• KSBB Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.215-222
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• 2010

Monogenic diseases are resulted from modifications in a single gene of human cells. Because their treatment with pharmacological medicine have a temporary effect, continuous nursing care and retreatment are required. Gene therapy, gene targeting and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) are considered permanent treatment methods of them. In gene therapy, however, retroviral vectors that have potential toxicity caused by random insertion of harmful virus are used as vehicles for transferring genetic materials. On the other hand, gene targeting could replace and remove the modified gene though homologous recombination (HR) induced by site-specific endonucleases. This short review provides a brief overview on the recently tailored endonucleses with high selectivity for HR.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.12
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• pp.685-690
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• 2015

The eukaryotic genome is packed into chromatin, which is important for the genomic integrity and gene regulation. Chromatin structures are maintained through assembly and disassembly of nucleosomes catalyzed by histone chaperones. Asf1 (anti-silencing function 1) is a highly conserved histone chaperone that mediates histone transfer on/off DNA and promotes histone H3 lysine 56 acetylation at globular core domain of histone H3. To elucidate the role of Asf1 in the modulation of chromatin structure, we screened and identified small molecules that inhibit Asf1 and H3K56 acetylation without affecting other histone modifications. These pyrimidine-2,4,6-trione derivative molecules inhibited the nucleosome assembly mediated by Asf1 in vitro, and reduced the H3K56 acetylation in HeLa cells. Furthermore, production of HSV viral particles was reduced by these compounds. As Asf1 is implicated in genome integrity, cell proliferation, and cancer, current Asf1 inhibitor molecules may offer an opportunity for the therapeutic development for treatment of diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2019

Background and Objectives Idiopathic unilateral vocal fold paralysis (IVFP) is believed to be due to inflammation and edema of the recurrent laryngeal nerve caused by viral diseases such as upper respiratory tract infections. Corticosteroid has a potent anti-inflammatory action which should minimize nerve damage. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of oral steroid therapy on IVFP. Materials and Method Study was performed for the IVFP patient from January 2012 to August 2017. Patient's dermography, direction and location of paralyzed vocal cords, history of hypertension, diabetes, cerebrovascular disease, and other underlying disease, smoking history, alcohol consumption and upper respiratory tract infection, and symptoms were investigated. Treatment was divided into three groups: the observation group, low-dose group, and high-dose group, and the recovery rate and time of vocal cord paralysis were analyzed in each group. Results Thirty-seven patients were enrolled in this study. There was no relationship between oral steroid use, dosage and recovery of vocal cord paralysis. Oral steroids showed a rapid recovery of vocal cord paralysis, but there was no statistically significant difference in the time of recovery of vocal palsy with or without steroids (p=0.673). In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in recovery rate between the period to start of treatment, presence of diabetes mellitus, and treatment modality, but the recovery rate was high in the group with upper respiratory tract infection history (p=0.041). Conclusion In IVFP, oral steroid therapy has no significant difference in time and extent of recovery compared to the case of spontaneous recovery.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is the causative agent of IHN, one of the most serious viral diseases of salmonid fish. In this study, glycoprotein (G) gene nucleotide sequence of isolated IHNV RtWanju09 from Jeollabuk-do province was analyzed to evaluate their genetic relatedness to worldwide isolates. As the result, it was revealed that IHNV RtWanju09 isolate belongs to JRt Shizuoka lineage with IHNV RtPy91 and RtJe00. The genetic diversity of G gene between RtWanju09 isolate and RtPy91 isolate from Gangwon-do province was 1.77% and maximum nucleotide diversity among the JRt Shizuoka lineage in Korea was 3.03% during the past 20 years, supporting that the continuous evolution has been occurred among JRt Shizuoka isolates. It was believed that IHNV RtWanju09 isolate has been introduced by the movement of contaminated eggs with IHNV from Gangwon-do to Jeollabuk-do by the reason that the eyed eggs in Jeollabuk-do province used to be obtained from Gangwon-do province. In this study, the domestic transfer of IHNV was firstly investigated by the transfer history of eggs and the phylogenetic analysis using IHNV glycoprotein gene sequence.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.774-777
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• 2005

