Polymorphisms of <i>KCNJ11</i> (Kir6.2 gene) are associated with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension in the Korean population

Koo, B. K.,Cho, Y. M.,Park, B. L.,Cheong, H. S.,Shin, H. D.,Jang, H. C.,Kim, S. Y.,Lee, H. K.,Park, K. S. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2007 Diabetic medicine Vol.24 No.2

<P>Abstract</P><P>Aims </P><P>Kir6.2 is found in the pancreatic B-cell, cardiac and skeletal muscle and non-vascular smooth muscle. <I>KCNJ11</I>, encoding Kir6.2, has been shown to be associated with both Type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease in several populations. In this study, we investigated whether polymorphisms in <I>KCNJ11</I> are associated with Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic phenotypes in the Korean population.</P><P><B>Methods </B></P><P>We sequenced <I>KCNJ11</I> to identify common polymorphisms using 24 Korean DNA samples. Of the 14 polymorphisms found in <I>KCNJ11</I>, six common ones [genomic sequence (g.)−1709A>T, g.−1525T>C, g.67G>A (E23K), g.570C>T (A190A), g.1009A>G (I337V), and g.1388C>T] were genotyped in 761 Type 2 diabetic patients and in 630 non-diabetic subjects.</P><P><B>Results</B> </P><P>All the polymorphic loci in <I>KCNJ11</I> are in strong linkage disequilibrium in the Korean population and act as one haplotype block. g.67G>A and g.1009A>G were associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes [age, sex, and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted odds ratios (OR) = 1.376 (1.085–1.745), <I>P</I> = 0.008 and 1.411 (1.111–1.791), <I>P</I> = 0.005, respectively], as was one haplotype (A-T-A-C-G-C in the order of polymorphisms as shown above) containing g.67A and g.1009G [OR = 1.359 (1.080–1.709), <I>P</I> = 0.009]. The haplotype (A-T-A-C-G-C) was also strongly associated with hypertension [OR = 1.655 (1.288–2.126), <I>P</I> < 0.001].</P><P><B>Conclusions </B></P><P>Polymorphisms in <I>KCNJ11</I> are associated with Type 2 diabetes and also with hypertension in the Korean population.</P>

Microstructural evolution and tensile properties of oxide dispersion strengthened Alloy 617 at elevated temperatures

Chun, Y.B.,Mao, X.,Han, C.H.,Jang, J. Elsevier Sequoia 2017 Materials science & engineering Structural materia Vol.706 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>This study investigated evolution of the microstructure of oxide dispersion strengthened Alloy 617 with annealing temperature. A mixture of prealloyed Alloy 617 and Y<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> powders was mechanically alloyed and consolidated by hot-extrusion at 1100°C. Hot extrusion developed a submicron-sized grain structure with M<SUB>23</SUB>C<SUB>6</SUB> carbides and finely dispersed Al<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>3</SUB> and Y<SUB>2</SUB>Ti<SUB>2</SUB>O<SUB>7</SUB> oxides. The fine-grained structure was stable during subsequent annealing at temperatures up to 1250°C. Further increase of annealing temperature to 1300°C resulted in a significantly coarsened grain structure, which was coincident with the abrupt coarsening of oxides. M<SUB>23</SUB>C<SUB>6</SUB> carbides in the as-extruded conditions were transformed to M<SUB>7</SUB>C<SUB>3</SUB> carbides with complex shapes when annealed at 1200°C, and their shapes changed to very coarse hexagonal prisms at 1250°C, which was followed by the formation of eutectic M<SUB>2</SUB>C carbides at grain boundaries at 1300°C. Tensile tests of the as-extruded ODS Alloy 617 showed that the yield strength decreased steeply at a transition temperature of around 600°C, which can be attributed to diffusional creep along the grain boundaries.</P>

Conduritol F, the discriminant marker between C. wilfordii and C. auriculatum by ¹H NMR spectroscopy

Jang, H.S.,Jeong, B.,Choi, S.Y.,Jang, G.H.,Park, K.C.,Kwon, Y.S.,Yang, H. Academic Press 2017 Microchemical Journal Vol. No.

