Peroxiredoxin II promotes hepatic tumorigenesis through cooperation with Ras/Forkhead box M1 signaling pathway

Park, Y-H,Kim, S-U,Kwon, T-H,Kim, J-M,Song, I-S,Shin, H-J,Lee, B-K,Bang, D-H,Lee, S-J,Lee, D-S,Chang, K-T,Kim, B-Y,Yu, D-Y Macmillan Publishers Limited 2016 Oncogene Vol.35 No.27

<P>The current study was carried out to define the involvement of Peroxiredoxin (Prx) II in progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the underlying molecular mechanism(s). Expression and function of Prx II in HCC was determined using H-ras(G12V)-transformed HCC cells (H-ras(G12V)-HCC cells) and the tumor livers from H-ras(G12V)-transgenic (Tg) mice and HCC patients. Prx II was upregulated in H-ras(G12V)-HCC cells and H-ras(G12V)-Tg mouse tumor livers, the expression pattern of which highly similar to that of forkhead Box M1 (FoxM1). Moreover, either knockdown of FoxM1 or site-directed mutagenesis of FoxM1-binding site of Prx II promoter significantly reduced Prx II levels in H-ras(G12V)-HCC cells, indicating FoxM1 as a direct transcription factor of Prx II in HCC. Interestingly, the null mutation of Prx II markedly decreased the number and size of tumors in H-ras(G12V)-Tg livers. Consistent with this, knockdown of Prx II in H-ras(G12V)-HCC cells reduced the expression of cyclin D1, cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth and tumor formation in athymic nude mice, whereas overexpression of Prx II increased or aggravated the tumor phenotypes. Importantly, the expression of Prx II was correlated with that of FoxM1 in HCC patients. The activation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) pathway and the expression of FoxM1 and cyclin D1 were highly dependent on Prx II in H-ras(G12V)-HCC cells and H-ras(G12V)-Tg livers. Prx II is FoxM1-dependently- expressed antioxidant in HCC and function as an enhancer of Ras(G12V) oncogenic potential in hepatic tumorigenesis through activation of ERK/FoxM1/cyclin D1 cascade.</P>

Effect of low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide on the contractile responses of rat detrusor smooth muscle strips

Han, J.H.,Lee, M.Y.,Lee, S.Y.,Chang, I.H.,Kim, H.J.,Kim, W.,Myung, S.C. North-Holland ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2010 european journal of pharmacology Vol.638 No.1

This study was designed to determine how the contractility of rat detrusor smooth muscle strips changes in the presence of low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>. The strips were dissected from the base of Sprague-Dawley rat bladders and their contractile responses to a cumulative increase in H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>concentration (3x10<SUP>-6</SUP>3x10<SUP>-2</SUP>%) were measured. How the duration of exposure to the fixed concentration of 3x10<SUP>-4</SUP>% H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>affected contractility was also examined. Moreover, the effect of 3x10<SUP>-4</SUP>% H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>pretreatment on the response to cumulative increases in the concentrations of phenylephrine or acetylcholine (10<SUP>-8</SUP>10<SUP>-4</SUP>) was assessed. To elucidate the mechanism by which H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>induced contraction, we examined the effect of pretreatment with 10nM Y-27632, 10μM indomethacin, 10μM SQ29548, 10μM verapamil, 10μM vitamin E, or 1μM Bay-K 8644 on the contractile responses generated by cumulatively increasing the concentration of H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB> H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>induced contractile responses in Ca<SUP>2+</SUP>free physiological solution were also examined. Low concentrations of H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>increased the contractile responses of the strips in a dose-dependent manner but increasing treatment duration decreased these responses. H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>pretreatment significantly augmented the contraction induced by phenylephrine (P<0.05) but had no effect on the response to acetylcholine. Pretreatment with Y-27632, indomethacin, vitamin E, verapamil, and Bay-K 8644 significantly inhibited the H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>induced contraction (P<0.05). SQ 29548-pretreatment had no effect. H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>could not increase the contractile responses in Ca<SUP>2+</SUP>free physiological solution. Thus, low concentrations of H<SUB>2</SUB><SUB>2</SUB>may directly affect detrusor smooth muscles and thereby induce detrusor overactivity.

