• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.283-291
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• 2006

The survival and growth of epithelial cells depends on adhesion to the extracellular matrix. An adhesion signal may regulate the initiation of differentiation, since epidermal keratinocytes differentiate as they leave the basement membrane. A metabolically dead cornified cell envelope is the end point of epidermal differentiation so that this process may be viewed as a specialized form of programmed cell death. In order to investigate the precise cellular signaling events loading to terminal differentiation of keratinocytes, we have utilized HaCaT cells to monitor the biological consequences of $Ca^{2+}$ stimulation and numerous downstream signaling pathways, including activation of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase(ERK) pathway and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K). The results presented in this study show that $Ca^{2+}$ function as potent agents for the differentiation of HaCaT keratinocytes, and this differentiation depends or the activation of ERK, Protein kinase B(PKB) and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase(p70S6K). Finally, the results show that the expression of Activator protein 1(AP-1; c-Jun and c-Fos) increased following $Ca^{2+}$-mediated differentiation of HaCaT cells, suggesting that ERK-mediated AP-1 expression is critical for initiating the terminal differentiation of keratinocytes.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 1988.08a
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• pp.1-10
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• 1988

Previously. we reported that the intraperitoneal administration of ginseng crude saponin increased: (I) nuclear RNA polymerase activity. (2) nuclear RNA synthesis. (3) cytoplasmic RNA synthesis. (4) cytoplasmic heavy polyrioosome content. (5) amino acid incorporation in vitro of microsome and polysome isolated rat liver. and (6) the incorporation rate of labeled amino acids into serum protein. In addition, a spectacular increase in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocyte administered crude saponin for four weeks orally was shown through electron microscopy. An increase in polysomal content in membrane-hound ribosome was shown through ultracentrifugation. Recently, successive intraperitoneal. administration .of $ginsenosid-Rb_2$ was given to streptozotocin (STZ) diaoetic rats of hypoproteinemia. The blood urea nitrogen and hepatic urea concentration were decreased significantly. The total protein and alhumin levels in the serum were increased in comparison to control values. In contrast. the $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ treated group of STZ diahetic rats showed a significant increase in liver RNA. total ribosome and membrane-bound ribosomal contents. The administration of $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ increased the incorporation rate of labeled - precursor into total serum protein. Additionally $ginsenoside-Rb_2$ improved the nitrogen balance of diabetic rats. On the bases of these experimental results, ginseng saponin has a metabolic stimulatory or anabolic action on RNA and protein synthesis.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.133-160
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• 2006

Objectives : Scolopendrae Corpus has a broad array of clinical applications in Korean medicine, including treatment of inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. To explore the global gene expression profiles in human Raw cell lines treated with Scolopendrae Corpus herbal-acupuncture solution (SCHAS), cDNA microarray analysis was performed. Methods : The Raw 264.7 cells were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), SCHAS, or both. The primary data was normalized by the total spots of intensity between two groups, and then normalized by the intensity ratio of reference genes such as housekeeping genes in both groups. The expression ratio was converted to log2 ratio. Normalized spot intensities were calculated into gene expression ratios between the control and treatment groups. Greater than 2 fold changes between two groups were considered to be of significance. Results : Of the 8 K genes profiled in this study, with a cut-off level of two-fold change in the expression, 20 genes (BCL2-related protein A1, MARCKS-like 1, etc.) were upregulated and 5 genes (activated RNA polymerase II transcription cofactor 4, calcium binding atopy-related autoantigen 1, etc.) downregulated following LPS treatment. 139 genes (kell blood group precursor (McLeod phenotype), ribosomal protein S7, etc.) were upregulated and 42 genes (anterior gradient 2 homolog (xenopus laevis), phosphodiesterase 8B, etc.) were downregulated following SCHAS treatment. And 10 genes (yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae intergeneic sequence 4-1, mitogen-activated protein kinase 1, etc.) were upregulated and 8 genes (spermatid perinuclear RNA binding protein, nuclear receptor binding protein 2, etc.) were downregulated following co-stimulation of SCHAS and LPS. Discussions : It is thought that microarrays will play an ever-growing role in the advance of our understanding of the pharmacological actions of SCHAS in the treatment of arthritis. But further studies are required to concretely prove the effectiveness of SCHAS.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2007

Background: Photodynamic therapy is a viable option for lung cancer treatment, and many studies have shown that it is capable of inducing cell death in lung cancer cells. However, the precise mechanism of this cell death has not been fully elucidated. To investigate the early changes in cancer cell transcription, we treated A549 cells with the photosensitizer DH-I-180-3 and then we illuminated the cells. Methods: We investigated the gene expression profiles of the the A549 lung cancer cell line, using a DEG kit, following photodynamic therapy and we evaluated the cell viability by performing flow cytometry. We identified the genes that were significantly changed following photodynamic therapy by performing DNA sequencing. Results: The FACS data showed that the cell death of the lung cancer cells was mainly caused by necrosis. We found nine genes that were significantly changed and we identified eight of these genes. We evaluated the expression of two genes, 3-phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase and ribosomal protein S29. The expressed level of carbonic anhydrase XII, clusterin, MRP3s1 protein, complement 3, membrane cofactor protein and integrin beta 1 were decreased. Conclusion: Many of the gene products are membrane-associated proteins. The main mechanism of photodynamic therapy with using the photosensitizing agent DH-I-180-3 appears to be necrosis and this may be associated with the altered production of membrane proteins.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.97-100
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• 2006

