• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2019

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) are multipotent stromal cells that have great potential to differentiate into a variety of cell types such as osteocytes, chondrocytes, and myocytes. Although there have been many studies on their clinical availability, little is known about how intracellular signals can be modulated by topographic features of the extracellular matrix (ECM). In this study, we investigated whether and how microwavy-patterned extracellular matrix (ECM) could affect the signaling activity of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), a key cellular adhesion protein. The fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based FAK biosensor-transfected cells are incubated on microwavy-patterned surfaces and then platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) are treated to trigger FAK signals, followed by monitoring through live-cell FRET imaging in real time. As a result, we report that PDGF-induced FAK was highly activated in cells cultured on microwavy-patterned surface with L or M type, while inhibited by H type-patterned surface. In further studies, PDGF-induced FAK signals are regulated by functional support of actin filaments, microtubules, myosin-related proteins, suggesting that PDGF-induced FAK signals in hMSC upon microwavy surfaces are dependent on cytoskeleton (CSK)-actomyosin networks. Thus, our findings not only provide new insight on molecular mechanisms on how FAK signals can be regulated by distinct topographical cues of the ECM, but also may offer advantages in potential applications for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2008

CD29 $({\beta}1-integrins)$ is one of major adhesion molecules involved in regulating cell adhesion, migration and morphological changes. In this study, we investigated the regulatory role of CD29 in monocytic functions using monocytic cell line U937 cells. CD29 was found to be one of highly expressed membrane proteins in U937 cells, according to flow cytometric analysis. The activation of CD29 by agonistic antibody MEM101A and extracellular matrix protein (ECM) fibronectin strongly induced cell-cell and cell-fibronectin adhesions. However, blocking antibodies to CD98 and CD147 showed different inhibitory features in these two adhesion events. Furthermore, U0126, an ERK inhibitor, only blocked cell-cell adhesion but not cell-fibronectin adhesion, indicating that cell-cell or cell-fibronectin adhesion events may be regulated by different molecular mechanisms. Meanwhile, CD29 activation also enhanced ROS generation but not phagocytic ability, and similarly radical scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine strongly blocked CD29-mediated cell-cell adhesion, implying that ROS may play a critical role in up-regulating cell-cell adhesion. Therefore, our data suggest that the activation of CD29 may be critically involved in regulating monocytic cell-mediated cell-cell adhesion and ROS generation.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.255-262
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• 1996

Antithrombogenic surFace is one of the most important things to the artificial vascular prostheses. This problem will be solved if the surface of prosthesis is covered with endothelial cells. The attachment and the growth of endothelial cells onto vascular prosthesis are very difficult. So many studies have been concentrated on the attachement of endothelial cell. But no good performance of the in uiwo experiments has been shown until now. In this study, we used the whole extracellular matrix (ECM) excreted from fibroblasts as an underlying matrix, and the endothelial cells were seeded to obtain the long term patency of vascular graft(i.e., for the patent 8 week implanted wafts in the animal model of rat). In order to study the antithrombogenic functions of cultured endothelial cells, prostaglandin(PGF 1 a) synthesis and platelet adhesion were assayed. The concentration of PGF a of stimulated group was sisnificantly higher than that of control group(21.97 $\pm$ 3.45 vs 4.93 $\pm$0.71 pg/1000 cells). The platelet adhesion of the polyurethane sheet covered with endothelial cells was lower than that of polyurethane sheet or sheet covered with ECM(1.04$\pm$0.28, 2.87$\pm$0.77, 2.89$\pm$0.70, % radioactivities, respectively). Endothelial cells grew well on polyurethane coated with ECM, synthesized the prostacyclin and functioned well as antithrombogenic. Therefore the endothelialization onto the ECM excreted from fibroblasts may be a good method for the vfudig prosthesis.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2010

Integrins are transmembrane receptor proteins that mediate cell-cell adhesion and cell-extracellular matrix (ECM) adhesion. The deregulation of cell-ECM adhesion and the abnormal expression of beta1 (${\beta}1$) integrins (ITGB1s) are involved in tumor development and metastasis. In the liver, the expression of integrins and ECM proteins can be a cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. We performed direct DNA sequencing of 24 individuals, and identified 23 sequence variants of ITGB1 polymorphisms. Among these 23 variants, 7 common variants were selected based on frequencies and linkage disequilibrium, and then genotyped in a larger-scale group of subjects (n=1,103). The genetic associations of ITGB1 polymorphisms with the clearance of HBV and HCC outcome of HBV patients were analyzed using logistic regression models and Cox relative hazard models. Although there was no significant association observed between the polymorphisms and the HCC outcome of HBV patients, the second most common haplotype (ITGB1 haplotype-2 [C-C-C-C-T-C-T]) was putatively associated with HBV clearance (OR=0.75, p=0.008 and $P^{corr}=0.05$). The minor allele frequency (MAF) of ITGB1 haplotype -2 of the spontaneously recovered (SR) group was significantly higher than that of the chronic carrier group (CC) (freq. = 0.248 vs. 0.199). The information derived from this study could be valuable for understanding the genetic factors involved in the clearance of HBV.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.74-81
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• 2020

