• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.52-59
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• 2011

L-PLA or D-PLA was synthesized in bulk at $140^{\circ}C$ by ring opening polymerization(ROP) of L-lactide or D-lactide as a monomer using tin(II) octoate and lauryl alcohol as a catalyst and an initiator with changing the amounts of catalyst(0.25~1.0 wt%) and initiator(0.l~0.5 wt%). And stereocomplex-PLA was prepared by L-PLA/D-PLA having a wide range of molecular weight(30000~90000 g/mol) and L-PLA/D-PLA blends having different mixing ratio ($X_D$). The melting temperature. thermal degradation temperature and thermal stability of stereocomplex-PLA were higher than those of homopolymers(L-PLA, D-PLA). We supposed that these improvements arose from a strong interaction between L-PLA and D-PLA. The improved mechanical properties and changes in morphology of LPLA/D-PLA blends were compared to those of homopolymers(L-PLA, D-PLA).

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.36 no.5 s.108
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• pp.53-61
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• 2004

[ $Poly(_{D}-ldactide)\;(_{D}-PLA)$ ] was synthesized to have low molecular weight for miscible blends with a high molecular $poly(_{L}-lactide)\;(_{L} -PLA)$. The blends were prepared by dissolving the two components of $_{L}-PLA\;and\;_{D}-PLA\;(w/w)$ in chloroform (l00/0, 90/10, 70/30, 50/50, 30/70, 0/100). The miscibility of these miscible blends was characterized by gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the selective degradability by enzymes (proteinase K, subtilisin and $\alpha$-chymotrypsin). The coating efficiency of PLA blends onto paper was determined and the degrading activity cellulases by on these blends. The miscibility, coating efficiency and enzymatic degradability of these blends were decreased according to increasing of $_{D}-PLA$ blending part. Such results were attributed to the extent of coating application of PLA, with better miscibility (compatibility), coating efficiency and degradability due to a higher $_{L}-PLA$ content.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 1997

In an attempt to investigate the role of phospholipase $A_2$($PLA_2$) in interleukin-l (IL-l) induced acute lung injury, mepacrine was tried to inhibit $PLA_2$ in IL-l induced ARDS rats. For confirmation of acute lung injury by IL-l, and to know the role of neutrophils in this injury, lung leak index, lung myeloperoxidase(MPO), number of neutrophils and protein content in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and wet lung weight were measured. At the same time lung $PLA_2$ was measured to know the effect of IL-l on $PLA_2$ activity. Pulmonary surfactant was also measured for an investigation of type II alveolar cell function. Neutrophil adhesion assay was performed to know the effect of $PLA_2$ inhibition in vitro with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). For precise location of injury by IL-l, morpholgical study was performed by electron microscopy. Five hours after instillation of IL-l (50 ng/rat), lung leak index, protein content, number of neutrophils, lung MPO and wet lung weight were increased significantly. Five hours after IL-l instillation lung $PLA_2$ activity was increased significantly, and increased surfactant release was observed in IL-l induced ARDS rats' BAL. In contrast, in rats given mepacrine and IL-l, there was decrease of acute lung injury i.e. decrease of lung leak index, wet lung weight, protein content, number of neutrophils in BAL and decreased lung MPO activity. Mepacrine decreased surfactant release also. Interestingly, inhibition of $PLA_2$ decreased adhesion of human neutrophils to HUVEC in vitro. Morphologically, IL-l caused diffuse necrosis of endothelial cells, type I and II epithelial cells and increased the infiltration of neutrophils in the interstitium of the lung but after mepacrine treatment these pathological findings were lessened. On the basis of these experimental results it is suggested that $PLA_2$ has a major role in the pathogenesis of acute lung injury mediated by neutrophil dependent manner in IL-l induced acute lung injury.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.606-612
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• 2013

Glycidol-poly(lactide) (Gly-PLA) were synthesized via L-lactide ring opening polymerization with glycidol as an initiator and $Al(O-i-Pr)_3$ catalyst. The structure of Gly-PLA was analyzed and successfully confirmed by 1H NMR. The OH group of glycidol in Gly-PLA was absent according to the $^1H$ NMR analysis, indicating that the terminal OH group of glycidol successfully served as an initiator in the L-lactide polymerization. The solution and bulk polymerizations of L-lactide with glycidol were performed to examine the effect of L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio, polymerization temperature and time on the molecular characteristics of Gly-PLA. The conversion and molecular weight increased with an increase in L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio. Gly-PLA showed the bimodal type DSC curve. The low $T_m$ peak of low molecular weight reduced but the high $T_m$ peak of high molecular weight increased as L-lactide/glycidol molar ratio increased.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.92-99
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• 2012

