• Development and Reproduction
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.29-36
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• 2024

Cellular prion protein (PrP^C) encoded at Prnp gene is well-known to form a misfolded isoform, termed scrapie PrP (PrP^SC) that cause transmissible degenerative diseases in central nervous system. The physiological role of PrP^C has been proposed by many studies, showing that PrP^C interacts with various intracellular, membrane, and extracellular molecules including mitochondrial inner membrane as a scaffold. PrP^C is expressed in most cell types including reproductive organs. Numerous studies using PrP^C knockout rodent models found no obvious phenotypic changes, in particular the clear phenotypes in development and reproduction have not demonstrated in these knockout models. However, various roles of PrP^C have been evaluated at the cellular levels. In this review, we summarized the known roles of PrP^C in various cell types and tissues with a special emphasis on those involved in reproduction.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.430-435
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• 2008

The main cause of diabetic neuropathy, one of the most debilitating complications, is the chronic hyperglycemia, the increase sorbitol or the decrease of nerve growth factor(NGF). NGF, a protein, plays a major role in the development and maintenance of peripheral nervous system. Systemic administration of NGF prevents manifestations of neuropathy in rodent models of diabetic neuropathy. In the previous investigation, we report the hypoglycemia effect of Dioscorea rhizoma extract(DRE) in diabetic mice. The present study shows protective effect of DRE on diabetic neuropathy by induction of NGF protein. We investigated the NGF level in salivary gland and sciatic nerve of normal mouse and the effect of DRE on sciatic nerve conductivity and thermal hyperalgesia test in Type 2 db/db mouse. DRE increased endogenous NGF level in salivary gland and sciatic nerve of mouse. And sensory nerve conductivity velocity(SNCV), motor nerve conductivity velocity(MNCV) and thermal hyperalgesia increased in DRE treatment mice compared with control group. On the basis of our results, we conclude that DRE increase induction of endogenous NGF level and have protective effect on diabetic neuropathy by induction of NGF. Therefore, we propose that long-term use of DRE might help prevention of diabetes-associated complication; diabetic neuropathy.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.425-429
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• 2008

Diabetes mellitus is a group of metabolic diseases characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile-onset diabetes, results from a cellular-mediated autoimmune destruction of the ${\beta}$-cells of the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes, is a term used for individuals who have insulin resistance, a condition that makes it harder for the cells to properly use insulin, and usually have relative insulin deficiency. The diabetes causes the onset of chronic complications and diabetic neuropathy is one of the most debilitating complications. In this study, the hypoglycemic effect and the preventive effect of diabetic complications of Dioscorea rhizoma extract(DRE) were examined in rodent model. We investigated the glucose tolerance test and long term hypoglycemic effect of DRE in Type 1 streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and Type 2 diabetic db/db mice. DRE showed a hypoglycemic effect on blood glucose levels than that of control group in Type 1 streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and Type 2 diabetic db/db mice. On the basis of our results, we conclude that long-term use of DRE might help decrease blood glucose level and prevention of diabetes-associated complication.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.739-745
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• 2006

Changes in the levels of analytes in the blood and urine of a rodent animal model were taken as a measure of the hypoglycemic effects of a diet containing fermented chaga mushroom. These studies were conducted using the genetically manipulated diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat. The effects of 8-week long diets that included either fermented (FCM) or non-fermented (CM) chaga mushroom powder (5% in the diet) on the OLETF rat were compared to the normal diet fed OLETF rat and the non-diabetic Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rat. Hypoglycemia was tracked by measuring serum and urine concentrations of glucose, insulin, fructosamine, and leptin. Serum and urine levels of glucose, fructosamine, and leptin in the OLETF rats were higher than in LETO rats when fed normal diets but insulin levels did not differ between the two animal groups. The FCM rats were characterized by dramatically low levels of serum glucose and leptin in the OLETF rats whereas the levels of fructosamine and urine glucose trended lower in response to FCM. The serum leptin level in the CM-fed OLETF rat was also lower than that in the normal diet fed OLETF control. Serum concentrations of insulin in the OLETF rats were higher following FCM or CM feeding compared to the normal diet. These observations imply that (a) a dietary supplement of fermented chaga mushroom may contribute to a hypoglycemic effect in the OLETF rat, and (b) the increased blood insulin concentration following 8 weeks of an FCM diet may be important to the noted improvement in hyperglycemia.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.115-125
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• 1985

