• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.216-222
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• 2020

Tumor necrosis factor receptor associated factor 4 (TRAF4) is found to be overexpressed in human breast cancer. It plays a role in cancer metastasis, production of reactive oxygen species, and cell polarity at membranes. The characteristics and functions of TRAF4 in pigs have not yet been identified. As the first step of research, the mRNA sequence of TRAF4 in porcine cells has been determined. To obtain the full-length sequence, rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) has been carried out. Upon cloning, 2,030 bp of nucleotides were found to encode 470 amino acids, and 8 and 12 amino acids were different from those of the human and mouse TRAF4, respectively. The coding region of porcine TRAF4 was shown to be 93% and 90% homologous to human and mouse TRAF4, respectively. qPCR was conducted to determine the relative expression level of TRAF4. TRAF4 expression in pK15 was enhanced by cell-cell contacts. The mRNA levels of CLDN4, OCLN, and TJP1 at 60% and 80% confluency were significantly higher than at 40% confluency. Further, TRAF4 and tight junction-related genes were down-regulated upon treatment with TRAF4 siRNA. Thus, TRAF4 may affect the function of tight junctions in pig.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10187-10192
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• 2015

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are a large family of constitutive and inducible mono-oxygenase enzymes that play a central role in the oxidative metabolism of both xenobiotic and endogenous compounds. Several CYPs are involved in metabolism of oxysterols, which are cholesterol oxidation products whose expression may be dysregulated in inflammation-related diseases including cancer. This study focused on CYP39A1, which can metabolize 24-hydroxycholesterol (24-OH) that plays important roles in the inflammatory response and oxidative stress. We aimed to investigate the expression status of CYP39A1 and its transcription factor (RUNX2) in relation to clinical significance in cholangiocarcinoma (CCAs) and to determine whether 24-OH could induce oxidative stress in CCA cell lines. Immunohistochemistry showed that 70% and 30% of CCA patients had low and high expression of CYP39A1, respectively. Low expression of CYP39A1 demonstrated a significant correlation with metastasis. Our results also revealed that the expression of RUNX2 had a positive correlation with CYP39A1. Low expression of both CYP39A1 (70%) and RUNX2 (37%) was significantly related with poor prognosis of CCA patients. Interestingly, oxidized alpha-1 antitrypsin (ox-A1AT), an oxidative stress marker, was significantly increased in CCA tissues in which CYP39A1 and RUNX2 were down regulated. Additionally, immunocytochemistry showed that 24-OH could induce ox-A1AT in CCA cell lines. In conclusion, our study revealed putative roles of the CYP39A1 enzyme in prognostic determination of CCAs.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.459-468
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• 2007

Protein microarray or protein chips is potentially powerful tools for analysis of protein-protein interactions. APin cDNA was previously identified and cloned from a rat odontoblast cDNA library. The purpose of this study was to investigate the APin-protein interactions during ameloblast differentiation. Protein microarray was carried with recombinant APin protein and MEF2, Aurora kinase A, BMPR-IB and EF-hand calcium binding protein were selected among 74 interacting proteins. Immortalized ameloblast cells (ALCs) were transfected with pCMV-APin construct and U6-APin siRNA construct. After transfection, the expression of the mRNAs for four proteins selected by protein micoarrays were assessed by RT-PCR. The results were as follows: 1. APin expression was increased and decreased markedly after its over-expression and inactivation, respectively. 2. Over-expression of the APin in the ALCs markedly down-regulated the expression of MEF2 and Aurora kinase A, whereas their expression remained unchanged by its inactivation. 3. Expression of BMPR-IB and EF-hand calcium binding protein were markedly increased by the over-expression of the APin in the ALCs, whereas expression of BMPR-IB remained unchanged and expression of EF-hand calcium binding protein was markedly decreased by its inactivation. These results suggest that APin plays an important role in ameloblast differentiation and mineralization by regulating the expression of MEF2, Aurora kinase A, BMPR-IB and EF-hand calcium binding protein.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.101-109
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• 2008

Automated rainfall warning system is a facility to prevent casualties who were recreating in the down stream region with operating lead broadcasting or signaling warning automatically when torrential rainfall occurs in mountainous area. But standard of conventional warning does not consider the characteristics of basin, and warning signal. Evacuation signal 1 and evacuation signal 2 are uniformly signaled when the 10minute moving total of observed rainfall is higher than 4 mm, 6 mm, and 8 mm respectively. therefore, local governments and relative agencies had re-established the standard of warning by analyzing the risk water level, critical discharge and reference rainfall, which are considering the characteristics of basin. In this study the standard of conventional and re-established warning of weolseong basin, which is available to acquire a real rainfall. There are analyzed by considering the risk water level, critcal discharge and reference rainfall. Also this study compares rainfall of conventional and re-established warning standard and indentifies problems by analyzing adequacy of rainfall estimation for warning and proposes alternative. The standard of conventional warning which investigates with the converted rainfall(unit of a minute) issued too many alarm. The re-established standard upward has the necessity which will be regulated about the alarm announcement number of times. Considers the safety, upward regulation of alarm standard rainfall is a necessity which will be prudent.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.505-515
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• 2009

Collagen is the major matrix protein in dermis and consists of proline and lysine, which are hydroxylated by prolyl hydroxylase (PH) and lysyl hydroxylase (LH) with cofactors such as vitamin C, oxygen, iron (Fe$^{2+}$), ketoglutarate and silicon. The collagen degradation is regulated by matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), of which is the major collagen-degrading proteinase whereas tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) bind to MMP-1 thereby inhibiting MMP-1 activity. In this study, we investigated the effects of vitamin C, silicon and iron on mRNA, protein expressions of PH, LH, MMP-1 and TIMP-1. The physiological concentrations of vitamin C (0-100 $\mu$M), silicon (0-50 $\mu$M) and iron (Fe$^{2+}$：0-50 $\mu$M) were treated to human dermal fibroblast cells (HS27 cells) for 3 or 5days. The expression level of mRNA and protein was increased in not only PH but also LH when cells were incubated with vitamin C. A similar increase in LH mRNA or protein expression occurred when cells were incubated with silicon. Our results suggest that treatment of vitamin C and silicon increased mRNA and protein expression of PH and LH in human dermal fibroblast.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.311-319
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• 2012

Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is the skin disease occurred because of Malassezia yeast which grows on the skin and scalp, and this yeast lives on sebum lipid, and their metabolite, free lipid acids are thought to be the main irritant on skin. To find out effective cosmeceutical ingredients to treat SD symptoms, we established novel cell-based in vitro model mimicking SD symptoms. This in vitro model adopted the co-culture system with primary sebocyte & HaCaT keratinocyte. We used M. globosa yeast extract, arachidonic acid, linoleic acid and dihydrotestosterone as SD inducers. In the co-culture system with optimized concentrations for SD-inducing cocktail, the production of IL-8 and sebum lipids increased up to 2-fold, and then we screened with commercial essential oils by monitoring IL-8 as a key inflammatory biomarker. Then we found that Cinnamomum zeylanicum oil, Mentha arvensis oil effectively down-regulated IL-$1{\alpha}$, IL-6, IL-8 cytokines which over-produced by SD-inducing cocktail. Additionally, two essential oils also showed inhibitory effect on sebum lipid synthesis from primary sebocyte and growth inhibitory effect to M. globosa yeast (MICs were lower than 0.0625 %). Our recent results suggest that Cinnamomum zeylanicum oil and Mentha arvensis oil could be effective natural herbal remedies to relieve or protect scalp seborrheic dermatitis.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2016

Background : The white jelly mushroom (Tremella fuciformis), one of the most popular edible fungi, has medicinal properties. However, the effects of T. fuciformis in skin whitening or anti-wrinkle efficacy has not been defined to date. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of T. fuciformis extracts on whitening and anti-wrinkle efficacy in skin cells. Methods and Results :We prepared T. fuciformis extracts with water. The extracts ($80^{\circ}C$) contained 12.11 mg/g polyphenol and 8.54 mg/g flavonoid concentration. T. fuciformis extracts markedly decreased melanin contents and tyrosinase activity in ${\alpha}$-MSH-stimulated melanocytes (B16F10 cells). In addition, the mRNA expression of melanin formation factors, such as microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF), tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1) and tyrosinase-related protein-2 (TRP-2) were significantly down-regulated in ${\alpha}$-MSH-stimulated melanocyte. Furthermore, T. fuciformis extracts increased the synthesis of type I procollagen and reduced mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase 1 (MMP-1) in the human dermal fibroblast (HDFn cells). These data indicated that T. fuciformis extracts induce repression of cellular melanogenesis and protect against wrinkles caused by UVB-stimulated damage. Conclusions : Thus T. fuciformis extracts could be a cosmetic candidate for skin whitening and anti-wrinkle effects.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.115-125
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• 2012

