• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.109-114
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• 2012

Purpose: Medullary sponge kidney (MSK) is a rare congenital disease characterized by diffuse ectasia or dilatation of precalyceal collecting tubules. MSK incidence and prevalence in the general population is uncertain and only a few patients are reported especially in the pediatric age. There has been increasing reports of patients with MSK who have other malformative disorders. Also several case reports concerning about etiological association of some genes. Methods: Collaborative study through nation-wide survey was done to investigate the incidence and etiological association of some genes such as GDNF gene, ATP6V1B1, ATP6V0A4 gene in developing MSK in Korean children. Results: Four cases of MSK who have various other malformative disorders were collected. There are no mutations of GDNF gene, ATP6V1B1, ATP6V0A4 gene in all patients. Conclusion: MSK is one of the very rare diseases in pediatric age. The etiological association of GDNF gene, ATP6V1B1, ATP6V0A4 gene in developing MSK in Korean children is not proved.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.1035-1048
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the effects of Gardenia jasminoides extract (GJ) on osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption in vitro. Methods: To investigate the effect of GJ on osteoclast differentiation, the mouse leukemic myeloid cell line RAW 264.7 was stimulated by RANKL (receptor activator of nuclear factor kB ligand). Osteoclast differentiation was measured by counting TRAP (+) MNC in the presence of RANKL. To elucidate the mechanism of the inhibitory effect of GJ on osteoclast differentiation, gene expression of TRAP, Cathepsin K, MMP-9, NFATc1, c-Fos, MITF, DC-STAMP, CTR, OC-STAMP and Atp6v0d2 was measured using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Bone resorption was measured using the bone pit formation assay. Results: GJ decreased the number of TRAP (+) MNCs in the presence of RANKL. GJ inhibited the expression of cathepsin K, MMP-9, TRAP, MITF, NFATc1, c-Fos, iNON, OC-STAMP, Atp6v0d2, and DC-STAMP in the osteoclast, and inhibited bone pit formation in vitro. Conclusions: The results suggest that GJ has inhibitory effects on bone resorption resulting from inhibition of osteoclast differentiation and gene expression.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2007

Phylogenetic studies were conducted for 42 populations of Korean viola based on matK gene and atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer region of chloroplast DNA. In the matK tree, section Chamaemelanium and Dischidium were formed as a distinct group. Five subsections of section Nomimium were paraphyletic. In atpB-rbcL intergenic spacer region analysis, two species of sect. Chamaemelanium were monophyletic, and section Dischidium was placed sister to subsection patellares clade except for V. keiskei. Five subsections of section Nomimium were also paraphyletic as matK tree. the separate data analyses were incongruent in the relationships among 42 populations, especially for the position of section Dischidium and V. keiskei. The combined analyses of two chloroplast regions showed three major clades; section Chamaemelanium and Dischidium (x=6) formed a sister to subsections Hypocarpae and Trigonocarpae (x=10) clade; subsections Bilobatae and vaginatae (x=10 or 12) formed a clade with V. keiskei; and 19 populations of subsection patellares (x=12) except for V. keiskei were recognized as an independent clade within section Nomimium. Although combined data suggest three major clades of Korean viola, the origins of each clade from outgroup were discordance with previous ITS and trnL-F data.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.558-566
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• 2020

Purpose: Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is a rare genetic autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in ATP8B1, ABCB11 or ABCB4. Mutational analysis of these genes is a reliable approach to identify the disorder. Methods: We collected and analyzed relevant data related to clinical diagnosis, biological investigation, and molecular determination in nine children carrying these gene mutations, who were from unrelated families in South China. Results: Of the nine patients (five males, four females) with PFIC, one case of PFIC1, four cases of PFIC2, and four cases of PFIC3 were diagnosed. Except in patient no. 8, jaundice and severe pruritus were the major clinical signs in all forms. γ-glutamyl transpeptidase was low in patients with PFIC1/PFIC2, and remained mildly elevated in patients with PFIC3. We identified 15 different mutations, including nine novel mutations (p.R470HfsX8, p.Q794X and p.I1170T of ABCB11 gene mutations, p.G319R, p.A1047P, p.G1074R, p.T830NfsX11, p.A1047PfsX8 and p.N1048TfsX of ABCB4 gene mutations) and six known mutations (p.G446R and p.F529del of ATP8B1 gene mutations, p.A588V, p.G1004D and p.R1057X of ABCB11 gene mutations, p.P479L of ABCB4 gene mutations). The results showed that compared with other regions, these three types of PFIC genes had different mutational spectrum in China. Conclusion: The study expands the genotypic spectrum of PFIC. We identified nine novel mutations of PFIC and our findings could help in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.371-377
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• 2017

Despite the importance of the receptor activator of nuclear factor (NF)-kappaB ligand (RANKL)-RANK signaling mechanisms on osteoclast differentiation, little has been studied on how RANK expression is regulated or what regulates its expression during osteoclastogenesis. We show here that insulin signaling increases RANK expression, thus enhancing osteoclast differentiation by RANKL. Insulin stimulation induced RANK gene expression in time- and dose-dependent manners and insulin receptor shRNA completely abolished RANK expression induced by insulin in bone marrow-derived monocyte/macrophage cells (BMMs). Moreover, the addition of insulin in the presence of RANKL promoted RANK expression. The ability of insulin to regulate RANK expression depends on extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) since only PD98059, an ERK1/2 inhibitor, specifically inhibited its expression by insulin. However, the RANK expression by RANKL was blocked by all three mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases inhibitors. The activation of RANK increased differentiation of BMMs into tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase-positive ($TRAP^+$) osteoclasts as well as the expression of dendritic cell-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP) and d2 isoform of vacuolar ($H^+$) ATPase (v-ATPase) Vo domain (Atp6v0d2), genes critical for osteoclastic cell-cell fusion. Collectively, these results suggest that insulin induces RANK expression via ERK1/2, which contributes to the enhancement of osteoclast differentiation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.545-551
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• 2003

A cDNA of bovine brain glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) was isolated from a cDNA library by recombinant PCR. The isolated cDNA has an open-reading frame of 1677 nucleotides, which codes for 559 amino acids. The expression of the recombinant bovine brain GDH enzyme was achieved in E. coli. BL21 (DE3) by using the pET-15b expression vector containing a T7 promoter. The recombinant GDH protein was also purified and characterized. The amino acid sequence was found 90% homologous to the human GDH. The molecular mass of the expressed GDH enzyme was estimated as 50 kDa by SDS-PAGE and Western blot using monoclonal antibodies against bovine brain GDH. The kinetic parameters of the expressed recombinant GDH enzymes were quite similar to those of the purified bovine brain GDH. The $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values for $NAD^+$ were 0.1 mM and $1.08\;{\mu}mol/min/mg$, respectively. The catalytic activities of the recombinant GDH enzymes were inhibited by ATP in a concentration-dependent manner over the range of 10 - $100\;{\mu}M$, whereas, ADP increased the enzyme activity up to 2.3-fold. These results indicate that the recombinant-expressed bovine brain GDH that is produced has biochemical properties that are very similar to those of the purified GDH enzyme.