• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.sup1
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• pp.41-44
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• 2016

We report here a case of maternal 3-methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (3-MCC) deficiency in a Korean woman. Her 2 infants had elevated 3-hydroxyisovalerylcarnitine (C5-OH) on a neonatal screening test by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), but normal results were found on urine organic acid analysis. The patient was subjected to serial testing and we confirmed a maternal 3-MCC deficiency by blood spot and breast milk spot test by LC-MS/MS, serum amino acid analysis, urine organic acid and molecular genetic analysis that found c.838G>T (p.Asp280Tyr) homozygous mutation within exon 9 of the MCCB gene. Especially, we confirmed marked higher levels of C5-OH on breast milk spot by LC-MS/MS, in the case of maternal 3-MCC deficiency vs. controls.

• Journal of mucopolysaccharidosis and rare diseases
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2016

Mucolipidosis (ML) II/III are autosomal recessive diseases caused by deficiency of post-translational modification of lysosomal enzymes. The mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) residue in lysosomal enzymes synthesized by N-acetylglucosamine 1-phosphotransferase (GlcNAc-phosphotransferase) serves as recognition marker for trafficking in lysosomes. GlcNAc-phosphotransferase is encoded by GNPTAB and GNPTG. Mutations in GNPTAB cause severe ML II alpha/beta and the attenuated ML III alpha/beta. Whereas mutations in GNPTG cause the ML III gamma, the attenuated type of ML III variant. For the diagnostic approaches, increased urinary oligosaccharides excretion could be a screening test in clinically suspicious patients. To confirm the diagnosis, instead of measuring the activity of GlcNAc phosphotransferase, measuring the enzymatic activities of different lysosomal hydrolases are useful for diagnosis. The activities of several lysosomal hydrolases are decreased in fibroblasts but increased in serum of the patients. In addition, the sequence analysis of causative gene is warranted. Therefore, the confirmatory diagnosis requires a combination of clinical evaluation, biochemical and molecular genetic testing. ML II/III show complex disease manifestations with lysosomal storage as the prime cellular defect that initiates consequential organic dysfunctions. As there are no specific therapy for ML to date, understanding the molecular pathogenesis can contribute to develop new therapeutic approaches ultimately.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.209-212
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to develop species-specific PCR primers for use in the identification and detection of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans. These primers target variable regions of the 168 ribosomal RNA coding gene (rDNA). We assessed the specificity of the primers against 9 A. actinomycetemcomitans strains and 11 strains (3 species) of the Haemophilus genus. Primer sensitivity was determined by testing serial dilutions of the purified genomic DNAs of A. actinomycetemcomitans ATCC$ 33384^$T Our obtained data revealed that we had obtained species-specific amplicons for all of the tested A. actinomycetemcomitans strains, and that none of these amplicons occurred in any of the other species. Our PCR protocol proved able to detect as little as 4 fg of A. actinomycetemcomitans chromosomal DNA. Our findings suggest that these PCR primers are incredibly sensitive, and should prove suitable for application in epidemiological studies, as well as the diagnosis and monitoring of periodontal pathogens after treatment for periodontitis.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.78-85
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• 1999

To investigate kernel hardness, a compression test which is widely used to measure the hardness of individual kernels as a physical testing method was made simultaneously with the measurement of friabilin (15KDa) which is strongly associated with kernel hardness and was recently developed as a biochemical marker for evaluating kernel hardness in 79 Korean wheat varieties and experimental lines. With the scattered diagram based on the principal component analysis from the parameters of the compression test, 79 Korean wheat varieties were classified into three groups based on the principal component analysis. Since conventional methods required large amount of flour samples for analysis of friabilin due to the relatively small amount of friabilin in wheat kernels, those methods had limitations for quality prediction in wheat breeding programs. An extraction of friabilin from the starch of a single kernel through cesium chloride gradient centrifugation was successful in this experiment. Among 79 Korean wheat varieties and experimental lines 50 lines (63.3%) exhibited a friabilin band and 29 lines (36.7%) did not show a friabilin band. In this study, lines that contained high maximum force and the lower ratio of minimum force to maximum force showed the absence of the friabilin band. Identification of friabilin, which is the product of a major gene, could be applied in the screening procedures of kernel hardness. The single kernel analysis system for friabilin was found to be an easy, simple and effective screening method for early generation materials in a wheat breeding program for quality improvement.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2008

Crocin is one of the major components of gardenia fruit and saffron which are widely used as natural food colorants and as traditional Chinese medicines. However, the genotoxicity data on crocin are not sufficient for safety evaluation. The purpose of this study was the examination of the genotoxicity on crocin from gardenia yellow in bacterial and mammalian cells, using various genotoxic battery testing assays and the influence of crocin on methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and ${H_2}{O_2}$-induced DNA damage in vitro, using single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay. From results, no considerable mutagenicity and clastogenicity were seen in bacteria and mammalian cells treated with crocin, by Ames test, chromosomal aberration assay, ${tk}^{+/-}$ gene forward mutation assay and comet assay. And, post-treatment with crocin significantly suppressed ${H_2}{O_2}$-induced DNA damage in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, the findings of the present study and other previous observations indicate that crocin has no genotoxic potential. And it showed that crocin clearly repressed the genotoxic potency of ${H_2}{O_2}$. These results suggest that anti-oxidative effects of crocin may be involved in the protective effects of DNA damage.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.136-139
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• 2014

