• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.146-159
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• 2021

DNA methylation, and consequent down-regulation, of tumour suppressor genes occurs in response to epigenetic stimuli during cancer development. Similarly, human oncoviruses, including human papillomavirus (HPV), up-regulate and augment DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) activities, thereby decreasing tumour suppressor genes (TSGs) expression. Ubiquitin-like containing PHD and RING finger domain 1 (UHRF1), an epigenetic regulator of DNA methylation, is overexpressed in HPV-induced cervical cancers. Here, we investigated the role of UHRF1 in cervical cancer by knocking down its expression in HeLa cells using lentiviral-encoded short hairpin (sh)RNA and performing cDNA microarrays. We detected significantly elevated expression of thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), a known TSG, in UHRF1-knockdown cells, and this gene is hypermethylated in cervical cancer tissue and cell lines, as indicated by whole-genome methylation analysis. Up-regulation of UHRF1 and decreased TXNIP were further detected in cervical cancer by western blot and immunohistochemistry and confirmed by Oncomine database analysis. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we identified the inverted CCAAT domain-containing UHRF1-binding site in the TXNIP promoter and demonstrated UHRF1 knockdown decreases UHRF1 promoter binding and enhances TXNIP expression through demethylation of this region. TXNIP promoter CpG methylation was further confirmed in cervical cancer tissue by pyrosequencing and methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction. Critically, down-regulation of UHRF1 by siRNA or UHRF1 antagonist (thymoquinone) induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7), which stabilises and promotes UHRF1 function, is increased by HPV viral protein E6/E7 overexpression. These results indicate HPV might induce carcinogenesis through UHRF1-mediated TXNIP promoter methylation, thus suggesting a possible link between CpG methylation and cervical cancer.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to provide basic data for the development of UV protection products using natural materials. The research method is investigation and analyzation of the current status of the domestic and foreign industries, natural material research trends, and patent status of skin care-related sunscreen. As the result of the study, the U.S. market for sunscreen is the largest one, accounting for about 21% of the world, and the Chinese market is rapidly growing. The top four major types of functional cosmetics in Korea are complex functional products, followed by wrinkle improvement, sunscreen and whitening, and both the global and domestic markets continue to grow continuously. Over the past decade, research trends in natural sunscreen materials have shown that Scutellaria baicalensis, Humulus lupulus L., licorice, Finger root, Green tea, lespedeza cuneata extracts are effective, and in addition, they are also effective in photo-aging, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, whitening, and wrinkle improvement. The patent registration status is on the rise and the ingredients were secured from plants and seaweeds. As the conclusion of this research, It is expected that natural UV protection material will be able to be used as multi-functional cosmetics material by developing safe and proven natural materials in line with future global trends.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2020

The identify of biomarkers in living tissues is useful to understand the characteristics and functions of the cells. Proteins such as protein gene product 9.5, promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger, NANOG, and stage-specific embryonic antigen-1 have been identified as markers for porcine undifferentiated spermatogonia. In this study, the expression of insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs), a newly discovered porcine spermatogonia marker and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A), a protein regulator of IGFBPs, were characterized in 5-day-old porcine testis. To analyze the function of IGFBPs, RT-PCR was performed. IGFBP 2, 3, 4, and 6 were detected in porcine spermatogonia and PAPP-A was detected in basement regions in 5day old porcine seminiferous tubules. PAPP-A was not expressed in spermatogonia, but it was expressed in Sertoli cells. These results suggest that the expression of PAPP-A protein in Sertoli cells may regulate the development and differentiation of testicular cells through the IGF axis in porcine neonatal testis.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.159-166
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• 2020

This study was conducted on 20 healthy adults in their 20s to identity the immediate effects of balance, proprioception and flexibility after conducting the PNF combined patterns using 3D Newton box. The data collected in this study were analyzed using the SPSS Window 19.0 statistical program, and the general characteristics of the subjects were calculated by calculating the mean and standard deviation using the technical statistics, and the differences before and after in-group balance, proprioception and flexibility were analyzed by the paired t-test. The balance, proprioception and flexibility of the subjects were measured using Y-balance, one-leg standing, and finger bottom contact. The exercise was applied with an combined pattern of PNF in the 3D Newton box. After exercise, balance, proprioception and flexibility all increased significantly. The results show that combined pattern of PNF using the 3D Newton box immediately works for the balance, proprioception and flexibility of adults in their 20s. Therefore, it is considered to be an exercise that can be actively utilized for adults or patients at high risk of damage due to reduced balance, proprioception and flexibility.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.260-271
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• 2022