Dengue Fever(DF) and Dengue haemorrhagic fever(DHF) has become a major international public health concern. Dengue Fever(DF) and Dengue haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is also still the major health problem of Thailand, although many campaigns against it have been conducted throughout the country. GIS and Remotely Sensed data are used to evaluate the relationships between socio-spatial, environmental factors/indicators and the incidences of viral diseases. The aim of the study is to identify the spatial risk factors in Dengue and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever in Sukhothai province, Thailand using statistical, spatial and GIS Modelling. Preliminary results demonstrated that physical factors derived from remotely sensed data could indicate variation in physical risk factors affecting DF and DHF. The present study emphasizes the potential of remotely sensed data and GIS in spatial factors affecting Dengue Risk Zone analysis. The relationship between land cover and the cases of incidence of DF and DHF by information value method revaluated that highest information value is obtained for Built-up area. A negative relationship was observed for the forest area. The relations between climate data and cases of incidence have shown high correlation with rainfall factors in rainy season but poor correlation with temperature and relative humidity. The present study explores the potential of remotely sensed data and GIS in spatial analysis of factors affecting Dengue epidemic, strong spatial analysis tools of GIS. The capabilities of GIS for analyst spatial factors influencing risk zone has made it possible to apply spatial statistical analysis in Disease risk zone.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.132-138
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• 2016

Purpose: Acute respiratory infection, particularly pneumonia, is the most common cause of hospitalization and death among children in developing nations. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of children and adolescents with pneumonia who visited Emergency Department (ED) in South Korea in 2012. Methods: We analyzed National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) records from 146 EDs in South Korea for all pediatric patients aged ${\leq}18years$ who were diagnosed with pneumonia between January and December 2012. Results: Among 38,415 subjects, the male-to-female ratio was 1:0.8. Patients aged <12 months comprised 18.0% of the study population; those aged 1 to 3 years, 54.4%; those aged 4 to 6 years, 16.8%; those aged 7 to 12 years, 7.4%; and those aged 13 to 18 years, 3.4%. Presentation rates were highest in April, followed by January, March, and May. The hospital admission rate was 43.5%, of which 2.6% were in intensive care units. The mortality rate was 0.02%. Based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, diagnostic codes, the types of pneumonia according to cause were viral pneumonia (29.0%), bacterial pneumonia (5.3%), Mycoplasmal pneumonia (4.5%), aspiration pneumonia (1.3%), and pneumonia of unknown origin (59.3%). Conclusion: Despite the limited data due to the ED data from the NEDIS lacking laboratory results and treatment information, this study reflects well the outbreak patterns among children and adolescents with pneumonia. Our results provide a basis for future studies regarding ED treatment for children and adolescents with pneumonia.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.76-80
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• 2011

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the single most common infection following kidney transplantation and despite prophylactic strategies and the development of new antiviral agents, it still remains a cause of considerable morbidity and mortality. Current literature suggests that CMV infection may trigger rejection. We report a case of late CMV disease in a preemptive seropositive recipient who did not receive CMV prophylaxis. Diarrhea and abdominal cramping persisted after the administration of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) six months after transplantation and resulted in ileal perforation at eight months after transplantation. The boy recovered after six weeks of treatment with ganciclovir. MMF has been mooted as a risk factor for CMV infection since its introduction, and further investigations are required to confirm its role. More attention to infectious complications is necessary and serial monitoring of viral load is recommended when MMF is administered.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.235-240
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• 2014

Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is one of the most important viral diseases in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), and several genes for resistance were reported in Capsicum spp. In Korea, a single dominant gene that is resistant to $CMV_{Fny}$ and $CMV_{P0}$ has been used for breeding. Recently, a new strain ($CMV_{P1}$) was reported that could infect cultivars resistant to both $CMV_{Fny}$ and $CMV_{P0}$. Therefore, breeding of more robust CMV-resistant cultivars is required. In this study, we surveyed the inheritance of $CMV_{P1}$ resistance and analyzed the location of the resistance loci. After $CMV_{P1}$ inoculation of various germplasms and breeding lines, one accession (ICPN18-8) showed no visual symptoms at 15 dpi (days post inoculation) but was susceptible after 45 dpi, and one resistant line (I7339) showed resistance until at 45 dpi. The latter line was used for tests of resistance inheritance. A total of 189 $F_2$ plants were examined, with 42 individuals showing resistance at 15 dpi and a phenotype segregation ratio close to 1:3 (resistant:susceptible plants). In a lateral ELISA test at 45 dpi, 11 plants showed resistance, and the segregation ratio was changed to 1:15. These results indicate that resistance in C. annuum 'I7339' is controlled by two different recessive genes; we named these resistance genes 'cmr3E' and 'cmr3L,' respectively. To locate these two resistant loci in the pepper linkage map, various RAPD, SSR, and STS markers were screened; only nine markers were grouped into one linkage group (LG). Only one RAPD primer (OPAT16) was distantly linked with cmr3E (22.3 cM) and cmr3L (20.7 cM). To develop more accurate markers for marker-assisted breeding, enriching for molecular markers spanning two loci will be required.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.684-692
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• 2016

Acute respiratory virus infectious diseases are a growing health problem, particularly among children and the elderly. Much effort has been made to develop probiotics that prevent influenza virus infections by enhancing innate immunity in the respiratory tract until vaccines are available. Lactobacillus plantarum GB-LP2, isolated from a traditional Korean fermented vegetable, has exhibited preventive effects on influenza virus infection in mice. To identify the molecular basis of this strain, we conducted a whole-genome assembly study. The single circular DNA chromosome of 3,284,304 bp was completely assembled and 3,250 protein-encoding genes were predicted. Evolutionarily accelerated genes related to the phenotypic trait of anti-infective activities for influenza virus were identified. These genes encode three integral membrane proteins, a teichoic acid export ATP-binding protein and a glucosamine - fructose-6-phosphate aminotransferase involved in host innate immunity, the nonspecific DNA-binding protein Dps, which protects bacteria from oxidative damage, and the response regulator of the three-component quorum-sensing regulatory system, which is related to the capacity of adhesion to the surface of the respiratory tract and competition with pathogens. This is the first study to identify the genetic backgrounds of the antiviral activity in L. plantarum strains. These findings provide insight into the anti-infective activities of L. plantarum and the development of preventive probiotics.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.285-292
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• 2015

LIM kinases belong to the serine/Threonine kinase family. The members of the LIM kinase (LIMK) family include LIMK 1 and 2 which are involved in the regulation of actin polymerisation and microtubule disassembly. LIMK1 was shown to be involved in cancer metastasis, while LIMK2 activation promotes cells cycle progression. Since LIMK2 plays a vital role in many disease conditions such as pulmonary hypertension, cancer and viral diseases, and till date there are not much selective inhibitors been reported, LIMK2 becomes an interesting therapeutic target among the kinases. 3D QSAR study was carried out on a series of pyrrolopyrimidines based derivatives as LIMK2 inhibitors. A reasonable CoMFA ($q^2$=0.888; ONC=3; $r^2$=0.974) with good statistical values was developed. The developed model was validated using 1000 runs of boostrapping and was found to be predictable. The results of CoMFA contour map analysis suggested that the bulky substitution at $R_4$ and $R_5$ position are highly desirable to increase the activity. Similarly, positive substitution at $R_3$ position is also required to increase the activity. It is also noted that bulky substitution at $R_1$ position must be avoided. Our results could provide valuable information to enhance the activity of the LIMK2 inhibitors and to design potent pyrrolopyrimidines derivatives.