• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.195-200
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• 2002

Objective : To investigate the expression of apoptosis related proteins and apoptotic cells on the human ovarian follicles. Materials and Methods: Thirty five Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human ovarian tissue blocks were selected from the surgical pathology files of the department of pathology, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, for the period from 1996 to 1998. All specimen were from premenopausal women aged from $32{\sim}45$. Ovarian tissues were collected from the patients performing hysterectomy for benign uterine diseases. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for the detection of DNA fragmented cell, Bcl-2, Bax, Fas and Fas-ligand. Results: Bcl-2 and bax were not expressed on the surrounding cells and oocyte of the primary, primordial and preantral follicles. Fas and Fas-ligand (Fas-L) were not expressed on the surrounding cells on the primordial and primary follicles. But expressed on the surrounding granulosa cells and oocyte in the primordial and primary follicles. In the healthy follicles, Bcl-2 was expressed on the granulosa cells, however, Bax was not expressed. DNA fragmented cells were expressed on the inner granulosa cell layer of atretic follicles. Conclusion: Fas, Fas-ligand, and Bax may be responsible for the follicular atresia and Bcl-2 may be involved in the follicular survival in the human ovary.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.511-518
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• 2001

The effect of mycolactone, a recently reported apoptosis-inducing factor, was investigated in SCC15 oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) cell line. Mycolactone rapidly induced cell death in OSCC cells in 2days, which was similar to that found in apoptotic cell such as detaching from culture plate and rounding-up of cells. Apoptotic cells were increased 4hrs after mycolactone treatment and more than half of cells showed apoptosis after 72hrs. Caspase 3 activation a biochemical evidence of apoptosis, was determined by Western blotting. Caspase 3 activation was started at 2hrs that lasted until 8hrs after mycolactone treatment. The expression of bcl-2 family genes was determined to explain the mechanism of apoptosis found in OSCC cells. The expressions of bad, bak, and bax (pro-apoptotic genes) and bcl-w and bcl-2 genes (anti-apoptotic genes) were not changed by mycolactone treatment. The expression of bcl-xi was decreased 8 hrs after mycolactone treatment. Mcl-1 expression was initially increased at 2 hrs which was decreased 8 hrs after mycolactone treatment. The down-regulation of these two anti-apoptotic genes might explain the mycolactone-induced apoptosis in OSCC cells. In this study, mycholactone was revealed to induce cell death in OSCC cells apoptosis and the apoptosis mechanism of OSCC cells was shown to be down-regulation of anti-apoptotic genes, bcl-xi and mcl-1. These results suggested the applicability of mycolactone for the development of an anti-cancer drug candidate by inducing apoptosis of OSCC cancer cell.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1379-1383
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• 2016

Background: Basal and squamous cell carcinoma (BCC and SCC) are the most common skin cancers worldwide and distinction between the two may sometimes be very difficult in routine histopathology. The present study was aimed to evaluate a reliable diagnostic method for these cancers based on immunohistochemistry (IHC). Materials and Methods: IHC was used with antibodies to Bcl-2, CD10, CEA, and EMA biomarkers, which despite non-specificity are easily available for detection of various types of tumors in pathology sections and can be used as a panel for differentiation. In this descriptive and analytic study, paraffin-embedded blocks of 29 SCC patients and 29 BCC patients were collected and sectioned for IHC staining. The results were analyzed by the STATA (version 8) statistical package using the Chi-square test. Results: BCC patients were 100%, 75.8%, 0% and 0% positive for Bcl-2, CD10, CEA and EMA markers, respectively, and for SCC patients were 3.5%, 0%, 34.5% and 82.7% positive, respectively. Using simultaneously Bcl-2 and CD10 as positive markers, detection of BCC with 88% accuracy and 100% specificity was possible, while application of CEA and EMA positivity could detect SCC with 67% accuracy and 100% specificity. Conclusions: SCC and BCC have different immunostaining profiles; therefore, Bcl-2, CD10, CEA and EMA markers can be helpful to distinguish between them.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.734-740
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• 2005