Objective: We aimed to investigate the effect of the differing amino acid (AA) release dynamics of two protein sources on the growth performance, nitrogen deposition, plasma biochemical parameters, and muscle synthesis and degradation of piglets when included in their diets at normal and low concentrations. Methods: Forty-eight piglets (Duroc×Landrace×Large White) with initial body weight of 7.45±0.58 kg were assigned to six groups and fed one of 6 diets. The 6 dietary treatments were arranged by 3×2 factorial with 3 protein sources and 2 dietary protein levels. They are NCAS (a normal protein content with casein), NBlend (a normal protein content with blend of casein and corn gluten meal), NCGM (a normal protein content with corn gluten meal), LCAS (a low protein content with casein), LBlend (a low protein content with blend of casein and corn gluten meal), LCGM (a low protein content with corn gluten meal). The release dynamics of AA in these diets were determined by in vitro digestion. The digestibility, utilization and biological value of nitrogen in piglets were determined by micro Kjeldahl method. Plasma insulin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. The protein expression of mediators of muscle synthesis and degradation was determined by western blotting. Results: Although the consumption of a low-protein diet supplemented with crystalline AA was associated with greater nitrogen digestion and utilization (p<0.05), the final body weight, growth performance, nitrogen deposition, and phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 and eIF4E binding protein 1 in the muscle of pigs in the low-protein diet-fed groups were lower than those of the normal-protein diet-fed groups (p<0.05) because of the absence of non-essential AA. Because of the more balanced release of AA, the casein (CAS) and Blend-fed groups showed superior growth performance, final body weight and nitrogen deposition, and lower expression of muscle ring finger 1 and muscle atrophy F-box than the CGM-fed groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: We conclude that the balanced release of AA from CAS containing diets and mixed diets could reduce muscle degradation, favor nitrogen retention, % intake and improve growth performance in pigs consuming either a normal- or low-protein diet.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.90-95
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• 2004

Pitch pine (Pinus rigida) has been planted in Korean forests for several decades, primarily for erosion control and use as a fuel supply. To enhance its value, and especially potential use as lamina for structural glued laminated timber (glulam), log quality and lumber yield of pitch pine were evaluated in this study. Trees from pure pitch pine stands with an average diameter at breast height of 32 cm were felled and bucked into 3.6m long 15 cm minimum butt-end diameter logs. Over 80% of the logs were classified to No.2 or No.3 visual grade group. Upon sawing total lumber yield was 55.2%, 39.9% for structural glulam lamina, 7.2% for louver, and 8.1% for miscellaneous use. The final lumber yield for manufacturing structural glulam, after cross-cutting to eliminate knots and finger jointing, was only 15.3%. To enhance this manufacturing yield requires that the rate of knot-included lumber used as lamina be raised. However arrangement of the knot-included lamina, whose mechanical properties need to be accurately evaluated, must be optimized to minimize any reduction to the structural glulam strength. The log quality and lumber yield of pitch pine evaluated in this study are expected to facilitate proper planning for wood product manufacture in the Korean lumbering and glulam industrial field, which has not previously dealt with this species.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.150-162
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• 2022

In the field of water treatment and pharmaceutical bio an alumina hollow fiber membrane used for mixture separation. However, due to the lack of strengths it is very brittle to handle and apply. Therefore, it is necessary to study and improve the bending strength of the membrane to 100 MPa or more. In this study, as the mixing ratio of the nano-particles increased to 0, 1, 3, and 5 wt%, the viscosity of the fluid mixture increased. The pore structure of the hollow membrane produced by interrupting the diffusion exchange rate of the solvent and non-solvent during the spinning process suppresses the formation of the finger-like structure and gradually increases the ratio of the sponge-like structure to improve the membrane mechanical strength to more than 100 MPa. As a result, an interparticle space was ensured to improve the porosity of the sponge-like structure with high permeability, and it showed excellent N2 permeability of about 100000 GPU and high water permeability of 3000 L/m² h. Therefore, it can be concluded, that the addition of γ-Al₂O₃ nanoparticles as sintering aid is an important method to enhance the mechanical strength of the α-alumina hollow fiber membrane to maintain high permeability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Near Infrared Spectroscopy Conference
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• 2001.06a
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• pp.1246-1246
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• 2001