Under physiological and pathological conditions, mechanical forces generated from cells themselves or transmitted from extracellular matrix (ECM) through focal adhesions (FAs) and adherens junctions (AJs) are known to play a significant role in regulating various cell behaviors. Substantial progresses have been made in the field of mechanobiology towards novel methods to understand how cells are able to sense and adapt to these mechanical forces over the years. To address these issues, this review will discuss recent advancements of traction force microscopy (TFM), intracellular force microscopy (IFM), and monolayer stress microscopy (MSM) to measure multiple aspects of cellular forces exerted by cells at cell-ECM and cell-cell junctional intracellular interfaces. We will also highlight how these methods can elucidate the roles of mechanical forces at interfaces of cell-cell/cell-ECM in regulating various cellular functions.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.183-188
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• 2009

TSAd/Lad is a T cell adaptor molecule involved in $p56^{lck}$-mediated T cell activation. To investigate the functions of TSAd in T cells, we generated transgenic (TG) mice expressing the SH2 domain of TSAd (TSAd-SH2) under the control of the $p56^{lck}$ proximal promoter. In T cells from TSAd-SH2 TG mice, T cell receptor (TCR)-mediated early signaling events, such as $Ca^{2+}$ flux and ERK activation, were normal; however, late activation events, such as IL-2 production and proliferation, were significantly reduced. Moreover, TCR-induced cell adhesion to extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and migration through ECM proteins were defective in T cells from TSAd-SH2 TG mice. Furthermore, the contact hypersensitivity (CHS) reaction, an inflammatory response mainly mediated by T helper 1 (Th1) cells, was inhibited in TSAd-SH2 TG mice. Taken together, these results show that TSAd, particularly the SH2 domain of TSAd, is essential for the effector functions of T cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.191-198
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• 2023

As a member of the focal adhesion complex of the plasma membrane, Src is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that controls cell adhesion and motility. However, how Src activity is regulated in the plasma membrane microdomain in response to components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) remains unclear. This study compared and investigated the activity of Src in response to three representative ECM proteins: collagen type 1, fibronectin, and laminin. Genetically encoded FRET-based Src biosensors for plasma membrane subdomains were used. FRET-based biosensors allow the real-time analysis of protein activity in living cells based on their high spatiotemporal resolution. The results showed that Src activity was maintained at a high level under all ECM conditions of the lipid raft, and there was no significant difference between the ECM conditions. In contrast, Src activity was maintained at a low level in the non-lipid raft membrane. In addition, the Src activity of lipid rafts remained significantly higher than that of non-lipid raft regions under the same ECM conditions. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that Src activity can be controlled differently by lipid rafts and non-lipid raft microdomains.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.1229-1235
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• 2011

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a key factor affecting cell growth and adhesion to the culture surface, and it is also important for maintaining the innate characteristics of cells. Here, we describe the effects of the ECM on cardiomyocyte (HL-1 cell line) growth, viability, phenotype, and contractile ability. Five different ECM materials were investigated to analyze their effects on the cell growth. The physical morphology of the ECM-coated surfaces was scanned with an atomic force microscope (AFM), and the attachment, growth, proliferation, viability, and phenotype of the cells were analyzed using fluorescence immunostaining and an inverted phase contrast microscope.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5747-5751
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• 2014

Background: Coptisine, an isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from Coptidis rhizoma, has many biological activities such as antidiabetic, antimicrobial and antiviral actions. However, whether coptisine exerts anti-cancer metastasis effects remains unknown. Materials and Methods: Effects of coptisine on highly metastatic human breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 proliferation were evaluated by trypan blue assay and on cell adhesion, migration and invasion by gelatin adhesion, wound-healing and matrigel invasion chamber assays, respectively. Expression of two matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-9, MMP-2 and their specific inhibitors tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2) were analyzed by RT-PCR. Results: Coptisine obviously inhibited adhesion to an ECM-coated substrate, wound healing migration, and invasion through the matrigel in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. RT-PCR revealed that coptisine reduced the expression of the ECM degradation-associated gene MMP-9 at the mRNA level, and the expression of TIMP-1 was upregulated in MDA-MB-231 cells, while the expression of MMP-2 and its specific inhibitor TIMP-2 was not affected. Conclusions: Taken together, our data showed that coptisine suppressed adhesion, migration and invasion of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells in vitro, the down-regulation of MMP-9 in combination with the increase of TIMP-1 possibly contributing to the anti-metastatic function. Coptisine might be a potential drug candidate for breast cancer therapy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.276-281
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• 2013

In this study, we aimed to compare the morphogenetic and neuronal characteristics between monolayer cells and spheroids. For this purpose, we established spheroid formation by growing SH-SY5Y cells on the hydrophobic surfaces of thermally-collapsed elastin-like polypeptide. After 4 days of culture, the relative proliferation of the cells within spheroids was approximately 92% of the values for monolayer cultures. As measured by quantitative assays for mRNA and protein expressions, the production of synaptophysin and neuronspecific enolase (NSE) as well as the contents of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are much higher in spheroids than in monolayer cells. Under the all-trans-retinoic acid (RA)-induced differentiation condition, spheroids extended neurites and further up-regulated the expression of synaptophysin, NSE, CAMs, and ECM proteins. Our data indicate that RA-differentiated SH-SY5Y neurospheroids are functionally matured neuronal architectures.