• Toxicological Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 1996

Vitamin C has been well known to be a potential chemopreventive agent for several toxic compounds. It reduced the mutation frequencies of 6-sulfooxymethylbenzo[a]pyrene (SMBP) and 6hydroxymethylbenzo[a]pyrene (HMBP) in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100, indicating that corbic acid affects both frameshift and base-pair substitution mtltations. A similar type of dose-response relationship was shown in the V79 cells, although the inhibitory effect was less dramatic compared with that in S. typhimurium. However, SMBP or HMBP binding to calf thymus DNA was not affected by the presence of vitamin C, suggesting that SMBP seems to be much more reactive to calf thymus DNA than vitamin C. This was supported by migration pattern and fluorescence intensity of SMBP-modified plasmid on the gel. These restilts were not correlated with mutation tests in bacterial and mammalian cell systems. It has been already reported that vitamin C inactivates SMBP through the formation of covalently bound addact. It was found from HPLC analysis that the reaction between vitamin C and SMBP was accomplished within just 5 min and then produced the several products. These findings indicate that the beneficiary of vitamin C is not merely derived from the covalent adducts. On the other hand, the addition of DNA to incubation mixture reduced the amounts of vitamin C adducts while the magnitude of HMBP peak increased, suggesting that DNA accelerates the SMBP hydrolysis to intercept the interaction between SMBP and vitamin C or forms rapidly complex with SMBP.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.502-507
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• 2019

Translation is a costly, but inevitable, cell maintenance process. To reduce unnecessary ATP consumption in cells, a fine-tuning mechanism is needed for both ribosome biogenesis and translation. Previous studies have suggested that the ribosome functions as a hub for many cellular signals such as ribotoxic stress response, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) signaling. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between ribosomes and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation under ribotoxic stress conditions and found that the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) was suppressed by ribosomal protein knockdown but that of p38 was not. In addition, we found that JNK activation is driven by the association of inactive JNK in the 80S monosomes rather than the polysomes. Overall, these data suggest that the activation of JNKs by ribotoxic stress is attributable to 80S monosomes. These 80S monosomes are active ribosomes that are ready to initiate protein translation, rather than polysomes that are already acting ribosomes involved in translation elongation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.391-398
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• 2022

Polyploidization is a process by which cells are induced to possess more than two sets of chromosomes. Although polyploidization is not frequent in mammals, it is closely associated with development and differentiation of specific tissues and organs. The liver is one of the mammalian organs that displays ploidy dynamics in physiological homeostasis during its development. The ratio of polyploid hepatocytes increases significantly in response to hepatic injury from aging, viral infection, iron overload, surgical resection, or metabolic overload, such as that from non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLDs). One of the unique features of NAFLD is the marked heterogeneity of hepatocyte nuclear size, which is strongly associated with an adverse liver-related outcome, such as hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, and liver-related death. Thus, hepatic polyploidization has been suggested as a potential driver in the progression of NAFLDs that are involved in the control of the multiple pathogenicity of the diseases. However, the importance of polyploidy in diverse pathophysiological contexts remains elusive. Recently, several studies reported successful improvement of symptoms of NAFLDs by reducing pathological polyploidy or by controlling cell cycle progression in animal models, suggesting that better understanding the mechanisms of pathological hepatic polyploidy may provide insights into the treatment of hepatic disorders.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 2023

Despite numerous advances in in-vitro embryo production (IVP), many documented factors have been shown to influence the development of mammalian preimplantation embryos and the success of IVP. In this sense, elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) correlate with poor outcomes in assisted reproductive technologies (ART) due to oxidative stress (OS), which results from an imbalance between ROS production and neutralization. Indeed, excessive production of ROS compromises the structural and functional integrity of gametes and embryos both in vivo and in vitro. In particular, OS damages proteins, lipids, and DNA and accelerates cell apoptosis. Several in-vivo and in-vitro studies report an improvement in qualityrelevant parameters after the use of various antioxidants. In this review, we focus on OS and the source of free radicals and their effects on oocytes, sperm, and the embryo during IVP. In addition, antioxidants and their important role in IVP, supplementation during oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro culture (IVC), and semen extenders were discussed. Nevertheless, various methods for determining the level of ROS in germ cells have been briefly described. Still, it is crucial to develop standardized antioxidant supplement systems to improve overall IVP success. Further studies should explore the safety, efficacy, mechanism of action, and combination of different antioxidants to improve IVP outcomes.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2024

Radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) from various sources may impact health due to the generation of frequency bands. Broad pulses emitted within frequency bands can be absorbed by cells, influencing their function. Numerous laboratory studies have demonstrated that mobile phones-generally the most widely used devices-can have harmful effects on sex cells, such as sperm and oocytes, by producing RF-EMR. Moreover, some research has indicated that RF-EMR generated by mobile phones can influence sperm parameters, including motility, morphology, viability, and (most critically) DNA structure. Consequently, RF-EMR can disrupt both sperm function and fertilization. However, other studies have reported that exposure of spermatozoa to RF-EMR does not affect the functional parameters or genetic structure of sperm. These conflicting results likely stem from differences among studies in the duration and exposure distance, as well as the species of animal used. This report was undertaken to review the existing research discussing the effects of RF-EMR on the DNA integrity of mammalian spermatozoa.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.85-98
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• 2016

