• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 1977

At present over 3 dozen mutant genes have been recognized in the Mexican axolotl. These genes, all recessives, are categorized in 5 groups according to the nature of their effects and the developmental stage at which their phenotype is predominately expressed. They are genes affecting the oogenesis (maternal-effect genes), genes affecting the size of the nucleolus, genes affecting the development of specific tissues and organs, genes exert lethal effects on all cells or tissues (autonomous lethals), and genes affecting pigment cells. This report describes briefly the phenotypes and some of the current research applications of those genes.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.196-201
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• 2019

The Alu element, the most abundant transposable element, is transcribed to Alu RNA. We hypothesized that the PIWI protein regulates the expression of Alu RNA in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells, where accumulated Alu RNA leads to macular degeneration. Alu transcription was induced in RPE cells treated with $H_2O_2$. At an early stage of oxidative stress, PIWIL4 was translocated into the nucleus; however, subsequently it was sequestered into cytoplasmic stress granules, resulting in the accumulation of Alu RNA. An elevated amount of Alu RNA was positively correlated with the disruption of the epithelial features of RPE via induction of mesenchymal transition. Therefore, we suggest that oxidative stress causes Alu RNA accumulation via PIWIL4 sequestration into the cytoplasmic stress granules.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1203-1211
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• 2022

Melanoma is a skin cancer that starts in pigment-producing cells (melanocytes). The death rates of skin cancer like melanoma can be reduced by early detection and diagnosis of diseases. It is common for doctors to spend a lot of time trying to distinguish between skin lesions and healthy cells because of their striking similarities. The detection of melanoma lesions can be made easier for doctors with the help of an automated classification system that uses deep learning. This study presents a new approach for melanoma classification based on an ensemble of deep convolution neural networks and a Log-Gabor filter. First, we create the Log-Gabor representation of the original image. Then, we input the Log-Gabor representation into a new ensemble of deep convolution neural networks. We evaluated the proposed method on the melanoma dataset collected at Yonsei University and Dongsan Clinic. Based on our numerical results, the proposed framework achieves more accuracy than other approaches.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1273-1280
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• 2019

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly population, and damage to retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells due to oxidative stress contributes to the development of AMD. Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fischer is one of the most widely used herbal medicines for the treatment of various diseases in Asian countries. Although recent studies indicated that treatment with G. uralensis can protect cells from oxidative stress, its mechanisms in RPE cells remain unknown. We evaluated the effect of a G. uralensis ethanol extract (GU) on $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative injury in ARPE-19 RPE cells. The GU pretreatment attenuated reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation induced by $H_2O_2$, which was associated with induced expression of nuclear factor erythroid-derived-2-like 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). GU also suppressed $H_2O_2$-induced DNA damage and mitochondrial dysfunction. The inhibitory effect of GU on $H_2O_2$-induced apoptosis was associated with the protection of caspase-3 activation. Overall, GU appeared to protect RPE cells from oxidative injury by inhibiting DNA damage and reducing apoptosis. Further studies are needed to determine the regulation of Nrf2-mediated HO-1 expression, but our results suggest the possibility of using GU to reduce the risk of AMD.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1346-1351
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• 2009

Recent evidence has shown that many pluripotetic neural crest cells are fate-restricted and that different fate-restricted crest cells emigrate from the neural tube at different times. Jin et al. (2001) identified the expression patterns of Wnts and its antagonists at the time that neural crest cells were being specified and suggested that Wnt signaling was involved in the segregation/differentiation of neural crest cells in the trunk in vitro. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Wnt signaling in avian neural crest lineage segregation. To accomplish this, Wnt signaling was disturbed at the time of neural crest segregation and differentiation by grafting Wnt-3a expressing cells and conducting dominant negative glycogen synthase kinase (dnGSK) electroporation. Stimulation of Wnt signaling induced neural crest lineage segregation and melanoblast specification, and increased the expression levels of genes known to be involved in neural crest development such as cadherin 7 and Slug, which suggests that they are involved in Wnt-induced neural crest lineage differentiation into melanoblasts.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.289-295
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• 2011

Biomaterials for retinal tissue engineering must demonstrate several critical features for potential utility, including mechanical integrity, biocompatibility, and slow biodegradation. Silk film biomaterials were designed and characterized to meet these functional requirements. We prepared natural/synthetic hybrid silk/PLGA films using 0, 10, 20, 40, and 80 wt% of silk by a solvent evaporation method. MIT assay was used to confirm the number of cells attached on film at 1, 2, and 3 days, respectively. The morphology of cellular adhesion on films was also confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). RT-PCR was conducted to confrrm mRNA expression of retinal pigment epithelitun (RPE) using RPE65 as a RPEs marker and the expression of cytokeratin were determined by immunofluorescence staining. We confirmed that the silk/PLGA film of 20~40 wt% silk was superior for the adhesion and proliferation of RPEs.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.303-310
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• 2000

