• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.213-218
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• 2009

Leishmaniasis is a neglected disease and endemic in developing countries. A lack of adequate and definitive chemotherapeutic agents to fight against this infection has led to the investigation of numerous compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of RT-01, an organotellurane compound presenting biological activities, in 2 experimental systems against Leishmania amazonensis. The in vitro system consisted of promastigotes and amastigotes forms of the parasite, and the in vivo system consisted of L.amazonensis infected BALB/c mice, an extremely susceptible mouse strain. The compound proved to be toxic against promastigotes and amastigotes. The study also showed that treatment with RT-01 produces an effect similar to that treatment with the reference antimonial drug, Glucantime, in L.amazonensis infected mice. The best results were obtained following RT-01 intralesional administration (720 ${\mu}g$/kg/day); mice showed significant delay in the development of cutaneous lesions and decreased numbers of parasites obtained from the lesions. Significant differences in tissue pathology consisted mainly of no expressive accumulation of inflammatory cells and wellpreserved structures in the skin tissue of RT-01-treated mice compared with expressive infiltration of infected cells replacing the skin tissue in lesions of untreated mice. These findings highlight the fact that the apparent potency of organotellurane compounds, together with their relatively simple structure, may represent a new avenue for the development of novel drugs to combat parasitic diseases.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.659-664
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• 2012

Extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) overexpression modulates cellular responses such as tumor cell suppression and is induced by $IFN{\gamma}$. Therefore, we examined the role of EC-SOD in $IFN{\gamma}$-mediated tumor cell suppression. We observed that the dominant-negative protein kinase C delta ($PKC{\delta}$) suppresses $IFN{\gamma}$-induced EC-SOD expression in both keratinocytes and melanoma cells. Our results also showed that $PKC{\delta}$-induced EC-SOD expression was reduced by pretreatment with a PKC-specific inhibitor or a siRNA against $PKC{\delta}$. $PKC{\delta}$-induced EC-SOD expression suppressed cell proliferations by the up-regulation of p21 and Rb, and the downregulation of cyclin A and D. Finally, we demonstrated that increased expression of EC-SOD drastically suppressed lung melanoma proliferation in an EC-SOD transgenic mouse via p21 expression. In summary, our findings suggest that $IFN{\gamma}$-induced EC-SOD expression occurs via activation of $PKC{\delta}$. Therefore, the upregulation of EC-SOD may be effective for prevention of various cancers, including melanoma, via cell cycle arrest.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.316-322
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• 2012

Siegesbeckia Herba is known to have anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and anti-tumor. The objective of this study is to explore the neuroprotective effect of Siegesbeckia Herba against glutamate-induced oxidative stress in mouse hippocampal HT22 cells. Siegesbeckia Herba 70% ethanol extract and solvent fractions have the potent neroprotective effects on glutamate-induced nerotoxicity by induced the expression of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 in the mouse hippocampal HT22 cells. Especially, ethyl acetate fraction showed higher protective effect. In HT22 cell, Siegesbeckia Herba ethyl acetate fraction makes the nuclear accumulation of Nrf2. Further, we found that treatment with c-JUN N-terminal kinase (JNK) inhibitor (SP600125) reduced Siegesbeckia Herba ethyl acetate fraction induced HO-1 expression and Siegesbeckia Herba ethyl acetate fraction also increased JNK phosphorylation. In conclusion, the ethyl acetate fraction of 70% ethanol extract of Siegesbeckia Herba significantly protect glutamate-induced oxidative damage by induction of HO-1 via Nrf2 and JNK pathway in mouse hippocampal HT22. Taken together these finding suggest that Siegesbeckia Herba ethyl acetate fraction good source for taking active compounds and may be a potential therapeutic for brain disorder by targeting the oxidative stress of neuronal cell.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.72-77
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• 2010

