• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.272-274
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• 2002

The anterior brain vesicle of ascidian larvae contains two distinct pigment cells. Ultrastructure of these pigment cells has been shown that the anterior pigment cell is an otolith for perception of gravity and the posterior pigment cell is an ocellus for light reception. The larva has remarkably simple central nervous system (CNS) composed of about 330 cells. We focused to study neural networks of visual systems. In the present paper, we report the whole structure of the photoreceptors of the ascidian larva visualized by an antibody against arrestin. Visual arrestin is the key protein for the termination of phototransduction and one of the abundant proteins in photoreceptors. Recently, we cloned an arrestin homologue gene, Ci-arr and the expression of Ci-arr was found to be restricted to the photoreceptors in the ocellus. To study the whole structure of the photoreceptors in the larva, we prepared an antibody against Ci-Arr. It is found that anti Ci-Arr antibody specifically stains the photoreceptors, including the cell bodies, the axons, and the nerve terminals. The photoreceptor cell bodies lies in row outside the pigment cup which penetrate the pigment cell and is continuous with the outer segments of the photoreceptor cell, inside the concavity of the pigments. The axons form bundle into a single tract. The tract extends toward the midline, where the nerve terminals diverge and seem to form synapses

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.323-327
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• 1999

It was shown that brain-derived neurotrophic factors (BDNFs) secreted from human neuroblastoma cells can significantly improve the growth of the neurites of PC12 nerve cells. The addition of purified BDNFs elongated the neurites of PC 12 nerve cells two to three times more than the case where the addition was not made. The perfusion rate strongly affected the change of the size of human neuroblastoma cells because the cell size decreased as the perfusion rate increased. This could also influence the productivity of BDNF from the cells. It is also important to note that the BDNF production was decreased when the cell size was reduced. BDNF production rate also decreased at a fast perfusion rate in a smaller cell size. At the relatively fast perfusion rate of 18 ml/h, the ratio of apoptotic to necrotic cells dramatically decreased, which possibly caused the decrease of BDNF production. It has been proven that the secretion of BDNF from human neuroblastoma cells was a partially growth-related process by yielding 6.2$\times l0^{-8}/g$ of BDNF/cell/h of growth related parameter and $0.48{\times}l0^{-9}/g$ of BDNF/cell/h of nongrowth-related parameter in a growth kinetic model. In addition, it was also found that the perfusion rate played a very important role in controlling the cell death mechanism.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.641-644
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• 2005

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma has a high incidence. However, regional metastasis occurs infrequently because skin cancer is usually recognized and treated early. We report the case of squamous cell carcinoma around the earlobe in a 74-year-old male patient. The cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma invaded ipsilateral parotid gland directly without lymphatic spreading. Wide excision was made with 1.5 cm margin and immediate reconstruction was performed with radial forearm fasciocutaneous free flap. During operation facial nerve was preserved. No recurrence was noted for 5 years and the patient was satisfied with good aesthetic result. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma spreads to the parotid gland usually through lymph nodes and there are few reports of invasive organ damage by direct invasion. We experienced a case of direct invasion to parotid gland without lymph node involvement of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and treated the cancer adequately with wide excision and free flap coverage.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.70 no.2
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• pp.160-164
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• 2011

Paraneoplastic neurologic syndrome is a group of assorted disorders resulting from damage to the nervous system in cancer, remote from primary site, and not related to metastasis, infection, or metabolic disorder associated with cancer. Patient with small cell lung cancer sometimes shows various neurological syndromes, but patient with non-small cell lung cancer rarely shows neurologic syndromes and few antineuronal antibodies have been found. Here, we report a case of 53-year-old male patient who developed ptosis and extraocular muscular limitation of left eye due to third and forth cranial nerve palsy in non-small cell lung cancer without brain metastasis. These neurologic symptoms improved after lobectomy without any other treatment immunotherapy.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.349-367
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• 1996

The development of small granule-containing cell in the superior cervical ganglion was studied by electron microscopic method in human fetuses ranging from 40 mm to 260 mm crown rump length (10 to 30 weeks of gestational age). At 40 mm fetus, the superior cervical ganglion was composed of clusters of undifferentiated cells, primitive neuroblasts, and unmyelinated nerve fibers together with blood vessels. At 90 mm fetus, the superior cervical ganglion consisted of neuroblasts, satellite cell, small granule-containing cells, and unmyelinated nerve fibers. Two morphological types of the small granule-containing cells in the superior cervical ganglion were first indentified at 90 mm fetus, but were rare. Type I granule-containing cell occurred in solitary and had long processes, whereas type II cells tend to appeared in clusters near the blood capillaries. The granule-containing cells were characterized by the presence of dense-cored vesicles ranging from $150{\sim}300nm$ in diameter in both the cell bodies and processes. Other organelles included abundant mitochondria, rough endoplasmic reticulum, neurotubules, and widely distributed ribosomes. The granule-containing cells had long processes similar to those found in principal ganglionic cells. They could be identified by their content in dense-cored vesicles. The small granule-containing cells increased somewhat in size and number with increase of fetal age. Synaptic contacts were first found on the solitary granule-containing cell at 150 mm fetus. Synaptic contacts between the soma and processes of type I granule-containing cells and preganglionic axon terminals were observed. In addition, synaptic junctions between the processes of granule-containing cells and presumed dendrite of postganglionic neuron were also observed from 150 mm onward. On the basis of these features type I granule-containing cells could be considered as interneurons. The clusters of type II granule-containing cells were located in the interstitial or subcapsular portions of the ganglion, and had short processes which ended in close relation to fenestrated capillaries. Therefore it may be infer that clusters of type II granule-containing cells have an endocrine function.

• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
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• 1972.03a
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• pp.17.4-17
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• 1972

A 26 year-old Korean woman was visited to Chunnam University Hospital on January 15, 1971 with chief complaints of facial nerve paralysis, hearing impairment, painful swelling on the temporal region and aural discharge. The histopathological Examination proved to be a squamous cell carcinoma.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.409-420
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• 1989

Extracellular recordings were made from the spinal neurons in the lumbar enlargement of 16 cats before and during electrical stimulation of the radial nerve ipsilaterally and contralaterally. Only neurons activated by remote nerve stimulation (RNS) were included in sample. All the cell classes of spinal neurons which received afferents message from the skin and/or muscles were activated by RNS except LT cells. Approximately three quaters of cells activated by RNS had an inhibitory receptive field (RF) on the ipsilateral hindlimb and two thirds of RNS-activated neurons showed spontaneous activity. The most of these RNS-activated cells seemed to be in deep dorsal horn and in ventral horn as well. Stimulation of contralateral radial nerve produced activation of spinal neurons almost same degree as by ipsilateral nerve stimulation. The optimal stimulation parameters of radial nerve for activation of spinal cells were 5Hz-0.5 msec-2V while threshold stimulus for activation was approximately 0.18 V. Following close intra-arterial injection of $K^+$ ion excitability of RNS-activated neuron was increased in 4 of 8 cells whereas it was decreased in 2 of 8 cells. The results indicate that there are some spinal neurons in the lumbar enlargement of cats that can be activated by forelimb afferent $(A{\beta}\;&\;A{\delta})$ inputs.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.213-220
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• 2012

Background: It has been demonstrated that the expression of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) and apoptotic cell death in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) following spinal nerve constriction injury play a role in the initiation and continuation of hyperalgesia and allodynia. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of ethyl pyruvate (EP) on mechanical and cold allodynia, TNF-${\alpha}$ expression, and apoptosis in DRG after spinal nerve ligation injury. Methods: Rats were divided into 3 groups: control, pre-EP, and post-EP. EP (50 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected 30 minutes before (pre-EP) or after (post-EP) surgery. Behavioral tests to determine mechanical and cold allodynia were conducted before surgery and 4 and 7 days after surgery. Seven days after surgery, TNF-${\alpha}$ protein levels in DRG were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and DRG apoptosis was determined by immunohistochemical detection of activated caspase-3. Results: Treatment with EP significantly reduced mechanical and cold allodynia following spinal nerve ligation injury. TNF-${\alpha}$ protein levels in the pre-EP ($4.7{\pm}1.2$ pg/200 ${\mu}g$; P < 0.001) and post-EP ($6.4{\pm}1.8$ pg/200 ${\mu}g$; P < 0.001) groups were 2-3 times lower than the control group ($14.4{\pm}1.2$ pg/200 ${\mu}g$). The percentages of neurons and satellite cells that co-localized with caspase-3 were also significantly lower in the pre-EP and post-EP groups than the control group. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that EP has a strong anti-allodynic effect that acts through the inhibition of TNF-${\alpha}$ expression and apoptosis in DRG after spinal nerve ligation injury.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.161-166
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• 2012

The deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) protein mediates attractant responses to netrin during axonogenesis. In the rat trigeminal ganglia (TG), axons must extend toward and grow into the trigeminal nerve to innervate target tissues such as dental pulp. Our present study aimed to investigate the expression of DCC in the TG. Four developmental timepoints were assessed in the experiments: postnatal days 0, 7 and 10 and adulthood. RT-PCR and western blotting revealed that the expression of DCC mRNA and protein does not significantly change throughout development. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that DCC expression in the TG was detectable in the perikarya region of the ganglion cells during development. Nerve injury at 3 and 5 days after the mandibular nerve had been cut did not induce altered expression of DCC mRNA in the TG. Moreover, DCC-positive cell bodies also showed similar immunoreactive patterns after a nerve cut injury. The results of this study suggest that DCC constitutively participates in an axonogenesis attractant in ways other than expression regulation.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.111-117
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• 2016

Vagal nerve activity has been known to play a crucial role in the induction and maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it is unclear how the distribution and concentration of local acetylcholine (ACh) promotes AF. In this study, we investigated the effect of the spatial distribution and concentration of ACh on fibrillation patterns in an in silico human atrial model. A human atrial action potential model with an ACh-dependent $K^+$ current ($I_{KAch}$) was used to examine the effect of vagal activation. A simulation of cardiac wave dynamics was performed in a realistic 3D model of the atrium. A model of the ganglionated plexus (GP) and nerve was developed based on the "octopus hypothesis". The pattern of cardiac wave dynamics was examined by applying vagal activation to the GP areas or randomly. AF inducibility in the octopus hypothesis-based GP and nerve model was tested. The effect of the ACh concentration level was also examined. In the single cell simulation, an increase in the ACh concentration shortened $APD_{90}$ and increased the maximal slope of the restitution curve. In the 3D simulation, a random distribution of vagal activation promoted wavebreaks while ACh secretion limited to the GP areas did not induce a noticeable change in wave dynamics. The octopus hypothesis-based model of the GP and nerve exhibited AF inducibility at higher ACh concentrations. In conclusion, a 3D in silico model of the GP and parasympathetic nerve based on the octopus model exhibited higher AF inducibility with higher ACh concentrations.