• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3595-3604
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• 2015

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been one of the most fatal malignant tumors worldwide and its associated morbidity and mortality remain of significant concern. Based on in-depth reviews of serological diagnosis of HCC, in addition to AFP, there are other biomarkers: Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive AFP (AFP-L3), descarboxyprothrombin (DCP), tyrosine kinase with Ig and eprdermal growth factor (EGF) homology domains 2 (TIE2)-espressing monocytes (TEMs), glypican-3 (GPC3), Golgi protein 73 (GP73), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) have been proposed as biomarkers for the early detection of HCC. The diagnosis of HCC is primarily based on noninvasive standard imaging methods, such as ultrasound (US), dynamic multiphasic multidetector-row CT (MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Some experts advocate gadolinium diethyl-enetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) MRI and contrast-enhanced US as the promising imaging madalities of choice. With regard to recent advancements in tissue markers, many cuting-edge technologies using genome-wide DNA microarrays, qRT-PCR, and proteomic and inmunostaining studies have been implemented in an attempt to identify markers for early diagnosis of HCC. Only less than half of HCC patients at initial diagnosis are at an early stage treatable with curative options: local ablation, surgical resection, or liver transplant. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is considered the standard of care with palliation for intermediate stage HCC. Recent innovative procedures using drug-eluting-beads and radioembolization using Yttrium-90 may exhibit beneficial effects in HCC treatment. During the past few years, several molecular targeted agents have been evaluated in clinical trials in advanced HCC. Sorafenib is currently the only approved systemic treatment for HCC. It has been approved for the therapy of asymptomatic HCC patients with well-preserved liver function who are not candidates for potentially curative treatments, such as surgical resection or liver transplantation. In the USA, Europe and particularly Japan, hepatitis C virus (HCV) related HCC accounts for most liver cancer, as compared with Asia-Pacific regions, where hepatitis B virus (HBV) may play a more important role in HCC development. HBV vaccination, while a vaccine is not yet available against HCV, has been recognized as a best primary prevention method for HBV-related HCC, although in patients already infected with HBV or HCV, secondary prevention with antiviral therapy is still a reasonable strategy. In addition to HBV and HCV, attention should be paid to other relevant HCC risk factors, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease due to obesity and diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, and prolonged aflatoxin exposure. Interestingly, coffee and vitamin K2 have been proven to provide protective effects against HCC. Regarding tertiary prevention of HCC recurrence after surgical resection, addition of antiviral treatment has proven to be a rational strategy.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 1991

Two patients with confirmed cerebral cysticercosis were treated with Albendazole(Zentel$^{(R)}$) at a daily dose of 1.200mg t.i.d. for 14 consecutive days and evaluated for tolerance and therapeutic effects. First case was 29 year old male, who had experience of 4 times of grand mal seizures during 1 year period before administration in Korea University Hospital. His chief complaints were seizure and moderate degree headache. He also had 4 subcutaneous nodules on the thorax, right and left upper arms. Among them one nodule was biopsied and confirmed microscopically as Cysticercus cellulosae hominis. Computed tomography of the brain showed four round low density lesions in right postero-frontal area, sylvian area, intra-occipital area and left parietal area. Second case was 48 year old male, who also had experience of seizures at 3 years, 5 months and 3 months before administration. In this case, no subcutaneous nodules and no headaches were noted. Brain CT showed four round low density lesions in right postero-parietal area and temporo-parietal area, and left temporo-parietal and parietal area. Serum antibody against cystic fluid antigen was detected by ELISA in both cases. The efficacy of the treatment of cerebral cysticercosis was assessed by the frequency of convulsions after treatment for 22 months follow-up. by the disappearance of the densities in cystic lesions at brain CT for 6 months follow-up, and disappearance of subcutaneous nodules, headache and so on. As the results, all low density lesions in both cases were disappeared in films of brain CT, and 4 nodules in first case were also disappeared. No more seizure and complain of headache occurred during the last 22 months after treatment in both cases. Post-treatment complete blood count and liver function test revealed no remarkable change compared to pre-treatment test. In the nations of Latin America, the physicians do not initially recommended the simultaneous administrations of steroids, reserving them only for patients whom the adverse reactions such as severe headache and/or seizures are occurred. According to them, in most patients these symptoms are controlled with aspirin and symptomatic drugs. But our experience using praziquantel is different, and most cerebral cysticercosis patients who takes PZQ had complaint of severe headache and sometimes seizure. So we simultaneously used dexamethasone as 6mg q.i.d. for 14 consecutive days and 6 days tapering thereafter in both cases for prevention of reactions produced by the host in response to the deaths of the parasites. As the conclusion, albendazole is effective in patients who presented cerebral cysticercosis and albendazole may help in the control of cysticercosis.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1581-1590
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• 2018