Alginate lyases, also known as alginases or alginate depolymerases, catalyze the degradation of alginate by a ${\beta}$-elimination mechanism that has yet to be fully elucidated. Alginate is a copolymer of ${\alpha}$-L-guluronate (G) and its C5 epimer ${\beta}$-D-mannuronate (M), arranged as homopolymeric G blocks, M blocks, alternating GM or random heteropolymeric G/M stretches. Almost all alginate lyases depolymerize alginate in an endolytical fashion via a ${\beta}$-elimination reaction. The alginate lyase Atu3025 from Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58, consisting of 776 amino-acid residues, is a novel exotype alginate lyase classified into polysaccharide lyase family 15. Till now there is no crystal structure available for this class of proteins. Since there is no template with high sequence identity, three-dimensional coordinates for exotype alginate lyase (PL 15 family) were determined using modeling methods (Comparitive modeling and Fold recognition). The structures were modeled using the X-ray coordinates from Heparinase protein family (PDB code: 3E7J). This enzyme (Atu3025) displays enzymatic activity for both poly-M and poly-G alginate. Since poly-M is widespread; docking of a tri-mannuronate against the modeled structure was performed. We identified some of those residues which are crucial for lyase activity. The results from this study should guide future mutagenesis studies and also provides a starting point for further proceedings.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.192-203
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• 2023

Digital therapeutics based on software, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, games, and smartphone applications, are in the spotlight as new therapeutic alternatives in child and adolescent psychiatry. It draws attention to overcoming conventional therapeutics' limitations, such as toxicity, cost, and accessibility, and encourages patients to participate in the treatment attractively. The growth potential of the digital therapeutics market for psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents in Korea and abroad has been highlighted. Clinical studies and Food and Drug Administration approvals for digital therapeutics have increased, and cases approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety have emerged in Korea. As seen above, digital transformation in child and adolescent psychiatry will change treatment paradigms significantly. Therefore, as this new field has just begun to emerge, it is necessary to verify the effectiveness and scope of the application of digital therapeutics and consider preparing a compensation system and institutional arrangements. Accordingly, this study analyzed the development trends and application status of digital therapeutics in children and adolescents and presented limitations and development directions from the perspective of application in healthcare. Further, the study is expected to identify the utility and limitations of digital therapeutics for children and adolescents and establish effective application measures.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.105-121
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• 2020

With regard to the development of new drugs, what is most important for a Korean Biotech, where no global sales network has been established, is decision-making related to out-licensing of new drugs. The probability of success for each clinical phase is different, and the licensing amount and its royalty vary depending on which clinical phase the licensing contract is made. Due to the nature of such a licensing contract and Biotech's weak financial status, it is a very important decision-making issue for a Biotech to determine when to license out to a Big Pharma. This study defined a model called 'optimal timing for out-licensing of new drugs' and the results were derived from the decision tree analysis. As a case study, we applied to a Biotech in Korea, which is conducting FDA global clinical trials for a first-in-class new drug. Assuming that the market size and expected market penetration rate of the target disease are known, it has been shown that out-licensing after phase 1 or phase 2 of clinical trials is a best alternative that maximizes Biotech's profits. This study can provide a conceptual framework for the use of management science methodologies in pharmaceutical fields, thus laying the foundation for knowledge and research on out-licensing of new drugs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.8-9
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• 2000

Despite the advances made in the past few decades in cancer chemotherapy, many conventional anticancer drugs display relatively poor selectivity for cancer cells. The nonselectivity of anticancer drugs and the development of anticancer drug resistance have been recognized as serious limitations in their clinical usefulness. Therefore, a major challenge in cancer chemotherapy is the development of new anticancer agents with improved selectivity for tumor cells as well as the prevention of the host cell resistance, both of which result in the improvement of therapeutic effect against cancer cells. Cyclophosphamide (CP), a widely used anticancer agent, is a prodrug that is activated by hepatic microsomal mixed-function oxidase (MFO) catalyzed C$_4$- hydroxylation. The resulting 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide (4-OH-CP) is converted to the ring-opened tautomer to aldophosphamide (Aldo) which subsequently undergoes a base- catalyzed ${\beta}$-elimination to generate cytotoxic phosphoramide mustard (PDA) and acrolein. The cytotoxic activity of CP is attributed to the aziridinium ion species derived from PDA that cross-links interstrand DNA.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.193-198
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• 2017