The blood samples were collected from dairy cows at the same milking stage. The single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) method was used to analyze for polymorphism at the 5'flanking region of the hsp70 gene. The mRNA expression levels of HSP70, HSF1, Bcl-2 and Bax-$\alpha$ at different daily-mean-temperature were analyzed by relative quantitative RTPCR. The DNA content, cell phase and the ratio of apoptosis of lymphocytes in peripheral blood of dairy cattle at different daily-meantemperature were determined by FCM. The PCR-SSCP products of primer pair 1 showed polymorphisms and could be divided into four genotypes: aa, ab, ac, cc, with the cis-acting element (CCAAT box) included. Mutations in the hsp70 5'flanking region (468-752 bp) had different effects on mRNA expression of HSP70, HSF1, Bcl-2 and Bax-$\alpha$. The ac genotypic cows showed higher expressions of HSP70mRNA, HSF1mRNA and Bcl-2mRNA/Bax-$\alpha$mRNA and lower ratio of apoptosis. These mutation sites can be used as molecular genetic markers to assist selection for anti-heat stress cows.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.4849-4852
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• 2015

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has been investigated as an effective agent to treat various cancers. Cancer stem cells are resistant to TRAIL treatment, but the mechanism of TRAIL resistance remains unknown. In this study, brain cancer stem cells were isolated by CD133 magnetic sorting, and the number of CD133 positive cells detected by flow cytometry. The self-renewing capacity of brain cancer stem cells was examined by a neurosphere formation assay, and the percentage of cell death after TRAIL treatment was examined by an MTS assay. Expression of DR5, FADD, caspase 8 and BCL2 proteins was detected by western blot. The amount of CD133 positive cells was enriched to 71% after CD133 magnetic sorting. Brain cancer stem cell neurosphere formation was significantly increased after TRAIL treatment. TRAIL treatment also reduced the amount of viable cells and this decrease was inhibited by a caspase 8 inhibitor or by the pan-caspase inhibitor z-VAD (P<0.05). Brain cancer stem cells expressed lower levels caspase 8 protein and higher levels of BCL2 protein when compared with CD133 negative cells (P<0.05). Our data suggest that TRAIL resistance is related to overexpression of BCL2 and low expression of caspase 8 which limit activation of caspase 8 in brain cancer stem cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8617-8622
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• 2014

The goal of this study was to establish paclitaxel resistant MCF-7 cells, as in vitro model, to identify the molecular mechanisms leading to acquired chemoresistance in breast cancer cells. Resistant cells were developed by stepwise increasing exposure to paclitaxel. Gene expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2 along with protein levels of caspase-8 and caspase-9 were evaluated in two resistant cell lines (MCF-7/Pac64 and MCF-7/Pac5 nM). Morphological modifications in paclitaxel resistance cells were examined by light microscopy and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). As an important indicator of resistance to chemotheraputic agents, the Bcl-2/Bax ratio showed a significant increase in both MCF-7/Pac5nM and MCF-7/Pac 64nM cells (p<0.001), while caspase-9 levels were decreased (p<0.001) and caspase-8 was increased (p<0.001). FACS analysis demonstrated that MCF-7/Pac64 cells were smaller than MCF-7 cells with no difference in their granularity. Our results support the idea that paclitaxel induces apoptosis in a mitochondrial-dependent manner. Identifying breast cancer patients with a higher Bcl-2/Bax ratio and caspase 9 level and then inhibiting the activity of these proteins may improve the efficacy of chemotheraputic agents.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5247-5250
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• 2016