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to observe the inhibitory effects of $Chrthami$ semen oil pharmacopuncture(CSOP) on CIA (collagen-induced arthritis) mice. Materials and Methods : Two types of experiments were conducted: $in$ $vitro$ assay, inhibition of MIF mRNA and TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA expressions in synovial membranes was observed, and $in$ $vivo$ assay, $1{\mu}{\ell}/kg$ CSOP was injected every day to the left $Weizhong$ ($BL_{40}$) from day 3 to 21 after induction of CIA, and changes in paw edema, apical surface morphology, neovascularization in synovial membranes, fibrosis, pro-inflammatory cytokines production, Th-1 differentiation, and anti-inflammatory effect were investigated. Results : 1. In synoviocytes of the CIA mice treated with CSOP, MIF mRNA and TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA expressions were down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner. 2. Paw edema of the CIA mice treated with CSOP was diminished. 3. Tissue injury in the synovial membranes, capillary distribution and fibrosis were reduced in CSOP-treated mice. 4. MIF, TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-6, MMP-9 expressions were repressed in CSOP-treated mice during the experiment to observe the inhibitory effect on cytokines production in early stage RA. 5. IL-12 and CD28 were reduced in CSOP-treated mice during the observation of inhibitory effect on Th 1 differentiation. 6. PPAR-${\gamma}$ was increased during the experiment to observe the anti-inflammatory effect of CSOP. Conclusions : The results may suggest that administration treatment using $Chrthami$ semen oil pharmacopuncture decreases the inflammatory response on an Animal Model with CIA.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.281-285
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• 2013

Purpose: To probe the role of FasL in cell apoptosis in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs). Methods: The expression of Fas/FasL was assessed in 10 cases of normal oral epithelium, 38 cases of OSCC and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), and 11 cases of metastatic lymph nodes by immunohistochemistry. Apoptosis of tumor cells and TIL was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling assay (TUNEL). FasL-induction of T cell apoptosis was tested by co-culture assay in vitro with SCC-9 and Jurkat T cells. Results: The 10 cases of normal oral epithelium all demonstrated extensive expression of Fas, the positive rate being largely down-regulated in OSCC (21/38) (P<0.05) compared to the normal (10/10). At the same time, the positive rate of FasL significantly increased in OSCC (P<0.05) especially those with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The positive rates of Fas in well and middle differentiated OSCC were higher than those in poor differentiated OSCC (P<0.05). The AI of tumor cells in Fas-positive OSCC was remarkably higher than that in Fas-negative OSCC (P<0.01), with a positive correlation between Fas expression and cell differentiation as well as apoptosis (r=0.68, P<0.01). The AI of tumor cells in FasL positive OSCC was remarkably lower than that in control while the AI of TIL was higher than in FasL negative OSCC (P<0.05). The AI of tumor cells reversely correlated with that of TIL (r = -0. 72, P<0.05). It was found that SCC-9 cells expressing functional FasL could induce apoptosis of Jurkat cells as demonstrated by co-culture assays. As a conclusion, it is evident that OSCC cells expressing FasL can induce apoptosis in Fas-expressing T cells. Conclusions: In progression of OSCC, expression of the Fas/FasL changes significantly. The results suggest that FasL is a mediator of immune privilege in OSCC and may serve as an marker for predicting malignant change in oral tissues.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.51-59
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• 2005

Overexpression of HSP25 delayed cell growth, increased the level of $p21^{waf}$, reduced the levels of cyclin D1, cylcin A and cdc2, and induced radioresistance in L929 cells. We demonstrated that extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) and MAP kinase/ERK kinase (MEK) expressions as well as their activation (phospho-forms) were inhibited by hsp25 overexpression. To confirm the relationship between ERK1/2 and hsp25-mediated radioresistance, ERK1 or ERK2 cDNA was transiently transfected into the hsp25 overexpressed cells and their radioresistance was examined. HSP25-mediated radioresistance was abolished by overexpression of ERK2, but not by overexpression of ERK1. Alteration of cell cycle distribution and cell cycle related protein expressions (cyclin D, cyclin A and cdc2) by hsp25 overexpression were also recovered by ERK2 cDNA transfection. Increase in Bc1-2 protein by hsp25 gene transfection was also reduced by subsequent ERK2 cDNA-transfection. In addition, HSP25 overexpression reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) gene. Increased activation of NF-kB (IkB degradation) was also found in hsp25-overexpressed cells. Moreover, transfection of hsp25 antisense gene abrogated all the HSP25-mediated phenomena. To further elucidate the exact relationship between MnSOD induction and NF-kB activation, dominant negative $I-kB\alpha(I-kB\alpha-DN)$ construction was transfected to HSP25 overexpressed cells. $I-kB\alpha-DN$ inhibited HSP25 mediated MnSOD gene expression. In addition, HSP25 mediated radioresistance was blocked by $I-kB\alpha-DN$ transfection. Blockage of MnSOD with antisense oligonucleotides in HSP25 overexpressed cells, prevented apoptosis and returned the ERK1/2 activation to the control level. From the above results, we suggest for the first time that reduced oxidative damage by HSP25 was due to MnSOD-mediated down regulation of ERK1/2.