Effects of Fertilization Time and Culture Medium of Pig Oocytes Matured In Vitro by Liquid Boar Sperm Stored at 4℃

Park, C.S.,Yi, Y.J.,Kim, M.Y.,Chang, Y.J.,Lee, S.H.,Jin, D.I 충남대학교 형질전환복제돼지연구센터 2004 논문집 Vol. No.8

This study was to investigate the effects of fertilization time and culture medium of pig oocytes matured in-vitro by liquid boar sperm. The sperm rich fraction (30∼60 ml) was slowly cooled to room temperature (20∼23℃) by 2 h after collection. Semen was transferred into 15 ml tubes, centrifuged at room temperature for 10 min 800×g, and the supernatant solution was poured off. The concentrated sperm was resuspended with 5 ml of the LEN diluent to provide 1.0×10^(9) sperm/ml at room temperature. The resuspended semen was cooled in a refrigerator to 4℃. The medium used for oocyte maturation was TCM-199 supplemented with 26.19 mM sodium bicarbonate, 0.9 mM sodium pyruvate, 10μg/ml insulin, 2μg/ml vitamin B_(12), 25 mM HEPES, 10μg/ml bovine apotransferrin, 150μM cysteamine, 10IU/ml PMSG, 10 IU/ml hCG, 10 ng/ml EGF, 0.4% BSA, 75μg/ml sodium penicillin G, 50μg/ml streptomycin sulfate and 10% pFF. After about 22 h of culture, oocytes were cultured without cysteamine and hormones for 22 h at 38.5℃, 5% CO₂in air. Oocytes were inseminated with liquid boar sperm stored at 4℃ for 2 days after collection. Oocytes were coincubated for 1, 3, 6 and 9 h in 500 μl mTBM fertilization media with 1.0×10^(6) sperm/ml concentration, respectively. Thereafter, oocytes were transferred into 500 μl NCSU-23, HEPES buffered NCSU-23, PZM-3 and PZM-4 culture media, respectively, for further culture of 6, 48 and 144 h. The rates of sperm penetration and male pronuclear formation were higher in the fertilization times for 6 and 9 h than in those for 1 and 3 h. The rates of cleaved oocytes were higher in the fertilization times for 6 and 9 h (85.0 and 84.6%) than in those for 1 and 3 h (61.1 and 76.8%). The percentage of blastocyst formation from the cleaved oocytes was highest in the fertilization time for 6 h (33.6%) than in that for 1, 3 and 9 h (11.4, 23.0 and 29.6%). Mean cell numbers per blastocyst were 32.9, 27.6, 26.3 and 24.4 in the fertilization times for 6, 9, 3 and 1 h, respectively. The rate of blastocyst from the cleaved oocytes and the number of cells per blastocyst were higher in HEPES buffered NCSU-23 culture medium than in NCSU-23, PZM-3 and PZM-4 culture media. In conclusion, we found out that liquid boar sperm stored at 4℃ could be used for in-vitro fertilization of pig oocytes matured in-vitro. Also, we recommend the coincubation time of 6 h in 500 μl TBM fertilization medium with 1×10^(6) sperm/ml concentration and the HEPES buffered NCSU-23 culture medium for in-vitro fertilization of pig oocytes matured in-vitro.