To determine whether the tetracycline resistance genes tet (34), tet (M), and tet (S) can be transferred among bacteria, we used a filter mating experiment allowing intimate cell-cell contact between donor and recipient. The tet(34) gene, conveyed on a chromosome of Vibrio species (No. 6 and SW-42) was not transferred to Escherichia coli JM109, suggesting that it is not transferred among bacterial species. The tet (M) gene was transferred from three Vibrio strains (4-E, SW-18, and SW-38) to E. coli at frequencies of $8.5{\times}10^{-5}\;to\;2.1{\times}10^{-6}$. The tet(S) gene was transferred from Lactococcus garvieae KHS98032 to E. coli at a frequency of $1.8{\times}10^{-6}$. Transconjugated recipients showed increased minimum inhibitory concentrations against oxytetracycline. Although the donors possess the Tn916-Tn1545 transposons, they were not detected in transformed recipients, suggesting that the transfer of tet(M) and tet(S) is mediated by elements or mechanisms. Two ribosomal protect protein genes were also transmissible from marine bacteria to E. coli, suggesting gene hopping among marine, terrestrial, and human environments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3725-3728
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• 2013

Background: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) /RPS6KB1 activation has recently been implicated in tumour development, but its role in lung cancer remains unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the role of mTOR/RPS6KB1 signaling pathway in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess the expression of phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) and its downstream ribosomal phosphorylated RPS6KB1 (p-RPS6KB1) in NSCLC patients. We also analyzed p-mTOR/p-RPS6KB1 protein expression in 45 fresh NSCLC tissues using Western blotting. Results: The expression level of p-mTOR and p-RPS6KB1 was significantly higher in NSCLC tumor specimens than that in adjacent noncancerous normal lung tissues (P<0.01). p-mTOR expression correlated with p-RPS6KB1. Furthermore, high expression level of p-mTOR or p-RPS6KB1 in NSCLC was associated with a shorter overall survival (both P<0.01). Multivariate analysis indicated high level of p-mTOR expression was an independent prognostic factor (HR=2.642, 95%CI 1.157-4.904, p=0.002). Conclusions: p-mTOR and p-RPS6KB1 could be useful prognostic markers for NSCLC.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.644-668
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• 2019

Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants which belongs to Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae sensu in APG system has been known as a useful plant in various fields as well as an invasive species spreading all over the world. To understand its phylogenetic relationship with neighbour species, we completed chloroplast genome of D. ambrosioides collected in Korea. Its length is 151,689 bp consisting of four sub-regions: 83,421 bp of large single copy (LSC) and 18,062 bp of small single copy (SSC) regions are separated by 25,103 bp of inverted repeat (IR) regions. 128 genes (84 protein-coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 36 tRNAs) were annotated. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome is 36.9% and those in the LSC, SSC and IR regions are 34.9%, 30.3%, and 42.7%, respectively. Distribution of simple sequence repeats are similar to those of the other two Dysphania chloroplasts; however, different features can be utilized for population genetics. Nucleotide diversity of Dysphania chloroplast genomes 18 genes including two ribosomal RNAs contains high nucleotide diversity peaks, which may be genus or species-specific manner. Phylogenetic tree presents that D. ambrosioides occupied a basal position in genus Dysphania and phylogenetic relation of tribe level is presented clearly with complete chloroplast genomes.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.293-297
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• 2009

Improved methods for detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in environmental and clinical samples are urgently needed to improve detection of cryptosporidiosis. We compared the sensitivity of 7 PCR primer sets for detection of Cryptosporidium parvum. Each target gene was amplified by PCR or nested PCR with serially diluted DNA extracted from purified C. parvum oocysts. The target genes included Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein (COWP), small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA), and random amplified polymorphic DNA. The detection limit of the PCR method ranged from $10^3$ to $10^4$ oocysts, and the nested PCR method was able to detect $10^0$ to $10^2$ oocysts. A second-round amplification of target genes showed that the nested primer set specific for the COWP gene proved to be the most sensitive one compared to the other primer sets tested in this study and would therefore be useful for the detection of C. parvum.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1230-1237
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• 2009

The selective plugging strategy of Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) involves the use of microbes that grow and produce exopolymeric substances, which block the high permeability zones of an oil reservoir, thus allowing the water to flow through the low permeability zones leading to increase in oil recovery. Bacillus licheniformis TT33, a hot water spring isolate, is facultatively anaerobic, halotolerant, and thermotolerant. It produces EPS as well as biosurfactant and has a biofilm-forming ability. The viscosity of its cell-free supernatant is $120\;mPa{\cdot}s$ at $28^{\circ}C$. Its purified EPS contained 26% carbohydrate and 3% protein. Its biosurfactant reduced the surface tension of water from 72 to 34 mN/m. This strain gave $27.7{\pm}3.5%$ oil recovery in a sand pack column. Environmental scanning electron microscopy analysis showed bacterial growth and biofilm formation in the sand pack. Biochemical tests and Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis confirmed that the oil recovery obtained in the sand pack column was due to Bacillus licheniformis TT33.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2011

Osteosarcoma is a primary bone cancer which occurs mainly in children. Neuroguidin/CANu1 is a nucleolar protein involved in the maintenance of ribosomal structure. In this study, we investigated the effect of Neuroguidin/CANu1 depletion on the response of osteosarcoma cells to doxorubicin. In normal circumstances, Neuroguidin/CANu1 is localized at nucleoli, which translocates to nuclear foci in the presence of doxorubicin. shRNA knockdown of Neuroguidin/CANu1 did not affect cell viability in the absence of doxorubicin, but led to enhanced cytotoxicity in doxorubicin-treated cells. Doxorubicin increased the population of apoptotic cells by 3-fold in Neuroguidin/CANu1-depleted cells compared to that in control cells. Depletion of Neuroguidin/CANu1 mRNA induced the expression of p21 and the cleavage of PARP, leading to increased caspase-3/7 activity. Together, these results suggest that Neuroguidin/CANu1 is required for maintaining cellular homeostasis and may contribute to the improved efficiency of chemotherapy.