• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.191-198
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• 2015

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is responsible for approximately 350 million chronic infections worldwide and is a leading cause of broad-spectrum liver diseases such as hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. Although it has been well established that adaptive immunity plays a critical role in viral clearance, the pathogenetic mechanisms that cause liver damage during acute and chronic HBV infection remain largely known. This review describes our current knowledge of the immune-mediated pathogenesis of HBV infection and the role of immune cells in the liver injury during hepatitis B.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.109-115
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• 2002

Gene therapy is to treat and cure diseases by an introduction of therapeutic genes in defective cells or tissues of human body. Gene delivery system, gene expression system, and therapeutic gene are three core elements for gene therapy. The efficient delivery of therapeutic genes and appropriate gene expression are the crucial issues for therapeutic outcome of gene delivery. Because it can be used in common for the treatment and cure of various diseases, gene delivery system is the most important core element for a successful gene therapy. Viruses are naturally evolved to transfer their genomes into host cells efficiently. This ability has made vectorologists exploit viruses as attractive vehicles for the delivery of therapeutic genes. Viral vectors based on adenovirus (Ad) and adeno-associated virus (AAV) have been often used for gene delivery in laboratory. Ad and AAV vectors derived from human DNA viruses differ greatly in their life cycle, expression level and duration of transgenes, immunogenicity, and vector preparation. Both vectors can be used as effective tools for gene therapy and more recently in functional genomics. Here, the characteristics of Ad and AAV vectors are discussed.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.10
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• pp.889-899
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• 2018

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are highly unorthodox proteins that do not form three-dimensional structures under physiological conditions. The discovery of IDPs has destroyed the classical structure-function paradigm in protein science, 3-D structure = function, because IDPs even without well-folded 3-D structures are still capable of performing important biological functions and furthermore are associated with fatal diseases such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases and viral pandemics. Pre-structured motifs (PreSMos) refer to transient local secondary structural elements present in the target-unbound state of IDPs. During the last two decades PreSMos have been steadily acknowledged as the critical determinants for target binding in dozens of IDPs. To date, the PreSMo concept provides the most convincing structural rationale explaining the IDP-target binding behavior at an atomic resolution. Here we present a brief developmental history of PreSMos and describe their common characteristics. We also provide a list of newly discovered PreSMos along with their functional relevance.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.580-583
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• 2016

The cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) is one of the most devastating pathogens of cotton. This malady, known as cotton blue disease, is widespread in South America where it causes huge crop losses. Recently the disease has been reported from India. We noticed occurrence of cotton blue disease and chickpea stunt disease in adjoining cotton and chickpea fields and got interested in knowing if these two viral diseases have some association. By genetic studies, we have shown here that CLRDV is very close to chickpea stunt disease associated virus (CpSDaV). We were successful in transmitting the CLRDV from cotton to chickpea. Our studies indicate that CpSDaV and CLRDV in India are possibly two different strains of the same virus. These findings would be helpful in managing these serious diseases by altering the cropping patterns.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.377-383
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• 2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). To understand the identity, functional characteristics and therapeutic targets of the virus and the diseases, appropriate infection models that recapitulate the in vivo pathophysiology of the viral infection are necessary. This article reviews the various infection models, including Vero cells, human cell lines, organoids, and animal models, and discusses their advantages and disadvantages. This knowledge will be helpful for establishing an efficient system for defense against emerging infectious diseases.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.289-301
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• 2002

Background: It is axiomatic that average life span is prolonged in proportion to the advance of socio-economic improvements and medical science. Consequently, the number of elderly patients with skin diseases is increasing. Objective: This study was performed to examine the patterns of skin diseases in elderly patients that had visited Dongguk Oriental Medical hospital, Dept. of Dermatology. We also compared these patients to the young generational groups. Methods: We studied 67 elderly patients with complaints of skin diseases who had visited our hospital from March 2000 to February 2002. We analysed their skin diseases and compared them with the younger group's. Results: The results were as follows; 1. The common disease groups were eczema(32.8$\%$); pruritus(23.9$\%$); viral infections (13.4$\%$); psoriasis(9.0$\%$); fungal infections and urticaria(6.0$\%$). 2. The disorders prevalent in men were eczema(30.0$\%$); herpes zoster & pruritus(23.3$\%$); fungal infection(13.3$\%$); psoriasis (3.3$\%$); melasma(6.7$\%$). 3. The common diseases of women's group were observed in the following order; eczema(35.l$\%$); pruritus(24.3$\%$); psoriasis(13.5$\%$); urticaria(10.8$\%$); other dermatoses(8.1$\%$); herpes zoster(5.4$\%$). 4. The most frequent skin disease for those in their 50's was eczema(32.3$\%$); 60's, pruritus(36.8$\%$); 70's, eczema(50.0); and over eighties., eczema and pruritus(40.0$\%$). Conclusion: This study suggests that dermatologic problems in the elderly are very common, especially eczema, pruritus. It is a very different pattern from the younger group's. And we have to better consider more effective management and treatment for them; especially further dermatologic studies including substantial medical care. Usually Oriental medicine is good at treating chronic diseases and less harmful. So we expect it to be generally better for elderly patients than western medicine.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.82-87
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• 2017

