• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.311-323
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• 2023

Ion homeostasis, which is regulated by ion channels, is crucial for intracellular signaling. These channels are involved in diverse signaling pathways, including cell proliferation, migration, and intracellular calcium dynamics. Consequently, ion channel dysfunction can lead to various diseases. In addition, these channels are present in the plasma membrane and intracellular organelles. However, our understanding of the function of intracellular organellar ion channels is limited. Recent advancements in electrophysiological techniques have enabled us to record ion channels within intracellular organelles and thus learn more about their functions. Autophagy is a vital process of intracellular protein degradation that facilitates the breakdown of aged, unnecessary, and harmful proteins into their amino acid residues. Lysosomes, which were previously considered protein-degrading garbage boxes, are now recognized as crucial intracellular sensors that play significant roles in normal signaling and disease pathogenesis. Lysosomes participate in various processes, including digestion, recycling, exocytosis, calcium signaling, nutrient sensing, and wound repair, highlighting the importance of ion channels in these signaling pathways. This review focuses on different lysosomal ion channels, including those associated with diseases, and provides insights into their cellular functions. By summarizing the existing knowledge and literature, this review emphasizes the need for further research in this field. Ultimately, this study aims to provide novel perspectives on the regulation of lysosomal ion channels and the significance of ion-associated signaling in intracellular functions to develop innovative therapeutic targets for rare and lysosomal storage diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.689-697
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• 2013

In the United States, about 40,000 new cases of oral cancer are diagnosed each year and nearly 7,800 patients died from it in 2012. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids have been found to have anticancer effects in a variety of cancer cell lines and animal models, but their effect in oral cancer remains unclear. This study was designed to examine the effect of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, a kind of omega-3 fatty acid) on oral cancer cells and the molecular mechanism of its action. We found that exposure of squamous cell carcinoma-4 (SCC-4) and squamous cell carcinoma-9 (SCC-9) human oral cancer cells to DHA induced growth inhibition in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Meanwhile, in addition to the elevated levels of apoptotic markers, such as cleaved PARP, subG1 portion and TUNEL-positive nuclei, DHA led to autophagic vesicle formation and an increase in autophagic flux, indicating the involvement of both apoptosis and autophagy in the inhibitory effects of DHA on oral cancer cells. Further experiments revealed that the apoptosis and autophagy induced by DHA were linked to inhibition of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling by AKT inhibition and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation in SCC-9 cells. Together, our results suggest that DHA induces apoptosis- and autophagy-associated cell death through the AMPK/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in oral cancer cells. Thus, utilization of omega-3 fatty acids may represent a promising therapeutic approach for chemoprevention and treatment of human oral cancer.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.245-252
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• 2011

Antimicrobial peptides/proteins are ancient and naturally-occurring antibiotics in innate immune responses in a variety of organisms. Additionally, these peptides have been recognized as important signaling molecules in regulation of both innate and adaptive immunity. During mycobacterial infection, antimicrobial peptides including cathelicidin, defensin, and hepcidin have antimicrobial activities against mycobacteria, making them promising candidates for future drug development. Additionally, antimicrobial peptides act as immunomodulators in infectious and inflammatory conditions. Multiple crucial functions of cathelicidins in antimycobacterial immune defense have been characterized not only in terms of direct killing of mycobacteria but also as innate immune regulators, i.e., in secretion of cytokines and chemokines, and mediating autophagy activation. Defensin families are also important during mycobacterial infection and contribute to antimycobacterial defense and inhibition of mycobacterial growth both in vitro and in vivo. Hepcidin, although its role in mycobacterial infection has not yet been characterized, exerts antimycobacterial effects in activated macrophages. The present review focuses on recent efforts to elucidate the roles of host defense peptides in innate immunity to mycobacteria.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.126-130
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• 2015

There are several studies that show hypothermia improves cellular ischemia damages on experimental and clinical bases. However, its exact molecular mechanisms are unclear. In this study, we demonstrate that hypothermia induced insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) gene expression, and its expression was dramatically decreased under ischemic insults. It was also demonstrated that hypothermia activated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensors especially both the phosphorylation of $eIF2{\alpha}$ (eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha) and ATF6 (activating transcription factor-6) proteolytic cleavage. However, the factors of apoptosis and autophagy were not associated with hypothermia. We suggest that hypothermia-treated IGF1 gene expression after ischemia may show a good possibility for the development of treatments and diagnostic methods in cerebral ischemic damages.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.99-109
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• 2015