Ultrastructures on the integumentary epidermis of the marbled sole, Limanda yokahamae, were examined by means of the light and transmission electron microscope. Epidermal layer consists of supporting cells, unicellular glands and accessory cells. The supporting cells were classified into superficial cell, intermediated cell and basal cell. The cytoplasm of supporting cells is divided into cortex and medullar part. In the cortex and medullar part, microfilaments and cell organelles are well developed, respectively. Gland cells are present in the superficial and middle epidermis. The cytoplasm of mucous cell reacted to blue in AB-PAS (pH 2.5). Club cell has a roundish central vacuole and well-developed microfilaments in the cytoplasm. Granular cells are occurs in the middle and basal epidermis , and the cytoplasm is occupied with membrane-bounded granules of electron dense. Chloride cells are present in the superficial epidermis , and the cytoplasm is occupied with tubular mitochondria. Three types of pigment cells can be distinguished by electron density of cytoplasmic inclusions.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.83-93
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• 2004

Integumentary structures of the rockfish, Sebastiscus tertius were examined by means of the light and transmission electron microscopy. Stratified epidermal layer consists of supporting cells, unicellular glands, granular cells and mitochondria-rich cells. The epidermal layer could be classified into superficial, intermediate and basal layer by morphology and structure of the supporting cells. Mucous cells of unicellular gland were observed in the superficial and intermediate layer of the epidermis. The mucous materials were identified as acidic and carboxylated mucosubstance by histochemical methods. Club cell has well-developed central vacuole, rough endoplasmic reticula and Golgi complex in the cytoplasm. Granular cells were observed in the superficial layer and contained numerous granules of high electron density. Mitochondria-rich cells are characterized by well-developed microfilaments in cortex and numerous tubular mitochondria in medullar cytoplasm. Three types of pigment cells in the dermal layer could be distinguished with electron density of cytoplasmic inclusions.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.430-436
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• 2010

The objective of the present studies was to develop and validate a system for isolation, purification and extended culture of pigment-producing cells in alpaca skin (melanocytes) responsible for coat color and to determine the effect of alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone treatment on mRNA expression for the melanocortin 1 receptor, a key gene involved in coat color regulation in other species. Skin punch biopsies were harvested from the dorsal region of 1-3 yr old alpacas and three different enzyme digestion methods were evaluated for effects on yield of viable cells and attachment in vitro. Greatest cell yields and attachment were obtained following dispersion with dispase II relative to trypsin and trypsin-EDTA treatment. Culture of cells in medium supplemented with basic fibroblast growth factor, bovine pituitary extract, hydrocortisone, insulin, 12-O-tetradecanolphorbol-13-acetate and cholera toxin yielded highly pure populations of melanocytes by passage 3 as confirmed by detection of tyrosinase activity and immunocytochemical localization of melanocyte markers including tyrosinase, S-100 and micropthalmia-associated transcription factor. Abundance of mRNA for tyrosinase, a key enzyme in melanocyte pigment production, was maintained through 10 passages showing preservation of melanocyte phenotypic characteristics with extended culture. To determine hormonal responsiveness of cultured melanocytes and investigate regulation of melanocortin 1 receptor expression, cultured melanocytes were treated with increasing concentrations of ${\alpha}$-melanocyte stimulating hormone. Treatment with ${\alpha}$-melanocyte stimulating hormone increased melanocortin receptor 1 mRNA in a dose dependent fashion. The results demonstrated culture of pure populations of alpaca melanocytes to 10 passages and illustrate the potential utility of such cells for studies of intrinsic and extrinsic regulation of genes controlling pigmentation and coat color in fiber-producing species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2010

Angiogenesis is an important event involved in cell growth and wound healing process. However, the imbalance of growth factors causes diseases, such as ocular, inflammatory diseases. One of treatment of these diseases is to suppress the formation of blood vessels. Function and mechanism of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the formation of blood vessels is not yet proved. Pigment epithelium derived factor (PEDF) is currently being offered anti-angiogenic materials. In this study, we postulated that AuNPs might have the ability to inhibit angiogenesis, the pivotal step in tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. We have demonstrated that AuNPs could inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) induced cell proliferation, angiogenesis in bovine retinal endothelial cells.