Objective: The aim of this study was to clone alternative splicing isoforms of pig myoneurin (MYNN), predict the structure and function of coding protein, and study temporal and spatial expression characteristics of each transcript. Methods: Alternative splice isoforms of MYNN were identified using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and cloning techniques. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was employed to detect expression patterns in 11 tissues of Large White (LW) and Mashen (MS) pigs, and to study developmental expression patterns in cerebellum (CE), stomach (ST), and longissimus dorsi (LD). Results: The results showed that MYNN had two alternatively spliced isoforms, MYNN-1 (GenBank accession number: KY470829) and MYNN-2 (GenBank accession number: KY670835). MYNN-1 coding sequence (CDS) is composed of 1,830 bp encoding 609 AA, whereas MYNN-2 CDS is composed of 1,746 bp encoding 581 AA. MYNN-2 was 84 bp less than MYNN-1 and lacked the sixth exon. MYNN-2 was found to have one $C_2H_2$ type zinc finger protein domain less than MYNN-1. Two variants were ubiquitously expressed in all pig tissues, and there were significant differences in expression of different tissues (p<0.05; p<0.01). The expression of MYNN-1 was significantly higher than that of MYNN-2 in almost tissues (p<0.05; p<0.01), which testified that MYNN-1 is the main variant. The expression of two isoforms decreased gradually with increase of age in ST and CE of MS pig, whereas increased gradually in LW pig. In LD, the expression of two isoforms increased first and then decreased with increase of age in MS pig, and decreased gradually in LW pig. Conclusion: Two transcripts of pig MYNN were successfully cloned and MYNN-1 was main variant. MYNN was highly expressed in ST, CE, and LD, and their expression was regular. We speculated that MYNN plays important roles in digestion/absorption and skeletal muscle growth, whereas the specific mechanisms require further elucidation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.1550-1557
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• 2018

Objective: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a newfound class of non-coding RNA in animals and plants. Recent studies have revealed that circRNAs play important roles in cell proliferation, differentiation, autophagy and apoptosis during development. However, there are few reports about muscle development-related circRNAs in livestock. Methods: RNA sequencing analysis was employed to identify and annotate circRNAs from longissimus dorsi of sheep. Reverse transcription followed by real-time quantitative (q) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis verified the presence of these circRNAs. Targetscan7.0 and miRanda were used to analyse the interaction of circRNA-microRNA (miRNA). To investigate the function of circRNAs, an experiment was conducted to perform enrichment analysis hosting genes of circRNAs using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathways. Results: About 75.5 million sequences were obtained from RNA libraries of sheep skeletal muscle. These sequences were mapped to 729 genes in the sheep reference genome. We identified 886 circRNAs, including numerous circular intronic RNAs and exonic circRNAs. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and DNA sequencing analysis confirmed the presence of several circRNAs. Real-Time RT-PCR analysis exhibited resistance of sheep circRNAs to RNase R digestion. We found that many circRNAs interacted with muscle-specific miRNAs involved in growth and development of muscle, especially circ776. The GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that hosting genes of circRNAs was involved in muscle cell development and signaling pathway. Conclusion: The study provides comprehensive expression profiles of circRNAs in sheep skeletal muscle. Our study offers a large number of circRNAs to facilitate a better understanding of their roles in muscle growth. Meanwhile, we suggested that circ776 could be analyzed in future study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1801-1810
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• 2016

Recent discovery showing the presence of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the circulation sparked interest in their use as potential biomarkers. Our previous studies showed the diagnostic potential of miR-451 as a serological marker for inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), miR-337-5p and miR-30b for non-inflammatory breast cancer (non-IBC). The aim of this study is to investigate the prognostic values of circulating miRNAs by comparing the amounts of 12 circulating miRNAs in the serum of IBC and non-IBC from Tunisian breast cancer patients, and by determinating whether correlated pairs of miRNAs could provide useful information in the diagnosis of IBC and non-IBC patients. TaqMan qPCR was performed to detect circulating expression of miRNAs in serum of 20 IBC, 20 non-IBC and 20 healthy controls. Nonparametric rank Spearman rho correlation coefficient was used to examine the prognostic value of miRNAs and to assess the correlation profile between miRNAs expression. Further, a large number of miRNAs were highly correlated (rho>0.5) in both patients groups and controls. Also, the correlations profiles were different between IBC, non-IBC and healthy controls indicating important changes in molecular pathways in cancer cells. Our results showed that miR-335 was significantly overexpressed in premenopausal non-IBC patients; miR-24 was significantly overexpressed in non-IBC postmenopausal patients. Patients with previous parity had higher serum of miR-342-5p levels than those without. Furthermore, patients with HER2+ IBC present lower serum levels of miR-15a than patients with HER2-disease. Together, these results underline the potential of miRNAs to function as diagnostic and prognostic markers for IBC and non-IBC, with links to the menopausal state, Her2 status and parity.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2012