Drug development groups are close to discovering another pot of gold-a therapeutic target-similar to the success of imatinib (Gleevec) in the field of cancer biology. Modern molecular biology has improved cancer therapy through the identification of more pharmaceutically viable targets, and yet major problems and risks associated with late-phase cancer therapy remain. Presently, a growing number of reports have initiated a discussion about the benefits of metabolic regulation in cancers. The Warburg effect, a great discovery approximately 70 years ago, addresses the "universality" of cancer characteristics. For instance, most cancer cells prefer aerobic glycolysis instead of mitochondrial respiration. Recently, cancer metabolism has been explained not only by metabolites but also through modern molecular and chemical biological techniques. Scientists are seeking context-dependent universality among cancer types according to metabolic and enzymatic pathway signatures. This review presents current cancer metabolism studies and discusses future directions in cancer therapy targeting bio-energetics, bio-anabolism, and autophagy, emphasizing the important contribution of cancer metabolism in cancer therapy.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.96-104
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• 2006

The gene coding for APG8a (At4g21980), a protein from Arabidopsis thaliana, is involved in the autophagy process. The protein is an interesting candidate for structure determination by NMR spectroscopy. Toward this end, APG8a has been produced recombinantly in Escherichia coli and typical NMR experiments such as $^{15}N-HSQC$, HNCA, HN(CO)CA, CBCA(CO)NH, HCCH-TOCSY, HNCO were performed. The backbone resonances, HN, N, CA, CB, and C' were sequence-specifically assigned, and the secondary structures including 3 $\alpha$ helices and $4\beta$ strands were deduced based on the assignments. Due to the intrinsic flexibility or the effect of the denaturant, the backbone resonances were not fully observed. Since the structure calculation by NMR data was not possible, the 3-dimensional model was built based on the sequence homology, and compared with the NMR results. The overall structure of the model could explain and complement the NMR derived secondary structures.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2011

Endocytosis of the Notch ligand, DeltaD, by mind bomb1 is indispensable for activation of Notch in cell fate determination, proliferation, and differentiation during zebrafish neurogenesis. Loss of mind bomb1 activity as an E3 Ubiquitin ligase causes the accumulation of deltaD at the plasma membrane and results in the ectopic neurogenic phenotype by activation of Notch in early zebrafish embryogenesis. However, the regulatory mechanism of deltaD during neurogenesis is not identified yet. This study aims to analyze the pathway of mib1 and deltaD after endocytosis in vivo during zebrafish embryogenesis. Mind bomb1 and deltaD are co-localized into autophagosome and mutant form of mind bomb1 fails to cargo deltaD into autophagosomes. These findings suggest that mind bomb I mediates deltaD regulation by autophagy in an ubiquitin-dependent manner during zebrafish embryogenesis.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.2-12
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• 2020

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI), including herbal and dietary supplement hepatotoxicity, is often passed lightly; however, it can lead to the requirement of a liver transplant or may even cause death because of liver failure. Recently, the American College of Gastroenterology, Chinese Society of Hepatology and European Association for the Study of the Liver guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of DILI have been established, and they will be helpful for guiding clinical treatment decisions. Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method scoring is the most commonly used method to diagnose DILI; however, it has some limitations, such as poor validity and reproducibility. Recently, studies on new biomarkers have been actively carried out, which will help diagnose DILI and predict the prognosis of DILI. It is expected that the development of new therapies such as autophagy inducers and various other technologies of the fourth industrial revolution will be applicable to DILI research.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.64-69
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• 2020

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate are secondary metabolites produced by anaerobic fermentation of dietary fibers in the intestine. Intestinal SCFAs exert various beneficial effects on intestinal homeostasis, including energy metabolism, autophagy, cell proliferation, immune reaction, and inflammation, whereas contradictory roles of SCFAs in the oral cavity have been reported. Herein, we found that low and high concentrations of SCFAs induce differential regulation of intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization and expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8, respectively, in gingival fibroblast cells. Additionally, cell viability was found to be differentially regulated in response to low and high concentrations of SCFAs. These findings demonstrate that the physiological functions of SCFAs in various cellular responses are more likely dependent on their local concentration.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.168-172
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• 2014

It has recently been shown that hypothermia treatment improves brain ischemia injury and is being increasingly considered by many clinicians. However, the precise roles of hypothermia for brain ischemia are not yet clear. In the present study we demonstrated firstly that hypothermia induced beta-catenin-interacting protein 1 (CTNNBIP1) gene expression and its expression was dramatically decreased under ischemic conditions. It was also demonstrated that hypothermia activated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress sensors especially both, the phosphorylation of $eIF2{\alpha}$, and ATF6 proteolytic cleavage. However, the factors of apoptosis and autophagy were not associated with hypothermia. These findings suggested that hypothermia controlled CTNNBIP1 gene expression under ischemia, which may provide a clue to the development of treatments and diagnostic methods for brain ischemia.