The optimal physical factors affecting enzyme production in an airlift fermenter have not been studied so far. Therefore, the physical parameters such as aeration rate, pH, and temperature affecting PLA-degrading enzyme production by Actinomadura keratinilytica strain T16-1 in a 3 l airlift fermenter were investigated. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize PLA-degrading enzyme production by implementing the central composite design. The optimal conditions for higher production of PLA-degrading enzyme were aeration rate of 0.43 vvm, pH of 6.85, and temperature at $46^{\circ}C$. Under these conditions, the model predicted a PLA-degrading activity of 254 U/ml. Verification of the optimization showed that PLA-degrading enzyme production of 257 U/ml was observed after 3 days cultivation under the optimal conditions in a 3 l airlift fermenter. The production under the optimized condition in the airlift fermenter was higher than un-optimized condition by 1.7 folds and 12 folds with un-optimized medium or condition in shake flasks. This is the first report on the optimization of environmental conditions for improvement of PLA-degrading enzyme production in a 3 l airlift fermenter by using a statistical analysis method. Moreover, the crude PLA-degrading enzyme could be adsorbed to the substrate and degraded PLA powder to produce lactic acid as degradation products. Therefore, this incident indicates that PLA-degrading enzyme produced by Actinomadura keratinilytica NBRC 104111 strain T16-1 has a potential to degrade PLA to lactic acid as a monomer and can be used for the recycle of PLA polymer.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.281-287
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• 2011

Background: Biodegradable polymers have increasingly been recognized for various biological applications in recent years. Here we examined the immunostimulatory activities of the novel poly(aspartic acid) conjugated with L-lysine (PLA). Methods: PLA was synthesized by conjugating L-lysine to aspartic acid polymer. PLA-nanoliposomes (PLA-NLs) were prepared from PLA using a microfluidizer. The immunostimulatory activities of PLA-NLs were examined in mouse bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DCs). Results: PLA-NLs increased the number of BM-DCs when added to cultures of GM-CSF-induced DC generation on day 4 after the initiation of cultures. Examination of the phenotypic properties showed that BM-DCs generated in the presence of PLA-NLs are more mature in terms of the expression of MHC class II molecules and major co-stimulatory molecules than BM-DCs generated in the absence of PLA-NLs. In addition, the BM-DCs exhibited enhanced capability to produce cytokines, such as IL-6, IL-12, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$. Allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reactions also confirmed that the BMDCs were more stimulatory on allogeneic T cells. PLA- NL also induced further growth of immature BM-DCs that were harvested on day 8. Conclusion: These results show that PLA-NLs induce the generation and functional activities of BM-DCs, and suggest that PLA-NLs could be immunostimulating agents that target DCs.

• Advances in nano research
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.639-652
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• 2022

The prolyl 3-hydroxylase family member 4 (P3H4), is associated with post-translational modification of fibrillar collagens and aberrantly activated in cancer leading to tumor progression. However, its role in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is still unknown. Here we reported that P3H4 was highly expressed in renal cancer tissues and significantly positive correlated with poor prognosis. Knockdown of P3H4 inhibited the proliferation, migration and metastasis of renal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and also, overexpression of it enhanced the oncogenic process. Mechanistically, P3H4 depletion decreased the levels of GDF15-MMP9 axis and repressed its downstream signaling. Further functional studies revealed that inhibition of GDF15 suppressed renal cancer cell growth and GDF15 recombinant human protein (rhGDF15) supplementation effectively rescued the inhibitory effect induced by P3H4 knockdown. Moreover, decreased levels of MMP9 caused by inhibition of P3H4-GDF15 signaling constrained the expression of PD-L1 and suppression of P3H4 accordingly promoted anti-tumor immunity via stimulating the infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in syngeneic mice model. Taken together, our findings firstly demonstrated that P3H4 promotes ccRCC progression by activating GDF15-MMP9-PD-L1 axis and targeting P3H4-GDF15-MMP9 signaling pathway can be a novel strategy of controlling ccRCC malignancy.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.270-274
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• 2004

Blends of poly(l-lactide) (PLA) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) were prepared by melt mixing in order to improve the brittleness of PLA. A reactive compatibilizer with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), PE-GMA, was required as a compatibilizer due to the immiscibility between PLA and LDPE. It contributes to reduce the domain size of dispersed phase and enhance the tensile properties of PLA/LDPE blends, especially for PLA matrix blends. A reaction product between PLA and PE-GMA, which was formed during melt-mixing and considered to act as a reactive compatibilizer, was characterized using $ ^1H-NMR$ spectroscopy.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.359-364
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• 2002

A series of PLA-PEO-PLA triblock stereo-copolymers with varying PLA/PEO and L-DL-LA ratios were synthesized via ring opening pelymerizations. Aqueous solutions of these copolymers undergo thermo-responsive phase transitions as the temperature monotonically increases. Further study shows that there is a critical gel concentration (CGC), and also lower and upper critical gel temperatures (CGTs), at which the thermo-responsive phase transition occurs. The CGC and CGTs are affected by various factors such as block length, as well as the compositions of the PLA blocks and of the additives. In particular, the changes in the phase diagram produced by varying the L-/DL-LA ratio in the PLA blocks were determined to be mainly due to consequent stereo-regularity changes in the PLA blocks.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.510-516
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• 2006

Lactide was produced from oligomeric PLA by back-biting reaction of the OH end groups. For optimization of the reaction conditions, the effects of temperature, pressure, PLA molecular weight, and catalyst type on the lactide synthesis were examined. The fraction of D,L-lactide decreased with increasing temperature. Among the various Sn-based catalysts, the D,L-lactide fraction was maximized when SnO was used. A higher yield with lower racemization was observed at lower pressure. The conversion of PLA was maximized at an oligomeric PLA molecular weight of ca. 1380. The yield of lactide increased but the fraction of D,L-lactide decreased with increasing molecular weight. The highest conversion with the lowest racemization degree was obtained at a catalyst concentration of 0.1 wt%. The lactide was more sensitive to racemization because of the entropic effect.