The effect of water temperature and body weight on oxygen consumption by the fasted olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus was investigated in order to assess the metabolic rate of this species under different conditions. The oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was measured at three different water temperatures (15, 20 and $25^{\circ}C$) and two different body weights [$9.1{\pm}1.2$ g (mean${\pm}$SD) for the juvenile group and $266.4{\pm}29.3$ g for the immature group] at an interval of 5 minutes for 24 hours using a closed flow-through respirometer. For each treatment condition, three replicates were set up and 135 fish in the juvenile group and 18 fish in the immature group were used. The OCRs exhibited a linear increase described by OCR=-82.06+28.30T ($r^2$=0.96, p<0.001) in the juvenile group and OCR=-52.52+14.73T ($r^2$=0.97, p<0.001) in the immature group. The OCRs decreased with increasing body weights at a given water temperature (p<0.001). The metabolic rate was related to the body weight of the fish as a power function with a weight exponent of between 0.77 and 0.82. $Q_{10}$ values ranged 1.67~2.28 when the temperature was between 15 and $20^{\circ}C$, 1.57~1.93 when the temperature was between 20 and $250^{\circ}C$, and 1.79~1.89 when the temperature was between 15 and $250^{\circ}C$. The energy expenditure by respiration increased with increasing water temperature and decreasing body weight (p<0.001). The mean energy loss rates at 15, 20 and $25^{\circ}C$ were 115.9, 149.8 and 208.2 kJ $kg^{-1}d^{-1}$ in the juvenile groups and 53.8, 81.2 and 101.9 kJ $kg^{-1}d^{-1}$ in the immature groups.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1471-1477
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• 2017

Objective: Since athletic performance is a most importance trait in horses, most research focused on physiological and physical studies of horse athletic abilities. In contrast, the molecular analysis as well as the regulatory pathway studies remain insufficient for evaluation and prediction of horse athletic abilities. In our previous study, we identified AXL receptor tyrosine kinase (AXL) gene which was expressed as alternative spliced isoforms in skeletal muscle during exercise. In the present study, we validated two AXL alternative splicing transcripts (named as AXLa for long form and AXLb for short form) in equine skeletal muscle to gain insight(s) into the role of each alternative transcript during exercise. Methods: We validated two isoforms of AXL transcripts in horse tissues by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and then cloned the transcripts to confirm the alternative locus and its sequences. Additionally, we examined the expression patterns of AXLa and AXLb transcripts in horse tissues by quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Results: Both of AXLa and AXLb transcripts were expressed in horse skeletal muscle and the expression levels were significantly increased after exercise. The sequencing analysis showed that there was an alternative splicing event at exon 11 between AXLa and AXLb transcripts. 3-dimentional (3D) prediction of the alternative protein structures revealed that the structural distance of the connective region between fibronectin type 3 (FN3) and immunoglobin (Ig) domain was different between two alternative isoforms. Conclusion: It is assumed that the expression patterns of AXLa and AXLb transcripts would be involved in regulation of exercise-induced stress in horse muscle possibly through an $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling pathway. Further study is necessary to uncover biological function(s) and significance of the alternative splicing isoforms in race horse skeletal muscle.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.191-198
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• 2007