Changes of major chemical components in larch wood through combined treatment of drying and heat treatment using superheated steam

Park, Y.,Jang, S. K.,Park, J. H.,Yang, S. Y.,Chung, H.,Han, Y.,Chang, Y. S.,Choi, I. G.,Yeo, H. Springer Science + Business Media 2017 Journal of wood science Vol.63 No.6

<P>The effects of the combined treatment of drying and heat treatment using superheated steam (SHS) were studied relative to the changes of the major chemical components in larch wood. The green lumber was dried and heat-treated in SHS conditions of 250 A degrees C and 0.5 MPa for 18 h, and the relative percentage contents of sugars, lignin, and extractives were investigated and compared with the relative percentage contents in the lumber heat-treated in hot air conditions of 250 A degrees C and atmospheric pressure for 18 h. After both heat treatment methods, the relative percentage contents of xylan, mannan, galactan, and arabinan were greatly decreased, whereas that of the Klason lignin was increased, additionally that of glucan and extractives remained almost unchanged. Lignin may bind with furan compounds decomposed from hemicellulose following heat treatment, thus contributing to the increase in the apparent relative percentage contents of the Klason lignin. In addition, the condensate collected in the condenser after combined drying and heat treatment using SHS was investigated qualitatively and quantitatively by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A large amount of furfural and acetic acid decomposed from hemicellulose was detected and some sugar components composed of cellulose and hemicellulose were detected in the liquid condensate.</P>

1987년 한국에서 발생한 렙토스피라병의 혈청역학적 조사

이증훈,박영수,이우곤,김석용,정선식,우준희,박성광,박경희,송영욱,김선영,기정일,최두혁,강성귀,김주완,최강원,김우열,최명식,최인학,장우현,윤성열 대한감염학회 1988 감염 Vol.20 No.3

Human leptospirosis was an unfamiliar disease in Korea until 1984 that outbreak of leptospirosis occurred among farmers and soldiers after field works for harvesting rice. During that time, Lee and Jo confirmed the first Korean cases of leptospirosis by serological test, isolation of causative agent and autopy findings. Afterward several outbreaks occurred also during autumn especially after flood in every years and some characterisitcs of leptospirosis in Korea such as clinical manifestations, serotypes and seroepidemiological features has been revealed by many investigators. Because of the major mode of transmission between rodents and human is by direct contact with leptospiral urine of rodents or contaminated soil by the urine, leptospirosis in Korea has been primarily a disease of person in occupations heavily exposed to contaminated soil or infected urine such as farmer, army and etc. Therefore it seems that leptospirosis is one of the main communicable diseases to be controlled urgently in Korea, for an agricultural people account for almost half of total Korean people. For clarifying the seroepidemiological patterns of human leptospirosis in Korea by sex, month region and main reacting serovars of L. interrogans among acute febrile disease occurred in 1987, 1,773 patient's sers with acute febrile episodes were tested by microagglutination test using 19 representative strains of leptospiral serogroup as antigen. All of those sera were collected from 10 collaborative clinics located in Kyunggi, Kangwon, Chungbuk, Chungnam, Chonbuk, Chonnam province and Seoul. The results wee summerized as follows. 1) Among 1,773 sera of patients with acute febrile episodes, 219 (12.4%) were seropositive to L. interrogans, 487(27.5%) to R. tsutsugamushi, 241(13.6%) to R.typhi and 160(90.0%) to Hantaan virus. 2) Among seropositives to L.interrogans, the male outnumbered the female, 65% and 35%. 3) For age distribution, 26.9% of seropositives to L.interrogans were fifties, 19.6% were forties, 9.1% were sixties, 5.9% were thirties and 4.1% were twenties. 4) Eighty three percent of seropositives had occurred between September and October in 1987 with a peak in September. 5) Main leptospiral serovars reactive to patient's sera were Icterohaemorrhagiae(54.3%), Canicola(31.0%), CH-48(13.2%), Tarassovi(0.9%)and Cynopteri(0.5%). 6) For regional distribution, 65.8% of seropositives to L.interrogans were residents from Chonbuk, 12.3% were Chonnam, 7.3% were Chungnam, 5.5% were Kyunggi and 1.4% were Kangwon.