<P>Quantitative H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR) spectroscopy is a powerful and versatile technique to enable the absolute quantification of specific components in a mixture with excellent reproducibility and robustness. In the present study, qNMR analysis was applied to conduritol F, a chemical marker with the potential to distinguish between C wilfordii and C auriculatum. We found that the signals of H-5 and H-6 of conduritol F were well-separated from others with purities sufficient to be used to distinguish between C wilfordii and C. auriculatum. This simple methodology can be applied to identify one or two species in products or powdered herbs widely distributed in the markets. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>

200 GeV/핵자 유황이온과 핵건판핵의 충돌에 의해 생성된 헬륨 파쇄핵의 극한파쇄 연구

김동철,송진섭,윤천실,정성헌,박인곤,김종오,김철수,김태연,이승희,조재희,천병구,김재률,김준원,김태익,박명렬,장한일,임인택 慶尙大學校 기초과학연구소 1992 基礎科學硏究所報 Vol.8 No.-

고에너지 중이온 원자핵과 핵건판의 충돌에서, 200GeV/핵자 유황이온에 의해 생성된 파쇄 헬륨핵(Z=2)의 실험실계의 방출각 분포는 표적핵에 무관한 회귀공식. dN=exp[a+k exp(η-y_b)]d[exp(η-y_b)]로 잘 표현된다. 여기에서 의사신속도 η=-ln[tan(θ/2)]이고, y_b는 실험실계의 입사입자(^32S)의 신속도이다. 이 공식에 의한 적합에서 k=-0.057±0.008로 얻어진다. 즉, 핵건판과 고에너지 중이온의 충돌에서 파쇄 헬륨핵의 exp(η-y_b)의 분포는 "극한파쇄" 현상을 잘 설명하고 있다. The angular distribution of emission angle θ of helium (Z=2) produced in the collisions of incident particles of 200 GeV/nucleon ^32S in nuclear emulsion is well expressed by dN=exp[a+k exp(η-y_b)]d[exp(η-y_b)] where the pseudorapidity is η=-ln[tan(θ/2)], the laboratory system primary rapidity is y_b, and k=-0.057+0.008. The shape of this frequency of occurrence distributions in terms of exp(η-y_b) attests to the validity of the concept of "limiting fragmentation" for helium projectile fragments produced in the projectile fragmentation regions of heavy ion collisions in nuclear emulsion.

Aberrant ventral striatal responses during incentive processing in unmedicated patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder

Jung, W. H.,Kang, D.‐,H.,Han, J. Y.,Jang, J. H.,Gu, B.‐,M.,Choi, J.‐,S.,Jung, M. H.,Choi, C.‐,H.,Kwon, J. S. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2011 Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol.123 No.5

<P>Jung WH, Kang D‐H, Han JY, Jang JH, Gu B‐M, Choi J‐S, Jung MH, Choi C‐H, Kwon JS. Aberrant ventral striatal responses during incentive processing in unmedicated patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder.</P><P><B>Objective: </B> Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by the dysfunction of control and reward mechanisms. However, only few neuroimaging studies of OCD have examined the reward processing. We examined the neural responses during incentive processing in OCD.</P><P><B>Method: </B> Twenty unmedicated patients with OCD and 20 age‐, sex‐, and IQ‐matched healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a modified monetary incentive delay task.</P><P><B>Results: </B> Compared with controls, patients with OCD showed increased ventral striatal activation in the no‐loss minus loss outcome contrast and a significant positive correlation between the ventral striatal activation and compulsion symptom severity. In addition, patients with OCD showed increased activations in the frontostriatal regions in the gain minus no‐gain outcomes contrast. During loss anticipation, patients with OCD showed less activations in the lateral prefrontal and inferior parietal cortices. However, during gain anticipation, patients with OCD and healthy controls did not differ in the ventral striatal activation.</P><P><B>Conclusion: </B> These findings provide neural evidence for altered incentive processing in unmedicated patients with OCD, suggesting an elevated sensitivity to negatively affect stimuli as well as dysfunction of the ventral striatum.</P>

C200 마르에이징강의 기계적성질에 미치는 Nb 첨가량 및 시효처리의 영향

장경천(K.C. Jang),최병희(B.H. Choi),최병기(B.K. Choi) 한국생산제조학회 2005 한국공작기계학회 추계학술대회논문집 Vol.2005 No.-

Objective of this study was effects of Nb(Niobium) contents and age hardening conditions on the strength of C200 maraging steel which are commonly using in aircraft, space field, nuclear energy, and vehicle etc. To investigate the effects, steel was manufactured by a VIM (Capacity: 30㎏f, Max Temp. : 1650℃, 10?³? Torr, 45 min/charge) added 0%, 0.03%, and 0.06% niobium with basic chemical compositions. And the steel was hot rolled automatically, solution annealed at 815℃ for I hour, and age hardened with 48%KNO₃+52NaNO₃ at 455℃, 482℃, and 510℃ for 1,2,4, and 8 hours each other. The most excellent condition for elongation was 0.03% Nb material aged at 455℃ for 1 hour having about 97% of base metal. The most excellent aging condition was 8 hours aged at 482℃ with 0.06% Nb content showing that the strength of the specimen increased twice more than that of the base metal.

