• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권9호
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• pp.5391-5396
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• 2013

Aim: To investigate the role of Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) in tumour growth and metastasis of esophageal squamous cancer. Methods: A lentiviral shRNA-vector was utilized to stably knockdown GOLPH3 in Eca-109 esophageal squamous cancer cells. mRNA transcription and protein expression of GOLPH3 were examined by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blotting, respectively. Cell proliferation activity was assessed by MTT assay and invasion and migration potentials by matrigel invasion and transwell motility assays. Results: Stable knockdown in the GOLPH3 cell line was established. PD-A gene expression was significantly suppressed by lentivirus-mediated RNAi, which resulted in reducing the capacity for cell proliferation, migration, invasion and adhesion in vitro. In vivo, GOLPH3 depletion resulted in inhibition of tumour growth, with stable decrease in the expression of GOLPH3 in tumor xenografts. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that lentivirus mediated silencing of the GOLPH3 gene has a significant anti-tumour effect on esophageal squamous cancer in vitro and in vivo. In addition, the results indicate that GOLPH3 might be an effective molecular target for gene therapy in esophageal squamous cancer.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제19권9호
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• pp.1070-1076
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• 2009

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT), which prolongs the replicative life span of cells, is highly upregulated in 85-90% of human cancers, whereas most normal somatic tissues in humans express limited levels of the telomerase activity. Therefore, TERT has been a potential target for anticancer therapy. Recently, we described a new approach to human cancer gene therapy, which is based on the group I intron of Tetrahymena thermophila. This ribozyme can specifically mediate RNA replacement of human TERT (hTERT) transcript with a new transcript harboring anticancer activity through a trans-splicing reaction, resulting in selective regression of hTERT-positive cancer cells. However, to validate the therapeutic potential of the ribozyme in animal models, ribozymes targeting inherent transcripts of the animal should be developed. In this study, we developed a Tetrahymena-based trans-splicing ribozyme that can specifically target and replace the mouse TERT (mTERT) RNA. This ribozyme can trigger transgene activity not only also in mTERT-expressing cells but hTERT-positive cancer cells. Importantly, the ribozyme could selectively induce activity of the suicide gene, a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene, in cancer cells expressing the TERT RNA and thereby specifically hamper the survival of these cells when treated with ganciclovir. The mTERT-targeting ribozyme will be useful for evaluation of the RNA replacement approach as a cancer gene therapeutic tool in the mouse model with syngeneic tumors.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제66권4호
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• pp.356-381
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• 2023

Although immunotherapy has been broadly successful in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and a subset of solid tumors, its clinical outcomes for glioblastoma are still inadequate. The results could be due to neuroanatomical structures such as the blood-brain-barrier, antigenic heterogeneity, and the highly immunosuppressive microenvironment of glioblastomas. The antitumor efficacy of endogenously activated effector cells induced by peptide or dendritic cell vaccines in particular has been insufficient to control tumors. Effector cells, such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells can be expanded rapidly ex vivo and transferred to patients. The identification of neoantigens derived from tumor-specific mutations is expanding the list of tumor-specific antigens for glioblastoma. Moreover, recent advances in gene-editing technologies enable the effector cells to not only have multiple biological functionalities, such as cytokine production, multiple antigen recognition, and increased cell trafficking, but also relieve the immunosuppressive nature of the glioblastoma microenvironment by blocking immune inhibitory molecules, which together improve their cytotoxicity, persistence, and safety. Allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells edited to reduce graft-versus-host disease and allorejection, or induced pluripotent stem cell-derived NK cells expressing CARs that use NK-specific signaling domain can be a good candidate for off-the-shelf products of glioblastoma immunotherapy. We here discuss current progress and future directions for T cell and NK cell therapy in glioblastoma.

• 한국독성학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국독성학회 2001년도 International Symposium on Dietary and Medicinal Antimutgens and Anticarcinogens
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• pp.200-200
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• 2001

The matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) play important roles in metastasis and invasion in various cell types. An endogenous inhibitor of MMP, tissue inhibitor of metalloprotease-2 (TIMP-2), has high specificity for MMP-2. An imbalance between MMP-2 and TIMP-2 causes the degradation of the extracellular matrix associated with pathological events including invasion and metastasis. Since TIMPs are secreted molecules, they have the potential to be used for gene therapy of certain tumors. (omitted)

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.384-388
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• 2023

Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, also known as nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by multisystemic developmental defects caused by pathogenic variants such as patched-1 (PTCH1) gene variants and/or SUFU gene variants. The presence of either two main criteria or one major and two minor criteria are required for the diagnosis of Gorlin-Goltz syndrome. Recently, a major criterion for molecular confirmation has also been proposed. In this article, we report the case of an 80-year-old male who was admitted at our department for multiple brown-to-black papules and plaques on the entire body. He was diagnosed with Gorlin-Goltz syndrome with clinical, radiologic, and pathologic findings. While the diagnosis was made based on the clinical findings in general, confirmation of the genetic variants makes an ideal diagnosis and suggests a new treatment method for target therapy. We requested a genetic test of PTCH1 to ideally identify the molecular confirmation in the hedgehog signaling pathway. However, no pathogenic variants were found in the coding region of PTCH1, and no molecular confirmation was achieved.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제45권9호
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• pp.622-630
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• 2022

Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a high mortality rate among cancers worldwide. To reduce this mortality rate, chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan) or targeted therapy (bevacizumab, cetuximab, and panitumumab) has been used to treat CRC. However, due to various side effects and poor responses to CRC treatment, novel therapeutic targets for drug development are needed. In this study, we identified the overexpression of EHMT1 in CRC using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data derived from TCGA, and we observed that knocking down EHMT1 expression suppressed cell growth by inducing cell apoptosis in CRC cell lines. In Gene Ontology (GO) term analysis using RNA-seq data, apoptosis-related terms were enriched after EHMT1 knockdown. Moreover, we identified the CHOP gene as a direct target of EHMT1 using a ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation) assay with an anti-histone 3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2) antibody. Finally, after cotransfection with siEHMT1 and siCHOP, we again confirmed that CHOP-mediated cell apoptosis was induced by EHMT1 knockdown. Our findings reveal that EHMT1 plays a key role in regulating CRC cell apoptosis, suggesting that EHMT1 may be a therapeutic target for the development of cancer inhibitors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권6호
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• pp.2837-2840
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• 2012

We investigated whether IFN-${\beta}$ inhibits the growth of human malignant glioma and induces glioma cell apoptosis using the human IFN-${\beta}$ gene transfected into glioma cells. A eukaryonic expression vector ($pSV2IFN{\beta}$) for IFN-${\beta}$ was transfected into the glioma cell line SHG44 using liposome transfection. Stable transfection and IFN-${\beta}$ expression were confirmed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cell apoptosis was also assessed by Hoechst staining and electron microscopy. In vivo experiments were used to establish a SHG44 glioma model in nude mice. Liposomes containing the human IFN-${\beta}$ gene were injected into the SHG44 glioma of nude mice to observe glioma growth and calculate tumor size. Fas expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry. The IFN-${\beta}$ gene was successfully transfected and expressed in the SHG44 glioma cells in vitro. A significant difference in the number of apoptotic cells was observed between transfected and non-transfected cells. Glioma growth in nude mice was inhibited in vivo, with significant induction of apoptosis. Fas expression was also elevated. The IFN-${\beta}$ gene induces apoptosis in glioma cells, possibly through upregulation of Fas. The IFN-${\beta}$ gene modulation in the Fas pathway and apoptosis in glioma cells may be important for the treatment of gliomas.

• 한국수정란이식학회지
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.35-42
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• 2010

Many studies propose that dysfunction of mitochondrial proton-translocating NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) is associated with neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Mammalian mitochondrial proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (complex I) consists of at least 46 different subunits. In contrast, the NDI1 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a single subunit rotenone-insensitive NADH-quinone oxidoreductase that is located on the matrix side of the inner mitochondrial membrane. With a recombinant adeno-associated virus vector carrying the NDI1 gene (rAAV-NDI1) as the gene delivery method, we were able to attain high transduction efficiencies even in the human epithelial cervical cancer cells that are difficult to transfect by lipofection or calcium phosphate precipitation methods. Using a rAAV-NDI1, we demonstrated that the Ndi1 enzyme is successfully expressed in HeLa cells. The expressed Ndi1 enzyme was recognized to be localized in mitochondria by confocal immunofluorescence microscopic analyses and immunoblotting. Using digitonin-permeabilized cells, it was shown that the NADH oxidase activity of the NDI1-transduced HeLa cells were not affected by rotenone which is inhibitor of complex I, but was inhibited by flavone and antimycin A. The NDI1-transduced cells were able to grow in media containing rotenone. In contrast, control cells that did not receive the NDI1 gene failed to survive. In particular, in the NDI1-transduced cells, the yeast enzyme becomes integrated into the human respiratory chain. It is concluded that the NDI1 gene provides a potentially useful tool for gene therapy of mitochondrial diseases caused by complex I deficiency.

• Journal of Genetic Medicine
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.33-37
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• 1999

Recombinant adenovirus vector systems with strong promoters have been used to achieve high level production of recombinant protein. However, this overexpression system cause some problems such as disturbance of cell physiology and increment of cellular toxicity. Here, we showed a tetracycline-regulated adenovirus expression vector system. Our results showed that the expression level of transgene(p-53) was high and easily regulated by tetracycline. In addition, the maximal gene expression level of the tetracycline-controlled gene expression system was higher than that of the wild type CMV promoter system. Therefore, tetracycline-regulated adenoviral vector system could be applicable for regulatory high-level expression of toxic gene. Also, this system will be useful for functional studies and gene therapy.

• 대한물리의학회지
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.63-70
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• 2019

PURPOSE: While electrical stimulation (ES) is known to be a safe and flexible tool in rehabilitation therapy, it has had limited adoption in muscle regeneration. This study was performed to investigate whether ES can induce myogenic differentiation and to clarify the mechanism underlying the effects of ES on myogenic differentiation. METHODS: This study used rat L6 cell lines as myoblasts for myogenic differentiation. Electric stimulation was applied to the cells using a C-Pace EP culture pacer (IonOptix, Westwood, Ma, USA). The gene expressions of myogenic markers were examined using qPCR and immunochemistry. RESULTS: Our study showed that ES increased the thickness and length of myotubes during myogenic differentiation. It was found that ES increased the expression of myogenic markers, such as MyoD and Myogenin, and also activated the fusion of the myoblast cells. In addition, ES suppressed the expression of small GTPases, which can explain why ES promotes myogenic differentiation. CONCLUSION: We found that ES induced myogenic differentiation by suppressing small GTPases, inhibiting cell division. We suggest that ES-based therapies can contribute to the development of safe and efficient muscle regeneration.