The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are key regulators of cell growth and survival in physiological and pathological processes. Aberrant MAPK signaling plays a critical role in the development and progression of human cancer, as well as in determining responses to cancer treatment. The MAPK phosphatases (MKPs), also known as dual-specificity phosphatases (DUSPs), are a family of proteins that function as major negative regulators of MAPK activities in mammalian cells. Studies using mice deficient in specific MKPs including MKP1/DUSP1, PAC-1/DUSP2, MKP2/DUSP4, MKP5/DUSP10 and MKP7/DUSP16 demonstrated that these molecules are important not only for both innate and adaptive immune responses, but also for metabolic homeostasis. In addition, the consequences of the gain or loss of function of the MKPs in normal and malignant tissues have highlighted the importance of these phosphatases in the pathogenesis of cancers. The involvement of the MKPs in resistance to cancer therapy has also gained prominence, making the MKPs a potential target for anti-cancer therapy. This review will summarize the current knowledge of the MKPs in cancer development, progression and treatment outcomes.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.229-232
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• 2002

There are two distinct UV-responsive signaling pathways in UV-irradiated mammalian cells, i.e., the DNA damage-dependent and -independent pathways. The former occurs in nucleus and results in growth arrest and apoptosis via post-translational modification of p53. The latter is initiated by oxidative stress and/or by damages in cell membrane or cytoplasm, which activate signaling cascade through intracellular molecules including mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK). In normal human fibroblastic cells, all of MAPK family members, extracellular signal-related kinases (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p38, were rapidly phosphorylated following UV-irradiation. ERK phosphorylation was suppressed by an inhibitor of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK). As ERK usually responds to mitogenic stimuli from RTK ligands, UV-induced ERK phosphorylation may be linked to the proliferation of survived cells. In contrast, phosphorylation of JNK and p38, as well as apoptosis, were modulated by the level of UV-generated oxidative stress Therefore, JNK and p38 may take part in oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis. Phosphorylation of p53 at Ser and Thr residues are essential for stabilization and activation of p53. Among several sites reported, we confirmed phosphorylation at Ser-15 and Ser-392 after UV-irradiation. Both of these were inhibited by a phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor, presumably due to the shutdown of signals from DNA damage to p53. Phosphorylation at Ser-392 was also sensitive to an antioxidant and a p38 inhibitor, suggesting that Ser-392 of p53 is one of the possible points where DNA damage-dependent and -independent apoptic signals merge. Thus, MAPK pathway links UV-induced intracellular signals to the nuclear responses and modifies DNA damage-dependent cellular outcome, resulting in the determination of cell death.

• Proceedings of the Korean Aquaculture Society Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.44-44
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• 2003

Gene expression in five tissues of the abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) was investigated using an expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis. Randomly selected clones were obtained from cDNA libraries constructed with gill (GI), digestive diverticula(DD), hepatopancreas (HP), foot/mucus (FM) and rectangular muscle (RM). Of 1,235 clonesanalyzed (288 clones for GI, DD, HP each,166 for FM, and 205 for RM), 741 (60.0%) clones in total turned out to share significant similarity with the sequences from NCBI GenBank (less than 10/sup -3/ of e-values), 423 sequences showed poor similarity (> 10/sup -3/), and 71 sequences didn't match with any sequences in GenBank. The percent unique sequence (singleton) was ranged from 56.1% (RM) to 74.7% (FM) among libraries. On the other hand, overall percent singleton was 55.3% when all the ESTs from five libraries were assembled into contigs. Analysis of the organisms represented by the best hit for each EST (e-values < 10/sup -3/) showed that 23.8% matched with mammalian entries, 24.0% with mollusks, 14.4% with insects, 11.6% with fish and 26.2% with others. The expressed patterns differed among the tissues when judged by the categorization of the sequences from each library into 10 broad functional classes. In all the libraries, the class I (no hit o. poor similarity) was the largest category with an average of 40.1%. This largest class was followed by class V (general metabolisms) in DD (21.9%), GI (14.6%) and HP (16.7%), while the 'cell structure and motility'(class VI) was the second largest class in remaining two libraries (31.2% for RM and 9.6% for FM). The class IX (cell division and proliferation) was the smallest class in all the libraries (less than 3%). This report provides the first tissue-specific lists of expressed abalone genes, which could be a fundamental basis for genomics program of abalone species.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.271-277
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the immunoreactivity of calretinin in Brazilian opossum (Monodelphis domestica) retina. Calcium-binding protein calretinin is known to play a key role in calcium-mediated signal transduction. Methods: Experiments have been performed by standard immunocytochemical techniques on retina of the Brazilian opossum. Results: Calretinin-immunoreactivity was exhibited within the horizontal subpopulations, AII amacrine and ganglion cell subpopulations in the Brazilian opossum retina. Especially, all calretinin-immunoreactive AII amacrine cells also expressed parvalbumin. Conclusions: Similar to other mammalian retinas, calretinin-immunoreactivity was also observed within the AII amacrine cells in the Brazilian opossum retina. Thus, calretinin can be a marker of AII amacrine cells in the Brazilian opossum retina.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.265-273
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• 2009

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is a small single-stranded RNA virus which belongs to the family Picornaviridae, genus Apthovirus. It is a principal cause of FMD which is highly contagious in livestock. In a wild type virus infection, infected animals usually elicit antibodies against structural and non-structural protein of FMDV. A structural protein, VP1, is involved in neutralization of virus particle, and has both B and T cell epitopes. A RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, 3D, is highly conserved among other serotypes and strongly immunogenic, therefore, we selected VP1 and 3D as vaccine targets. VP1 and 3D genes were codon-optimized to enhance protein expression level and cloned into mammalian expression vector. To produce recombinant protein, VP1 and 3D genes were also cloned into pET vector. The VP1 and 3D DNA or proteins were co-immunized into 5 weeks old BALB/C mice. Antigen-specific serum antibody (Ab) responses were detected by Ab ELISA. Cellular immune response against VP1 and 3D was confirmed by ELISpot assay. The results showed that all DNA- and protein-immunized groups induced cellular immune responses, suggesting that both DNA and recombinant protein vaccine administration efficiently induced Ag-specific humoral and cellular immune responses.