Search for lepton flavor and lepton number violating <i>τ</i> decays into a lepton and two charged mesons

Miyazaki, Y.,Aihara, H.,Arinstein, K.,Aulchenko, V.,Aushev, T.,Bakich, A.M.,Balagura, V.,Barberio, E.,Bay, A.,Belous, K.,Bhardwaj, V.,Bischofberger, M.,Bondar, A.,Brač,ko, M.,Browder, T.E.,Chang, North-Holland Pub. Co 2010 Physics letters. Section B Vol.682 No.4

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>We search for lepton flavor and lepton number violating <I>τ</I> decays into a lepton (ℓ=electron or muon) and two charged mesons (h,<SUP>h′</SUP>=<SUP>π±</SUP> or <SUP>K±</SUP>), <SUP>τ−</SUP>→<SUP>ℓ−</SUP><SUP>h+</SUP><SUP>h′−</SUP> and <SUP>τ−</SUP>→<SUP>ℓ+</SUP><SUP>h−</SUP><SUP>h′−</SUP>, using 671 fb<SUP>−1</SUP> of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy <SUP>e+</SUP><SUP>e−</SUP> collider. We obtain 90% C.L. upper limits on the branching fractions in the range (4.4–8.8)×<SUP>10−8</SUP> for τ→eh<SUP>h′</SUP>, and (3.3–16)×<SUP>10−8</SUP> for τ→μh<SUP>h′</SUP> processes. These results improve upon previously published upper limits by factors between 1.6 to 8.8.</P>

Cryptotanshinone, a lipophilic compound of Salvia miltiorrriza root, inhibits TNF-α-induced expression of adhesion molecules in HUVEC and attenuates rat myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in vivo

Jin, Y.C.,Kim, C.W.,Kim, Y.M.,Nizamutdinova, I.T.,Ha, Y.M.,Kim, H.J.,Seo, H.G.,Son, K.H.,Jeon, S.J.,Kang, S.S.,Kim, Y.S.,Kam, S.C.,Lee, J.H.,Chang, K.C. North-Holland ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2009 european journal of pharmacology Vol.614 No.1

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effect of cryptotanshinone (CTS), one of active ingredients of Salvia miltiorrhiza root, on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat due to inhibition of some inflammatory events that occur by NF-kB-activation during ischemia and reperfusion. Myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury was induced by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by either 2 h (biochemical analysis) or 24 h (myocardial function and infarct size measurement) reperfusion. CTS injected (i.v.) 10 min before ischemia and reperfusion insult. CTS significantly reduced the infarct size and improved ischemia and reperfusion-induced myocardial contractile dysfunction. Furthermore, CTS inhibited NF-kB translocation, expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6), neutrophil infiltration and MPO activity in ischemic myocardial tissues. CTS also significantly reduced plasma levels of TNF-α, IL-1β due to ischemia and reperfusion. Interestingly, H<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>2</SUB>-stimulated NF-kB-luciferase activity and TNF-α-induced expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expressions in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were significantly inhibited by CTS. Taken together, it is concluded that CTS may attenuate ischemia and reperfusion-induced microcirculatory disturbances by inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine production, reduction of neutrophil infiltration and possibly inhibition of adhesion molecules through inhibition of NF-kB-activation during ischemia and reperfusion.

NO₂Sensing Properties of CuPc and H₂Pc LB Films

Kwon, H.J.,Lee, Y.-J.,Chang, Y.K.,Kim, J.-D. 경북대학교 센서기술연구소 1998 센서技術學術大會論文集 Vol.9 No.1

Characteristics of CuPc and H_(2)Pc Langmuir-Blodgett(LB) films were examined and their NO_(2) sensing properties were investigated on a gas sensor using 9 MHz quartz crystal microbalance(QCM). The monolayer behavior of H_(2)Pc in air-water interface was observed by inspecting its UV absorption spectra as the surface pressure was increased. On ellipsometry measurement for CuPc and H_(2)Pc LB films, the thickness of H_(2)Pc LB film was almost twice as thick as that of CuPc. X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of CuPc LB film showed that Cu2p(1/2) and Cu2p(3/2) peak shifts arised from new bond formation by NO_(2) adsorption. Both CuPc and H_(2)Pc LB film produced significant frequency changes in low ppm range of NO_(2).