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the severe nosocomial infectious agents. The traditional diagnostic methods including biochemical test, antibiotic susceptibility test and PCR amplification are time consuming and require much work. The Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) biosensor is a rapid and powerful tool for analyzing the chemical composition within a single living cell. To identify the biochemical and genetic characterization of clinical MRSA, all isolates from patients were performed with VITEK2 gram positive (GP) bacterial identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST). Virulence genes of MRSA also were identified by DNA based PCR using specific primers. All isolates, which were placed on a gold coated nanochip, were analyzed by a confocal Raman microscopy system. All isolates were identified as S. aureus by biochemical tests. MRSA, which exhibited antibiotic resistance, demonstrated to be positive gene expression of both femA and mecA. Furthermore, Raman shift of S. aureus and MRSA (n=20) was perfectly distinguished by a confocal Raman microscopy system. This novel technique explained that a SERS based confocal Raman microscopy system can selectively isolate MRSA from non-MRSA. The study recommends the SERS technique as a rapid and sensitive method to detect antibiotic resistant S. aureus in a single cell level.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.8
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• pp.789-793
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• 2007

Basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS), also known as Gorlin syndrome, is a rare autosomal dominant disorder characterized by variable manifestations, including multiple basal cell carcinomas, odontogenic keratocysts of the jaw, skeletal anomalies including scoliosis and bifid ribs, palmar and plantar pits, calcification of the falx cerebri, and biparietal frontal bossing. We report a case of a 9-year-old boy with the clinical features of basal cell nevus syndrome, in which a PTCH gene mutation was confirmed by DNA testing.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2000.07c
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• pp.1912-1914
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• 2000

This is the first report of a series of field test result of large high voltage generator & motors. Major specimens were 6.6/13.2kV class hydroric power & pump motor that was installed and operated for public water service by KOWACO(KOrea WAter resources COperation). The capacity of specimen gene rater & motors were in range of several hundred kVA$\sim$50MVA. Until now, we get the 100 field test result by testing technique discribed in IEEE standards and Discharge map technique from Japanse manufactures. The test result was varied very wide range, and there was a tendency according to insulation material and manufacture.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.621-629
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• 2021

Shigella flexneri is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes bacillary dysentery in humans. Infection with S. flexneri can result in more than a million deaths yearly and most of the victims are children in developing countries. Therefore, identifying novel and unique drug targets against this pathogen is instrumental to overcome the problem of drug resistance to the antibiotics given to patients as the current therapy. In this study, a comparative analysis of the metabolic pathways of the host and pathogen was performed to identify this pathogen's essential enzymes for the survival and propose potential drug targets. First, we extracted the metabolic pathways of the host, Homo sapiens, and pathogen, S. flexneri, from the KEGG database. Next, we manually compared the pathways to categorize those that were exclusive to the pathogen. Further, all enzymes for the 26 unique pathways were extracted and submitted to the Geptop tool to identify essential enzymes for further screening in determining the feasibility of the therapeutic targets that were predicted and analyzed using PPI network analysis, subcellular localization, druggability testing, gene ontology and epitope mapping. Using these various criteria, we narrowed it down to prioritize 5 novel drug targets against S. flexneri and one vaccine drug targets against all strains of Shigella. Hence, we suggest the identified enzymes as the best putative drug targets for the effective treatment of S. flexneri.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.883-893
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• 2021

Clostridium difficile present in feces of food animals may contaminate their meats and act as a potential source of C. difficile infection (CDI) to humans. C. difficile resistance to antibiotics, its production of toxins and spores play major roles in the pathogenesis of CDI. This is the first study to evaluate C. difficile prevalence in retail raw animal meats, its antibiotics susceptibilities and toxigenic activities in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Totally, 240 meat samples were tested. C. difficile was identified by standard microbiological and biochemical methods. Vitek-2 compact system confirmed C. difficile isolates were 15/240 (6.3%). Toxins A/B were not detected by Xpect C. difficile toxin A/B tests. Although all isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and metronidazole, variable degrees of reduced susceptibilities to moxifloxacin, clindamycin or tetracycline antibiotics were detected by Epsilon tests. C. difficile strains with reduced susceptibility to antibiotics should be investigated. Variability between the worldwide reported C. difficile contamination levels could be due to absence of a gold standard procedure for its isolation. Establishment of a unified testing algorithm for C. difficile detection in food products is definitely essential to evaluate the inter-regional variation in its prevalence on national and international levels. Proper use of antimicrobials during animal husbandry is crucial to control the selective drug pressure on C. difficile strains associated with food animals. Investigating the protective or pathogenic potential of non-toxigenic C. difficile strains and the possibility of gene transfer from certain toxigenic/ antibiotics-resistant to non-toxigenic/antibiotics-sensitive strains, respectively, should be worthy of attention.