The p53 which is well known as tumor suppressor gene is located at 17p13. p53 is a sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factor that responds to certain cytotoxic stresses, such as DNA damage, by enhancing the transcription of genes that regulate cell-cycle progression as well as programmed cell death. The p63 gene that is located at 3q27-29, is recognized members of the p53 family, and responsible for the transcription of 6 isoforms. Three isoforms ($TAp63{\alpha}$, $TAp63{\beta}$, $TAp63{\gamma}$) contain an N-terminal transactivation (TA) domain and can induce apoptosis. The other 3 isoforms (${\Delta}Np63{\alpha}$, ${\Delta}Np63{\beta}$, ${\Delta}Np63{\gamma}$) lack the TA domain and may function in a dominant-negative fashion by inhibiting the transactivation functions of p53 and TAp63 proteins, and thus act as oncoproteins. A number of studies have investigated the role of p63 in human squamous cell carcinomas from different organs. Only a few studies have examined ${\Delta}Np63$ isoform in oral squamous cell carcinoma including normal epithelium. This study aimed to evaluate expression of ${\Delta}Np63$ isoform in human oral squamous cell carcinoma tissue and normal mucosa. The 3 cases of well differenciated oral squamous cell carcinoma specimen including adjacent normal mucosa were examined, and immunohistochemical study with monoclonal antibody(4A4) and tumor cell apoptosis analysis with Transmission Electon Microscopy were studied. And, RT-PCR analysis was done for expression of ${\Delta}Np63$ isoform. The results were as followed. 1. Normal gingiva showed the restricted p63 expression in basal cell layer. 2. Well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma showed mainly p63 expression in overall area of malignancy, especially in basal cell layer to adjacent stromal tissue. 3. Tumor cells around keratinized area with no p63 expression disclosed less micro-organelle in decreased size cytoplasm and severe chromatin margination with nuclear destruction that means apoptosis. 4. Comparison of mRNA expression of ${\Delta}Np63$ isoform by RT-PCR showed variable expression of ${\Delta}Np63$ isoform, but ${\Delta}Np63{\alpha}$ was most highly expressed in all 3 tumor specimen. From theses results, it should be suggested that ${\Delta}Np63$ isoform expression in well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma was closely related to tumor oncogenesis, expecially overexpression of ${\Delta}Np63{\alpha}$ is a most important factor in tumor genesis of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.845-852
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• 2014

Among various abiotic stress factors, soil salinity decreases the photosynthetic rate, growth, and yield of plants. Recently, many genes have been reported to enhance salt tolerance. The objective of this study was to characterize the Brassica rapa Salt Stress Resistance (BrSSR) gene, of which the function was unclear, although the full-length sequence was known. To characterize the role of BrSSR, a B. rapa Chinese cabbage inbred line ('CT001') was transformed with pSL94 vector containing the full length BrSSR cDNA. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the expression of BrSSR in the transgenic line was 2.59-fold higher than that in the wild type. Analysis of phenotypic characteristics showed that plants overexpressing BrSSR were resistant to salinity stress and showed normal growth. Microarray analysis of BrSSR over-expressing plants confirmed that BrSSR was strongly associated with ERD15 (AT2G41430), a gene encoding a protein containing a PAM2 motif (AT4G14270), and GABA-T (AT3G22200), all of which have been associated with salt tolerance, in the co-expression network of genes related to salt stress. The results of this study indicate that BrSSR plays an important role in plant growth and tolerance to salinity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.716-722
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• 2006

Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is physiologically important in regulating cellular homeostasis and apoptotic cell death, and its mutations are the cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). Mitochondrial serine protease HtrA2 has a pro-apoptotic function and has known to be associated with neurodegenerative disorders. To investigate the relationship between genes associated with apoptotic cell death, such as HtrA2 and SOD1, we utilized the pGEX expression system to develop a simple and rapid method for purifying wild-type and ALS-associated mutant SOD1 proteins in a suitable form for biochemical studies. We purified SOD1 and SOD1 (G93A) proteins to approximately 90% purity with relatively high yields (3 mg per liter of culture). Consistent with the result in mammalian cells, SOD1 (G93A) was more insoluble than wild-type SOD1 in E. coli, indicating that research on the aggregate formation of SOD1 may be possible using this pGEX expression system in E. coli. We investigated the HtrA2 serine protease activity on SOD1 to assess the relationship between two proteins. Not only wild-type SOD1 but also ALS-associated mutant SOD1 (G93A) were cleaved by HtrA2, resulting in the production of the 19 kDa and 21 kDa fragments that were specific for anti-SOD1 antibody. Using protein gel electrophoresis and immunoblot assay, we compared the relative molecular masses of thrombin-cleaved GST-SOD1 and HtrA2-cleaved SOD1 fragments and can predict that the HtrA2-cleavage sites within SOD1 are the peptide bonds between leucine 9-lysine 10 (L9-K10) and glutamine 23-lysine 24 (Q23-K24). Our study indicates that SOD1 is one of the substrate for HtrA2, suggesting that both HtrA2 and SOD1 may be important for modulating the HtrA2-SOD1-mediated apopotic cell death that is associated with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorder.