• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.501-509
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• 2013

Formaldehyde (FA) is widely used in industries, and it is an indoor and outdoor pollutant. Exposure to FA may cause inflammation and respiratory oxidative stress. Studies have demonstrated that FA can cause cancer in animal models. During the regeneration process of injured starfish (Asterina pectinifera), several changes have been observed in the expression of cytokines. In particular, higher TGF-${\beta}1$ expression has been detected in arm cut starfish extract after eight days. The current study was designed to elucidate the in-vitro and the in-vivo pharmacological effects of starfish extract on FA exposure. We investigated the protective effects of intact starfish extract and arm cut starfish extract on an IMR-90 cell line and on mouse lung injury in response to FA exposure. In the presence of FA, inhalation of the arm cut starfish extract was associated with more promising cell proliferation, TNF-${\alpha}$, NF-${\kappa}B$ decrement, and $I{\kappa}-B{\alpha}$ increment. In the experimental group, the pulmonary structure of the arm cut starfish extract-treated group in the presence of FA exposure was similar to the control group, whereas the FA exposure group showed damage to the pulmonary structure. Moreover, the arm cut starfish extracts was more effective than the intact starfish extracts in terms of the expression of TNF-${\alpha}$, NF-${\kappa}B$, $I{\kappa}-B{\alpha}$, and surfactant protein A. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that arm cut starfish extracts are more effective in protecting pulmonary structure and function against FA exposure than intact starfish extracts.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 1986

Recently it has been shown that central dopaminergic system regulates the renal function and that intracerebroventricularly (icv) administered dopamine (DA) produces antidiuresis and antinaturiuresis, resembling icv norepinephrine, and evidence has been accumulated which would suggest the involvement of adrenergic system in the DA effects. It was attempted therefore in this study to see whether the DA effect is influenced by pretreatment of yohimbine which is known as a specific ${\alpha}_2-adrenoceptor$ antagonist. Yohimbine produced, when given icv in doses of $100\;{\mu}g/kg$, marked antidiuresis and antinatriuresis along with decreases in renal perfusion and glomerular filtration. DA, in doses of $15\;{\mu}g/kg$, also produced antidiuresis and antinaturiuresis. However, after yohimbine-pretreatment DA $15\;{\mu}g/kg$ improved renal hemodynamics, and electrolyte excretion and urine flow rate transiently increased. With $150\;{\mu}g/kg$ DA, the antidiuresis was more marked in the control group. But the yohimbine-pretreated animals responded with marked diuresis and natriuresis, sodium excretion increasing more than three-fold, which lasted for 20 minutes. $K^+-excretion$, osmolar clearance as well as free-water reabsorption increased. Renal hemodynamics improved partly. Apomorphine, a DA agonist, when given icv in doses of $150\;{\mu}g/kg$, produced diuresis and naturiuresis, concomitant with increased renal hemodynamics. Yohimbine-pretreatment however did not abolish the apomorphine-induced diuresis and naturiuresis. Antidiuresis and antinatriuresis elicited by norepinephrine, $10\;{\mu}g/kg$, was not affected by yohimbine-pretreatment. These results indicate that the renal effects of icv DA is not so simple as those of norepinephrine, and the diuretic natriuretic cffect which had been masked by the hemodynamic effect becomes manifest only when the decreases in hemodynamics were removed by the pretreatment of yohimbine. It was further suggested that those DA receptors which mediate the natriuretic response to icv DA is not affected by yohimbine, whereas those receptors involved in the decrease in renal hemodvnamics are blocked by yohimbine. And the possibility of involvement of adrcnergic system in the DA action is not substantiated.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.750-761
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• 2021

This study was performed to observe the responses of angiogenesis-related protein expression in skeletal muscle of aged rats by regular resistance exercise training with aerobic exercise. For the purpose of the study, naturally aged SD rats (20-24 months, N=18) were used and divided into control (CON, n=6), resistance exercise (RE, n=6), and resistance + aerobic exercise (RE + AE, n=6) groups. RE group performed 3 sets × 4 exercises each session using a ladder for laboratory animals, and RE +AE group performed 2 sets × 3 times of ladder climbing and additional treadmill running (30 min) each session. After 8 weeks of exercise training, soleus muscle and extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL) were extracted and used for analysis. Western blot was performed to analyze the expression levels of angiogenesis-related proteins (HIF-1α, VEGF, FLK-1, Ang-1, Ang-2) in skeletal muscle. As a result of the study, the expression of HIF-1α, VEGF, FLK-1, Ang-1, and Ang-2 proteins in soleus muscle (type I muscle) was higher in RE +AE than in CON group, and HIF-1α, VEGF, Ang-1, Ang-2 protein expression of RE group was higher than that of CON group. Furthermore, Ang-2 to Ang-1 ratio of RE + AE group was higher than that of RE group, showing differences by exercise type. In EDL muscle (type II muscle), HIF-1α was increased only by RE group, whereas VEGF and FLK-1 protein expressions were increased in both training types, and no difference was observed between the types of exercise training. In addition, there was no difference in angiopoieitin protein expressions in EDL muscle by exercise training. Therefore, in aging, regular exercise training induces skeletal muscle angiogenic response regardless of exercise type, and in particular, the combination of aerobic exercise with resistance exercise may have an additional positive effect on angiogenesis in type I muscle.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.221-231
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• 1995

The objectives of the present study were to find out the differences in growth and weed competition of rice under the foggy and non-foggy condition, and finally, the fundamental data for the establishment of the paddy weed control system under the locational foggy regions. The research was carried out on tin trays ($0.12m^2$) in greenhouse equipped with an Auto Foggy System(SAE KI RTN Co.). The results are summarized as follows: Exp. I. Difference in rice growth under the foggy and non-foggy condition. 1. While the plant height was not affected, the number of tillers was decreased by the foggy condition. The ratio of the number of effective tiller, however, became higher under the foggy condition. 2. Due to the fog present, the heading rate was decreased and heading time was delayed. 3. The foggy condition did not affect the dry weight of rice straw whether they were grown under the foggy or non-foggy condition. However, yield components such as the number of ears, the number of grains per ear, thousand kernel weight and percentage of ripeness were reduced. Particularly, weights of perfect brown and unpolished rice were also decreased. Exp. II. Effect of the duration of competition between weed and rice grown under the foggy condition on the growth of rice plant. 1. There was no difference in the height of rice grown under a different duration of competition. There was a clear tendency that the number of tillers of rice grown under the foggy condition was decreased as the duration of competition was decreased. 2. When the duration of competition was longer than 60 days, the heading rate was decreased and the initiation of heading was also delayed by 2-4 days. 3. Under the foggy condition, the duration of competition for more than 40 days affected dry weight of rice straw and the difference in yield was greatest in the non-competition and competition for more than 40 days.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.406-418
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• 1996

Tomatoes are water logged differently 0, 5, 10 and 15 cm, according to the developing stages such as germination and seedling stage under the condition of greenhouse. Along with this, they are treated according to the time condition such as 6, 12, 24, 48 and 120 hours. The results obtained are summarized as follows. 1. The result at germination stage Remarkable germination failure was observed when tomatoes were water-logged for 25 to 27 hours in the depth of 0 to 5 cm. Plant height recovered within 24 hours regardless of the water-logging depths. In the case of leaves, the recoverable time limit became shorter gradually in accordance with the increase of the water-logging depth. The decrease of the fresh weight showed acute response in the shoot rather than the root. It recovered with the 24 hours of water logging. Significant correlation was observed in all characteristics of plant height, number of leaves, fresh weight and germination rates according to the depth of water-logging. 2. The result at seedling stage Plant height recovered within the 24 hours of water-logging in the depth of 0 cm. On the deeper level, there was significant decrease regardless of time. With regard to the number of leaves, there was recovery up to 120 hours in the depth of 0 cm, up to 24 hours in the depth of 5 cm. There was, however, significant decrease when done for more than 6 hours on the deeper level. Growth of the shoot displayed the same tendency as in plant height and number of leave. The length of the longest root could be maintained by 80% in the water-logging of 0 cm compared with control. However in depth of 5 cm or more, it could not be maintained by the 120 hours water-logging. Root activity became conspicuously diminished with the logging over 0 cm. Respiration showed conspicuous decrease by the depth of 5 cm as a turning point. On the other hand, photosynthesis became decreased linearly by the depth of water-logging. Chlorophyll content displayed gradual decrease up to 48 hours, but conspicuously decreased up to 120 hours according to the varying depth of water-logging. Dieases tended to increase according to the depth and hours of water-logging. Diseases would be prevented by dint of insecticide, but there was no effect of fertilization. Weight and number of fruit per plant displayed gradual decrease as the depth and hours of water-logging became increased. Average weight of a fruit became increased. There was no statisticaly reciprocal effects between the depth and hours of water-logging. There was significant positive correlation among all the investigated characteristics, such as traits of growth and yield.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.11-25
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• 1998

The HLA genes located in the short arm of chromosome 6 specify heterodimeric glycoproteins involved in the regulation of the immune response. Recently, in the elucidation of HLA polymorphism, serological and cellular typing methods have been replaced by DNA typing using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The purpose of this study was to establish the HLA DNA typing methods and determine gene frequencies of HLA molecules in Koreans. PCR-SSP (sequence specific primers) and PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) techniques were used for the analysis of HLA-A, -B, -C, DRBl genes and HLA-DQAl, DQBl, DPBl genes, respectively. The results of B-lymphoblastoid cells used for control experiment were consistent with the previous data identified in the 11th International Histocompatibility Workshop. Seventeen, 23, 16, 8, 16, 13 and 37 types of HLA-A, B, C, DQAl, DQBl, DPBl and DRBl alleles were found, respectively, in a total of unrelated 120 Korean individuals. The most frequent HLA alleles were $A^*$02 (27.0%), B$^*$40 (17.6%), Cw$^*$01 (19.2%), DQAl$^*$0301 (32.1%), DQBl$^*$0303 (12.9%), DPBl$^*$0501 (31.3%) and DRBl$^*$1501 (9.2%) among Koreans. This study shows that DNA typing method using PCR technique is a relatively simple, fast and practical tool for the determination of the HLA-class I and II genes. Moreover, the data of HLA gene frequencies could be useful for the Korean database before clinical applications, including organ and unrelated bone marrow transplantation, anthropological study, disease association and individual identification.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 1993

To study the immune responses of the japanese eel. Anguilla japonica, fish were injected intraperitoneally with several types of Edwardsiella tarda antigen, i. e., FKC(formalin killed cells), HKC(heat killed cells) or LPS(lipopolysaccharide), and the changes of immunocytes numbers, phagocytosis and agglutination titre in the peripheral blood of the fish were investigated. The number of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of eels were decreased until 6 hours after injection, and then were turn to normal levels after 24 hours of injection. However, the level were slightly increased and were remained after 24 hours. The number of neutrophils of FKC, HKC or LPS injected fish were the highest at 12 hours after injection and were decreased slowly after that. Three weeks after the injections, the agglutination of antibody titre of all immunized groups were reached at 128 and were remained this level thereafter. However 6 weeks after the injections, that in HKC injected fish were dropped the level up to 4. Fish were injected with LPS and the blood from the fish were bled after 12 hours. Then the blood were incubated with E. tarda. Six hours after incubation, the phagocytic index was reached the highest level, 28.3. One week after the LPS injection, the blood were again bled and incubated with E. tarda. The phagocytic index at this time was 3.9. The phagocytic indexes of the fish injected with FKC and HKC, treted as same LPS injected fish as above, were 18.8 and 10.7, respectively. The phagocytic index of the control fish was 1.2. The antibacterial activities of normal antiserum against E. tarda were shown for both FKC and LPS injected fish, but not for HKC injected fish. The RPS(relative percentage of survival) of HKC, FKC and LPS injected fish in the challenge test were 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively. These results suggest that the effect of protection of the eel which were injected with antigen were varied with the method of preparation of the antigen.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.499-505
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• 2010