Scutellaria baicalensis, Eleutherococcus senticosus, and Angelica sinensis have been used as raw materials for health functional foods. This study was conducted to develop a novel method to analyze levels of baicalin (Scutellaria baicalensis), eleutheroside E (Eleutherococcus senticosus), and ligustilide (Angelica sinensis) simultaneously in health functional foods. The methanol extracted samples were analyzed and quantified via liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in the positive ion mode and the negative ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring. Standard calibration curves confirmed linearity with the correlation coefficient ($r^2$) of > 0.99 at $100-2000{\mu}g/mL$ concentration range. The limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) were in the range of $13.0{\sim}35.2{\mu}g/L$ and $39.3{\sim}106.7{\mu}g/L$, respectively. The recovery results ranged between 91.4~109.9% at 3 different concentration levels with relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 5%. The proposed analytical method was characterized with high accuracy and acceptable precision. The new method would be an effective tool to analyze baicalin, eleutheroside E, and ligustilide simultaneously in raw materials of health functional foods.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.3-11
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• 2003

Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is the most common psychiatric disorder of childhood and among the most prevalent chronic health conditions affecting school-aged children. Children with ADHD experience significant functional problems, such as school difficulties, academic underachievement, troublesome interpersonal relationships with family members and peers, and low self-esteem. The most widely used pharmacological treatments for ADHD are psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine salts. These medications provide clinical efficacy by increasing the availability of catecholamines, primarily dopamine, in the frontal lobe of the brain. immediate-release(IR) formulations of sychostimulants were among the most effective psychotrophic medications in the psychopharmacological treatment. However, there are some limitations of IR formulations：the short half-life and duration of efficacy, which result in the need for multiple daily dosing and the poor compliance. These limitations have led to the development of once-daily, extended-release(ER) formulations of methylphenidate and amphetamine salts. However, these ER formulations may not be as immediately helpful to ADHD children due to delayed onset of action and the acute tolerance which is the failure to sustain the efficacy with the same concentration of drug as the initial stage of medication. OROS-methylphenidate(Concerta$^{\circledR}$) given once a day produces an ascending-pattern plasma drug level generated by the osmotically released, timed drug-delivery system. These new formulations of the psychostimulants have been shown to be a useful alternative to old stimulant medications through the evidence by the clinical trials.

• Journal of KIISE:Databases
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.641-649
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• 2004

The relationship between chemical structures and biological activities is researched briskly in the area of 'Medicinal Chemistry' At the base of these structure-based drug design tries, medicinal chemists search the existing drugs of similar chemical structure to target drug for the development of a new drug. Therefore, it is such necessary that an automatic system selects drug files that have a set of chemical moieties matching a user-defined query moiety. Substructure searching is the process of identifying a set of chemical moieties that match a specific query moiety. Testing for substructure searching was developed in the late 1950s. In graph theoretical terms, this problem corresponds to determining which graphs in a set are subgraph isomorphic to a specified query moiety. Testing for subgraph isomorphism has been proved, in the general case, to be an NP- complete problem. For the purpose of overcoming this difficulty, there were computational approaches. On the 1990s, a US patent has been granted on an atom-centered indexing scheme, used by the RS3 system; this has the virtue that the indexes generated can be searched by direct text comparison. This system is commercially used(http://www.acelrys.com/rs3). We define the RS3 system's drawback and present a new indexing scheme. The RS3 system treats substructure searching with substring matching by means of expressing chemical structure aspredefined strings. However, it has insufficient 'rerall' and 'precision‘ because it is impossible to index structures uniquely for same atom and same bond. To resolve this problem, we make the minimum-cost- spanning tree for one centered atom and describe a structure with paths per levels. Expressing 2D chemical structure into 1D a string has limit. Therefore, we break 2D chemical structure into 1D structure fragments. We present in this paper a new index technique to improve recall and precision surprisingly.