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a debilitating disease of humans caused by Hantaan virus (HV), the prototype member of a newly proposed genus of Bunyaviridae. Studies of HV pathogenesis have been limited by the absence of a well defined model for a virus-induced disease state. In an attempt to devise a model for HV pathogenesis in laboratory rodents, newborn outbred suckling ICR mice were shown to be uniformly susceptible to lethal infection with non- mouse adapted HV by intracerebral (IC), intraperitoneal (IP), intramuscular (IM), and subcutaneous (SC) inoculation routes. Clinical coures, mean time to death, and fatal outcome were age-dependent. With an inoculum of 10 $LD_{50}$, mortality was 100% in mice infected within 72h of birth, but declined to 50% by 7 days. By 2-2.5 weeks, animals developed complete resistance to clinical disease. Virus was consistently detected in serum by day 6 post-infection in IC- and IP- inoculated animals, and reached peak levels of $10^5\;PFU/ml$ by day 8 Mice infected IM and SC showed delays in onset of viremia, but achieved similar titers. Immunofluorescent antibody appeared by 17-18 days, and neutralizing antibody by 15 days, in all experimental groups. Two of 8 inbred mouse strains were identified as resistant to clinical disease : SJL/J and A/J. Manipulation of this model will allow investigation of natural rodent pathogenesis with HV, as well as offer insight into disease mechanisms and therapy of HFRS.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.237-244
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• 2000

Although oncospheres of Taenia saginata asiatica can develop into cysticerci in immunodeficiency, immunosuppressed, and normal mice, no detailed information on the development features of these cysticerci from SCID mice is available. In the present study, the tumor-like cyst was found in the subcutaneous tissues of each of 10 SCID mice after 38-244 days inoculation with 39,000 oncospheres of T. s. asiatica. These cysts weighed 2.0-9.6 gm and were 1.5-4.3 cm in diameter. The number of cysticerci were collected from these cysts ranged from 125 to 1,794 and the cysticercus recovery rate from 0.3% to 4.6%. All cysticerci were viable with a diameter of 1-6 mm and 9 abnormal ones each with 2 evaginated protoscoleces were also found. The mean length and width of scolex, protoscolex, and bladder were $477{\;}{\times}{\;}558,{\;}756{\;}{\times}{\;}727,{\;}and{\;}1,586{\;}{\times}{\;}1,615{\;}$\mu\textrm{m}$, respectively. The diameters of suckers and rostellum were $220{\mu\textrm{m}}{\;}and{\;}70\mu\textrm{m}$, respectively All cysticerci had two rows of rostellar hooks. These findings suggest that the SCID mouse model can be employed as a tool for long-term maintenance of the biological materials for advanced studies of immunodiagnosis, vaccine development, and evaluation of cestocidal drugs which would be most benefit for the good health of the livestocks.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2005

Photo-mutagenic compounds have been known to alter skin cancer rates by acting as initiators or by affecting subsequent steps in carcinogenesis. The objectives of this study are to investigate the utility of photo-chromosomal aberration (photo-CA) assay for detecting photo-clastogens, and to evaluate its ability to predict rodent photocarcinogenicity. Photo-CA assay was performed with five test substances that demonstrated positive results in photo-carcinogenicity tests: 8-Methoxypsoralen (photoactive substance that forms DNA adducts in the presence of ultraviolet A irradiation), chlorpromazine (an aliphatic phenothiazine an alpha-adrenergic blocking agent), lomefloxacin (an antibiotic in a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones), anthracene (a tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon a basic substance for production of anthraquinone, dyes, pigments, insecticides, wood preservatives and coating materials) and Retinoic acid (a retinoid compound closely related to vitamin A). For the best discrimination between the test substance-mediated genotoxicity and the undesirable genotoxicity caused by direct DNA absorption, a UV dose-response of the cells in the absence of the test substances was firstly analyzed. All 5 test substances showed a positive outcome in photo-CA assay, indicating that the photo-CA test is very sensitive to the photo-genotoxic effect of UV irradiation. With this limited data-set, an investigation into the predictive value of this photo-CA test for determining the photo-carcinogenicity showed that photo-CA assay has the high ability of a test to predict carcinogenicity. Therefore, the photo-CA test using mammalian cells seems to be a sensitive method to evaluate the photo-carcinogenic potential of new compounds.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.301-307
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• 2004