Background: There have been several reports using animal experiments that CD1-restricted T-cells have a key role in tumor immunity. To address this issue, we studied the expression of markers for CD1c+ myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) isolated from peripheral blood in the clinical setting. Material and Method: A total of 24 patients with radiologically suspected or histologically confirmed lung cancer who underwent pulmonary resection were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided according to histology findings into three groups: primary adenocarcinoma of lung (PACL), primary squamous cell carcinoma of lung (PSqCL) and benign lung disease (BLD). We obtained 20 mL of peripheral venous blood from patients using heparin-coated syringes. Using flow-cytometry after labeling with monoclonal antibodies, data acquisition and analysis were done. Result: The ratio of CD1c+CD19- dendritic cells to CD1c+ dendritic cells were not significantly different between the three groups. CD40 (p=0.171), CD86 (p=0.037) and HLA-DR (p=0.036) were less expressed in the PACL than the BLD group. Expression of CD40 (p=0.319), CD86 (p=0.036) and HLA-DR (p=0.085) were less expressed in the PACL than the PSqCL group, but the differences were only significant for CD86. Expression of co-stimulatory markers was not different between the PSqCL and BLD groups. Expression of markers for activated DCs were dramatically lower in the PACL group than in groups with other histology (CD40 (p=0.005), CD86 (p=0.013) HLA-DR (p=0.004). Conclusion: These results suggest the possibility that CD1c+ myeloid DCs participate in control of the tumor immunity system and that low expression of markers results in lack of an immune response triggered by dendritic cells in adenocarcinoma of the lung.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2018

Thermo-responsive polymers that exhibit phase transition in response to temperature change can be used as materials for smart windows because they can control solar light transmission depending on the outside temperature. The development of thermo-responsive polymers for smart windows that can be used over a wide temperature range is desirable. To obtain high performance smart windows materials, three-dimensional thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) gels were prepared by free radical polymerization from monomer N-isopropylacrylamide, N, N'-methylenebis acrylamide (MBAm) as a crosslinking agent, ammonium persulfate (APS) as a strong oxidizing agent/tetramethylene diamine as a catalyst, and a mixture of two solvents (water/glycerol). This study examined the effect of glycerol content on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), freezing temperature and the solar light transmittance of crosslinked PNIPAm gel films. The LCST and freezing temperature of PNIPAm gel films were found to be significantly decreased from 34.3 and $6.3^{\circ}C$ to 28.2 and $-6.5^{\circ}C$ with increasing glycerol content from 0 wt% to 10 wt%, respectively. It was found that the transparent PNIPAm gel films at $25^{\circ}C$ (temperature < LCST) were converted to translucent gels at higher temperature ($45^{\circ}C$) (temperature > LCST). These results suggested that the crosslinked PNIPAm gel materials prepared in this study could have high potential for application in smart glass materials.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2006

Puroose: To present preliminary results of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using the simultaneous modulated accelerated radiation therapy (SMART) boost technique in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Materials and Methods: Twenty patients who underwent IMRT for non-metastatic NPC at the Asan Medical Center between September 2001 and December 2003 were prospectively evaluated. IMRT was delivered using the 'step and shoot' SMART technique at prescribed doses of 72 Gy (2.4 Gy/day) to the gross tumor volume (GTV), 60 Gy (2 Gy/day) to the clinical target volume (CTV) and metastatic nodal station, and 46 Gy (2 Gy/day) to the clinically negative neck region. Eighteen patients also received concurrent chemotherapy using cisplatin once per week. Results: The median follow-up period was 27 months. Nineteen patients completed the treatment without interruption; the remaining patient interrupted treatment for 2 weeks owing to severe pharyngitis and malnutrition. Five patients (25%) had RTOG grade 3 mucositis, whereas nine (45%) had grade 3 pharyngitis. Seven patients (35%) lost more than 10% of their pretreatment weight, whereas 11 (55%) required intravenous fluids and/or tube feeding. There was no grade 3 or 4 chronic xerostomia. All patients showed complete response. Two patients had distant metastases and loco-regional recurrence, respectively. Conclusion: IMRT using the SMART boost technique allows parotid sparing, as shown clinically and by dosimetry, and may also be more effective biologically. A larger population of patients and a longer follow-up period are needed to evaluate ultimate tumor control and late toxicity.