Temperature and air pollution affected tree ring δ¹³C and water-use efficiency of pine and oak trees under rising CO₂ in a humid temperate forest

Kwak, J.H.,Lim, S.S.,Lee, K.S.,Viet, H.D.,Matsushima, M.,Lee, K.H.,Jung, K.,Kim, H.Y.,Lee, S.M.,Chang, S.X.,Choi, W.J. Elsevier 2016 Chemical geology Vol.420 No.-

<P>To better predict forest productivity under rising atmospheric CO2 concentration ([CO2]), it is critical to understand how intrinsic water-use efficiency (WUEi) and its relationship with tree growth are affected by the concomitant changes in environmental conditions such as precipitation, temperature, and air pollution that either enhance or undermine any potential CO2 fertilization effect. We investigated changes in delta C-13 and WUEi in annual rings and basal area increment (BAI) of Pinus densiflora (from 1968 to 2007) and Quercus variabilis (from 1970 to 2007) trees in relation to precipitation, temperature, and air pollution in a humid temperate forest. The WUEi of P. densiflora increased by 39.9%, whereas that of Q. variabilis did not change over time in the study period. The WUEi was not affected by precipitation for both species but increased (P < 0.001) with temperature for P. densiflora and with SO2 emissions for both species. Multiple regression models suggested that the effect of [CO2] on tree growth was much higher than temperature; however, for the period (1998 to 2007) when SO2 emissions data were available, SO2 emission was the driver of changes in BAI and WUEi, and temperature effects became stronger than [CO2]. Overall, BAI and WUEi were positively (P < 0.001) correlated for P. densiflora, but not for Q. variabilis. We conclude that temperature and air pollution rather than precipitation were key determinants of WUEi at the study site and that the two species had contrasting responses to environmental changes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>

Effect of purification conditions on gas storage and separations in a chromium-based metal-organic framework MIL-101

Lee, S.J.,Yoon, J.W.,Seo, Y.K.,Kim, M.B.,Lee, S.K.,Lee, U.H.,Hwang, Y.K.,Bae, Y.S.,Chang, J.S. Elsevier 2014 Microporous and mesoporous materials Vol.193 No.-

The effect of purification condition of a chromium terephthalate MIL-101 on gas storage (H<SUB>2</SUB>, CO<SUB>2</SUB>, and C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>2</SUB>) and C2 hydrocarbon separations was investigated for MIL-101a, MIL-101b, and MIL-101c, which were obtained by three-step sequential purification using hot water/ethanol and aqueous NH<SUB>4</SUB>F solution treatments. MIL-101c was the best in terms of gas storage capacities among the three samples possibly due to the removal of free and coordinated terephthalic acids. Remarkably, MIL-101c exhibits among the highest total hydrogen uptake at 50bar and 77K (9.9 wt%) and shows considerably large deliverable capacity between 1.5 and 50bar (7.6 wt%). Moreover, MIL-101c shows among the highest C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>2</SUB> storage capacity (6.4mmolg<SUP>-1</SUP>) and deliverable capacity (4.3mmolg<SUP>-1</SUP>) at 1bar and 313K. For C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>2</SUB>/C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>6</SUB>, C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>2</SUB>/C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>4</SUB>, and C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>4</SUB>/C<SUB>2</SUB>H<SUB>6</SUB> separations, MIL-101c exhibits higher adsorption capacities, working capacities and adsorption figure of merit (AFM) values while MIL-101b shows higher selectivities and sorbent selection parameters. These results clearly show that a proper purification of MIL-101 is important for gas storage and gas separations.