The quality of meat is highly variable in many properties. This variability originates from both animal production and meat processing. At the pre-slaughter stage, animal factors such as breed, sex, age contribute to this variability. Environmental factors include feeding, rearing, transport and conditions just before slaughter (Hildrum et al., 1995). Meat can be presented in a variety of forms, each offering different opportunities for adulteration and contamination. This has imposed great pressure on the food manufacturing industry to guarantee the safety of meat. Tissue and muscle speciation of flesh foods, as well as speciation of animal derived by-products fed to all classes of domestic animals, are now perhaps the most important uncertainty which the food industry must resolve to allay consumer concern. Recently, there is a demand for rapid and low cost methods of direct quality measurements in both food and food ingredients (including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), enzymatic and inmunological tests (e.g. ELISA test) and physical tests) to establish their authenticity and hence guarantee the quality of products manufactured for consumers (Holland et al., 1998). The use of Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) for the rapid, precise and non-destructive analysis of a wide range of organic materials has been comprehensively documented (Osborne et at., 1993). Most of the established methods have involved the development of NIRS calibrations for the quantitative prediction of composition in meat (Ben-Gera and Norris, 1968; Lanza, 1983; Clark and Short, 1994). This was a rational strategy to pursue during the initial stages of its application, given the type of equipment available, the state of development of the emerging discipline of chemometrics and the overwhelming commercial interest in solving such problems (Downey, 1994). One of the advantages of NIRS technology is not only to assess chemical structures through the analysis of the molecular bonds in the near infrared spectrum, but also to build an optical model characteristic of the sample which behaves like the “finger print” of the sample. This opens the possibility of using spectra to determine complex attributes of organic structures, which are related to molecular chromophores, organoleptic scores and sensory characteristics (Hildrum et al., 1994, 1995; Park et al., 1998). In addition, the application of statistical packages like principal component or discriminant analysis provides the possibility to understand the optical properties of the sample and make a classification without the chemical information. The objectives of this present work were: (1) to examine two methods of sample presentation to the instrument (intact and minced) and (2) to explore the use of principal component analysis (PCA) and Soft Independent Modelling of class Analogy (SIMCA) to classify muscles by quality attributes. Seventy-eight (n: 78) beef muscles (m. longissimus dorsi) from Hereford breed of cattle were used. The samples were scanned in a NIRS monochromator instrument (NIR Systems 6500, Silver Spring, MD, USA) in reflectance mode (log 1/R). Both intact and minced presentation to the instrument were explored. Qualitative analysis of optical information through PCA and SIMCA analysis showed differences in muscles resulting from two different feeding systems.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare the values of tongue pressure (TP), lip closing pressure (LCP), right buccal pressure (RBP), and left buccal pressure (LBP) and check the intraoral muscle imbalance and observe the changed values according to the myofunctional therapy (MFT) period. The MFT with a prefabricated appliance was performed on patients with certain muscular dysfunctions due to oral habits. And the improvement of perioral muscles was evaluated using a balloon-based pressure measurement. The group consisted of 21 patients with oral habits such as chronic mouth breathing, finger sucking, lip sucking, tongue thrusting, and atypical swallowing habits. When comparing the two groups before treatment, there was a significant difference in TP and LCP values. The TP increased the most in the first month since the start of myofunctional therapy, and the LCP increased the most between 3 and 6 months after treatment began. The values of TP, LCP, RBP, and LBP in the control group measured before treatment were very similar to the results of the experimental group 6 months after the myofunctional therapy. When the MFT was steadily performed, it was possible to observe a noticeable increase in the tongue and lip closing pressure. At least 6 months of myofunctional therapy is recommended for patients with intraoral muscle imbalance due to oral habits.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.555-569
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• 2023

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of N⁶-Methyladenosine modification-circRNA-zinc finger protein 638 (m⁶A-circRNA-ZNF638) on the induced activation of secondary hair follicle (SHF) stem cells with its potential mechanisms in cashmere goats. Methods: The m⁶A modification of ZNF638 was analyzed using methylation immunoprecipitation with real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique in SHF stem cells. The effects of circRNA-ZNF638 on the induced activation of SHF stem cells in m⁶A dependence were evaluated through the overexpression of circRNA-ZNF638/its m⁶A-deficient mutants in circRNA-ZNF638 knockdown SHF stem cells. The competitive binding of miR-361-5p to circRNA-ZNF638/Wnt5a 3'- untranslated region was analyzed through Dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results: The m⁶A-circRNA-ZNF638 had significantly higher transcription at anagen SHF bulge of cashmere goats compared with that at telogen, as well as it positively regulated the induced activation of SHF-stem cells in cashmere goats. Mechanismly, m⁶A-circRNA-ZNF638 sponged miR-361-5p to heighten the transcriptional expression of Wnt5a gene in SHF-stem cells. We further demonstrated that the internal m⁶A modification within circRNA-ZNF638 is required for mediating the miR-361-5p/Wnt5a pathway to regulate the induced activation of SHF stem cells through an introducing of m⁶A-deficient mutant of circRNA-ZNF638. Conclusion: The circRNA-ZNF638 contributes the proper induced activation of SHF-stem cells in cashmere goats in m⁶A-dependent manner through miR-361-5p/Wnt5a axis.