1,3-butadiene(DB) is a well-established rodent carcinogen, and a probable carcinogen to humans. This study was investigated the formation of hemoglobin adduct in ICR female mice inhaled with BD for 3 weeks (5 hr/day, 5 days/week). Body weights of mice were significantly low from onward day 4 or 9 of exposure comparing the control. Hemoglobin adducts formed by DB exposure were (N-2-hydroxy-3-butenyl) valine (HB Val adduct) and (N-2,3,4-trihydroxy-butyl)valine(THB Val adduct). The levels of HB Val adducts were 1.8, 3.7 and 6.2 pmol/mg globin for the 500 ppm BD inhalation group, and 5.7, 7.4 and 16.0 pmol/mg globin for the 1000 ppm BD inhalation group, when observed on the $1^{st},\;2^{nd},\;and\;3^{rd}$ week after inhalation exposure, respectively. The levels of THBVal adducts were 32.0, 42.0 and 55.0 pmol/mg globin for the 500 ppm DB inhalation group, and 67.8, 72.7 and 83.5 pmol/mg globin for the 1000 ppm BD inhalation group, when observed on the $1^{st},\;2^{nd},\;and\;3^{rd}$ week after inhalation exposure, respectively. Ratios of THBVal and HBVal adducts were higher at earlier exposure period and lower concentration. Ratios on the $1^{st},\;2^{nd},\;and\;3^{rd}$ week were 17.8, 11.4 and 8.87 for the 500 ppm BD inhalation group, and 11.9, 9.8 and 5.2 for the 1000 ppm BD inhalation group, respectively. In conclusion, THB Val and HB Val adducts were the important hemoglobin adducts in ICR female mice inhaled with BD, and the latter was more appropriate biomarker than the other for biological monitoring of BD exposure.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.259-267
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• 2011

This study was undertaken to produce a $F_{ab}$ fragment of a human monoclonal antibody reactive to oxidized and carbamylated low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL and cLDL) using phage display technology. An analysis of DNA sequences of this $F_{ab}$, termed plaque 15,16-46 $F_{ab}$, revealed that the rearranged $V_H$ was highly mutated. Complementarity-determining regions of the $V_H$ showed a very high R/S ratio and contained many positively charged amino acids. In direct binding and competitive ELISA, the $F_{ab}$ reacted strongly with both MDA-LDL and Cu-oxLDL forms of oxLDL, and also showed high affinity for cLDL. Immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical analyses showed that this $F_{ab}$ positively stained atherosclerotic aortic plaques in $ApoE^{-/-}$ mice as well as those in patients with atherosclerosis. The $F_{ab}$ also showed positive staining in placental decidua from patients with preeclampsia. It is suggested that the plaque 15,16-46 $F_{ab}$ against oxLDL and cLDL might possibly be applicable for developing a diagnostic reagent for both human and rodent animal research to detect and characterize atherosclerotic disease progression in atherosclerotic lesions as well as exploring the pathogenesis of atherogenic diseases such as preeclampsia.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.782-792
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• 2016

As the most common neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are two of the main health concerns for the elderly population. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been used as biomarkers of infectious, genetic, and metabolic diseases in humans but they have not been well studied in domestic animals. Here we describe a computational biology study in which human AD- and PD-associated miRNAs (ADM and PDM) were utilized to predict orthologous miRNAs in the following domestic animal species: dog, cow, pig, horse, and chicken. In this study, a total of 121 and 70 published human ADM and PDM were identified, respectively. Thirty-seven miRNAs were co-regulated in AD and PD. We identified a total of 105 unrepeated human ADM and PDM that had at least one 100% identical animal homolog, among which 81 and 54 showed 100% sequence identity with 241 and 161 domestic animal miRNAs, respectively. Over 20% of the total mature horse miRNAs (92) showed perfect matches to AD/PD-associated miRNAs. Pigs, dogs, and cows have similar numbers of AD/PD-associated miRNAs (63, 62, and 59). Chickens had the least number of perfect matches (34). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses suggested that humans and dogs are relatively similar in the functional pathways of the five selected highly conserved miRNAs. Taken together, our study provides the first evidence for better understanding the miRNA-AD/PD associations in domestic animals, and provides guidance to generate domestic animal models of AD/PD to replace the current rodent models.