During 2012 to 2014, a survey for the presence of viral diseases in yam plants was carried out in a field of the Institute for Bioresources Research in Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea. A total of 88 leaf samples were collected and tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction using specific primer sets. Eighty-one samples were positive for Broad bean wilt virus 2 (BBWV2), Chinese yam necrotic mosaic virus (ChYNMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Japanese yam mosaic virus (JYMV), and Yam mild mosaic virus (YMMV), whereas Yam mosaic virus (YMV) was not detected. Additionally, seven samples were negative for all viruses. Several samples exhibited mixed (double and triple) infections. Three viruses (CMV, JYMV, and YMMV) were detected for the first time in yam plants in Korea. A BLAST search showed that three viruses shared nucleotide identities with CMV-Ca (98%), JYMV-O2 (91%), and YMMV-TG_NH_1 (86%). Thus, our findings confirmed that yam plants cultivated in Korea were infected with multiple viruses with three of these viruses reported for the first time in Korea.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.201-209
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• 1999

Results of the studies on the morphologic and molecular biologic characteristics of Hantaan virus (HTNV), one of the etiologic agents of Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), revealed that HTNV was a member of Family Bunyaviridae and its RNA divided into three segments. And the nucleotide sequences of these segments also were known and the differences in nucleotide sequences of HTNV from other members of genus Hantavirus were clearly evaluated. But the morphorgenesis, pathogenesis of HFRS and the replication time had not been clearly determined. In this study, to estimate the replication time of HTNV in Vero E-6 cells, Vero cells were infected with HTNV 76/118 strain, and cells were harvested from two hours post-infection up to 24 hours at two hours-intervals. Harvested cells were treated with ordinary techniques for electron microscopy and immune-electron microscopy. And then thin sections were observed under transmission electron microscope. HTNV particles were not found in the cytoplasm and in the extracellular space between $2{\sim}8$ hours after inoculation of virus, but virus particles were observed in extracellular space near the cell membrane of Vero-E6 cells 10 hours after infection. In immune electron microscopy, mature HTNV particles in extracellular spaces and immature virus labelled with gold particles in the cytoplasm of Vero E-6 cell 10 hours after infection of HTNV could be seen. This results suggest that the replication time of HTNV might be about 10 hours.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.397-402
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• 2019

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) uses the spike (S) glycoprotein to recognize and enter target cells. In this study, we selected two epitope peptide sequences within the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the MERS-CoV S protein. We used a complex consisting of the epitope peptide of the MERS-CoV S protein and CpG-DNA encapsulated in liposome complex to immunize mice, and produced the monoclonal antibodies 506-2G10G5 and 492-1G10E4E2. The western blotting data showed that both monoclonal antibodies detected the S protein and immunoprecipitated the native form of the S protein. Indirect immunofluorescence and confocal analysis suggested strong reactivity of the antibodies towards the S protein of MERS-CoV virus infected Vero cells. Furthermore, the 506-2G10G5 monoclonal antibody significantly reduced plaque formation in MERS-CoV infected Vero cells compared to normal mouse IgG and 492-1G10E4E2. Thus, we successfully produced a monoclonal antibody directed against the RBD domain of the S protein which could be used in the development of diagnostics and therapeutic applications in the future.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.161-166
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• 2019

This study was done to characterize distribution of Rickettsia spp. in ticks in the northwestern and southwestern provinces in the Republic of Korea. A total of 2,814 ticks were collected between May and September 2009. After pooling, 284 tick DNA samples were screened for a gene of Rickettsia-specific 17-kDa protein using nested PCR (nPCR), and produced 88 nPCR positive samples. Of these positives, 75% contained 190-kDa outer membrane protein gene (ompA), 50% 120-kDa outer membrane protein gene (ompB), and 64.7% gene D (sca4). The nPCR products of ompA, ompB, and sca4 genes revealed close relatedness to Rickettsia japonica, R. heilongjiangensis, and R. monacensis. Most Rickettsia species were detected in Haemaphysalis longicornis. This tick was found a dominant vector of rickettsiae in the study regions in the Republic of Korea.