Objective: Endometriosis, one of the most common estrogen dependent gynecological disorders, can present as both benign and malignant disease. The prevalence of tumoral transformation is 0.7-1.6% and the most common tumors are clear cell and endometrioid carcinomas. Unfortunately, the pathogenesis of transformation is unknown. For this purpose, we examined molecular alterations in ovarian endometriosis and endometriosis-associated tumors. Methods: Using the data bank of Alzahra hospital pathology department and paraffin blocks from appropriate cases were identified. Sections were cut and stained for 3 markers: estrogen receptor, P53 and bcl2. Correlations between findings were investigated. Results: Nineteen cases of endometriosis-associated tumor and 19 cases of endometriosis were identified. Staining for bcl2 was documented in 14 of 19 (73.7%) of endometriosis-associated tumor cases and also 7 of 19 (36.8%) endometriosis cases (P=0.02). Only 3 of the 19 (15.8%) endometriosis-associated tumors exhibited positive staining for estrogen receptors, compared with 14 of 19 (73.7%) endometriosis cases (P<0.001). Positive staining for P53 was noted in 5 of 19 (31.6%) endometriosis-associated ovarian tumor samples but was absent in endometriosis samples (0%), (P =0.008). Conclusions: Endometriosis-associated tumors appear to be associated with overexpression of bcl2 and P53 and reduced expression of Estrogen receptor. These finding may help to diagnose tumoral transformation with a background of endometriosis.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.269-273
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• 2008

The etch of $(Na_{0.5}K_{0.5})NbO_3$ (NKN) thin film was performed in $BCl_3/Cl_2/Ar$ inductively coupled plasma. It was found that the 1sccm addition $BCl_3$ (5%) into $Cl_2/Ar$ plasma caused a non-monotonic behavior of the NKN etch rate. The maximum etch rate of NKN was 95.3 nm/min at $BCl_3$ (1 sccm)/$Cl_2$ (16 sccm)/Ar (4 sccm), 800 W ICP power, 1 Pa pressure and 400 W bias power. The NKN etch rate shows a monotonic behavior a s the bias power increases. The analysis of the narrow scan spectra of XPS for both a s-deposited and etched NKN films allowed one to assume ion assisted etch mechanism. The most probable reason for the maximum etch rate can be defined as a concurrence of chemical and physical etch pathways.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.18-33
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• 2008

Purpose: The research is to investigate the effect of TFE on apoptosis of human-derived breast cancer cells, to find out the relationship with apoptosis. Methods: Human-derived breast adenocarcinoma cell line, MCF-7 cells were treated by TFE with various concentration. The inducement effect of TFE on cell apoptosis was observed with MTT assay and the relationship between the treatment and apoptosis was investigated with FACS analysis, TUNEL assay and DNA laddering assay and the change in the protein levels of PARP and caspase-3 activities were also observed. The release of cytochrome-c was observed to find out the pathway of apoptosis induced by TFE. Results: The cell apoptosis was significantly induced in MCF-7 cells treated with TFE in concentration-dependent and time-dependent manner. It was verified by FACS analysis, TUNEL assay, DNA laddering assay that cell-death was caused not by necrosis but by apoptosis. The activity of PARP and caspase were increased concentration-dependently. The release of cytocrome-c was decreased in proportion to the concentration of the fruit extract. It therefore demonstrated that mitochondria were involved in apoptosis induced by TFE. The appearance of Bcl-2 protein was decreased concentration-dependently. Conclusion: The treatment by TFE induced apoptosis of human breast adenocarcinoma cell line, MCF-7. It seems likely that cell-death was caused by apoptosis and mitochondria were involved in it. The mechanism of protein change causing apoptosis seems related to the inhibition of Bcl-2 protein, the promotion of inversion from cytochrome-c into cytosol, the activation of caspase and the promotion of PARP cleavage.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.291-295
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• 2011

PD98059 is the specific inhibitor of extracellular signaling-regulated kinase (ERK) kinase (MEK). ERK is involved in a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade controlling cell growth and differentiation. Although the inhibition of ERK is known to induce cell death in various cell lines, this effect is still controversial and the role of PD98059 on the death of HeLa $S_3$ cells, a subclone of the cervical cancer cell line, is not well understood. The apoptosis of HeLa $S_3$ cells increased after the treatment of 50 ${\mu}M$ PD98059. The induction of apoptosis by PD98059 was occurred in a time- and a dose-dependent manners. The expression of Bcl-2 was reduced in accordance with decrease of ERK2 expression. Taken together, these results indicate that PD98059 has a cytotoxicity in HeLa $S_3$ cells and it may be used as a potential target for the treatment of cervical cancer.