score ($r^2$=0.05), and plateau pressure in patients on ventilators ($r^2$=0.07) (p<0.05, respectively). In addition, multivariate regression analysis with PBEF as a dependent variable showed that the plateau pressure ($r^2$=0.177, p<0.05) was correlated positively with PBEF. Conclusion: The PBEF level in the BAL fluid may be a useful, new biomarker for predicting the severity of illness and ventilator-induced lung injury in critically ill patients with lung infiltates and leukocytosis.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.253-265
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• 1987

To develop hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies to be used as unlimited sources of reagents indispensable for the diagnosis and treatement of leukemic malignancy, a monoclonal antibody was generated to human pre-T leukemia cells (Jurkat). Hybridomas were produced against Jurkat cell line by fusing spleen cells from hyperimmunized mice with murine plasmacytoma cells (P3$\times$63Ag8. V653). One monoclonal antibody derived from this fusion, designated DMJ-2 was reactive with T-cell lines (Jurkat, Molt-4 and RPMI-8402) and normal peripheral E-rosette forming T cells, but unreactive with B-cell lines (Daudi, Nalm-6) and non-T, non-B cell line (K562). Conclusively DMJ-2 reactive with mature and immature T-lineage lymphoid cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 1998

Foreign proteins, $endo-{\beta}-1,4-glucanase$ of Bacillus subtilis, preS1+S2 region of hepatitis B virus large surface antigen, human ${\beta}_2-adrenergic$ receptor ($h{\beta}_{2}AR$), and bovine growth hormone (bGH) were expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and secreted into the medium. These proteins were expressed using the alcohol dehydrogenase I (ADH1) promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and secreted by signal sequence of the 97 K killer toxin gene of doublestranded linear DNA plasmid (pGKL1) of S. cerevisiae. All these proteins underwent severe modifications; in particular, N-glycosylation in the case of $endo-{\beta}-1,4-glucanase$, $h{\beta}_2AR$, and preS1+S2. Seventy four percent of the expressed $endo-{\beta}-1,4-glucanase$ was secreted into the culture medium. Highly modified proteins were detected in the culture medium and in the cell. Expressed $h{\beta}_2AR$, which has seven transmembrane domains, remained in the cell. The degrees of secretion and modification and the states of proteins in the culture medium and in the cell were quite different. These results indicated that the nature of the protein has a critical role in its secretion and modifications.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.70-77
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• 2008

A pre-processing program based on the OOP(object-oriented programming) concept has been developed. The program consists of the input of a 2D or 3D flow problem to a CFD program by means of an user-friendly interface and the subsequent transformation of this input into a form suitable for the solver(PowerCFD) using unstructured cell-centered method. User-friendly GUI(graphic user interface) has been built on the base of MFC(Microsoft Foundation Class). The program is organized as modules by classes based on VTK(Visualization ToolKit)-library, and these classes are made to function through inheritance and cooperation which is an important and valuable concept of object-oriented programming. The major functions of this program are introduced and demonstrated, which include mesh generation, boundary settings, solver settings, generation of grid connectivity and geometric data etc.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7.1-7.13
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• 2022

2-Methoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (MNQ) has been shown to cause cytotoxic towards various cancer cell lines. This study is designed to investigate the regulatory effect of MNQ on the key cancer genes in mitogen-activated protein kinase, phosphoinositide 3-kinase, and nuclear factor κB signaling pathways. The expression levels of the genes were compared at different time point using polymerase chain reaction arrays and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis was performed to identify gene networks that are most significant to key cancer genes. A total of 43 differentially expressed genes were identified with 21 up-regulated and 22 down-regulated genes. Up-regulated genes were involved in apoptosis, cell cycle and act as tumor suppressor while down-regulated genes were involved in anti-apoptosis, angiogenesis, cell cycle and act as transcription factor as well as proto-oncogenes. MNQ exhibited multiple regulatory effects on the cancer key genes that targeting at cell proliferation, cell differentiation, cell transformation, apoptosis, reduce inflammatory responses, inhibits angiogenesis and metastasis.