NMR Solution Structure of HP0827 (O25501_HELPY) from Helicobacter pylori: Model of the Possible RNA-binding Site

Jang, S.-B.,Ma, C.,Lee, J.-Y.,Kim, J.-H.,Park, S. J.,Kwon, A.-R.,Lee, B.-J. Oxford University Press 2009 The Journal of biochemistry Vol.146 No.5

<P>The HP0827 protein is an 82-residue protein identified as a putative ss-DNA-binding protein 12RNP2 Precursor from Helicobacter pylori. Here, we have determined 3D structure of HP0827 using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. It has a ferredoxin-like fold, beta1-alpha1-beta2-beta3-alpha2-beta4 (alpha; alpha-helix and beta; beta-sheet) and ribonucleoprotein (RNP) motifs which are thought to be important in RNA binding. By using structural homologues search and analyzing electrostatic potential of surface, we could compared HP0827 with other RNA-binding proteins (sex-lethal, T-cell restricted intracellular antigen-1, U1A) to predict RNA-binding sites of HP0827. We could predict that beta sheets of HP0827, especially beta1 and beta3, are primary region for RNA binding. Consequently, similar to other RNA-binding proteins, RNP motifs (Y5, F45, F47), positively charged and hydrophobic regions (K32, R37, K40, K41, K43, R70, R73) are proposed as a putative RNA-binding sites. In addition, differences in amino acids composition of RNP motifs, N, C-terminal residues, loop-region fold and the orientation of alpha1-helix with other RNA recognition motif proteins could give specific biological functions to HP0827. Finally, the study on natural RNA target is also important to completely understand the biological function of HP0827.</P>

Artesunate inhibits adipogeneis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by reducing the expression and/or phosphorylation levels of C/EBP-α, PPAR-γ, FAS, perilipin A, and STAT-3

Academic Press 2016 Biochemical and biophysical research communication Vol.474 No.1

Differentiation of preadipocyte, also called adipogenesis, leads to the phenotype of mature adipocyte. However, excessive adipogenesis is closely linked to the development of obesity. Artesunate, one of artemisinin-type sesquiterpene lactones from Artemisia annua L., is known for anti-malarial and anti-cancerous activities. In this study, we investigated the effect of artesunate on adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Artesunate strongly inhibited lipid accumulation and triglyceride (TG) synthesis during the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes at 5 μM concentration. Artesunate at 5 μM also reduced not only the expressions of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α (C/EBP-α), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), fatty acid synthase (FAS), and perilipin A but also the phosphorylation levels of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT-3) during adipocyte differentiation. Moreover, artesunate at 5 μM reduced leptin, but not adiponectin, mRNA expression during adipocyte differentiation. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that artesunate inhibits adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipoytes through the reduced expression and/or phosphorylation levels of C/EBP-α, PPAR-γ, FAS, perilipin A, and STAT-3.

Ni-Co 합금강의 기계적 특성에 대한 탄소함량의 영향

장경천,국중민,정장만,권택용,최병기 한국공작기계학회 2004 한국공작기계학회 춘계학술대회논문집 Vol.2004 No.-

This study was to evaluate the effect of carbon content on metallic change and fatigue characteristics with Fe-29%Ni-17%Co, low heat expansion alloy, widely using electronic components, precision machines, and sealing with glass and metal etc. The steels were fabricated with variation of carbon content, 0, 0.03, 0.06, 0.1, and 0.20% with VIM and tensile test and fatigue test were performed to achieve the above purpose. The more carbon content, the higher hardness value and yield strength. But elongation of 0.03%C, 0.06%C, and 0.10%C specimen decreased about 2.2%, 1.5% and 0.8% respectively more than that of the base metal. Especially the strength and elongation of 0.20%C specimen increased simultaneously about 14.4% and 7.5%. Fatigue life of 0.03%C specimen decreased but the more carbon content, the higher fatigue life over 0.06% carbon content more than that of base metal.

A novel multigene cloning method for the production of a motile ATPase

Jang, M.S.,Song, W.C.,Shin, S.W.,Park, K.S.,Kim, J.,Kim, D.I.,Kim, B.W.,Um, S.H. Elsevier Science Publishers 2015 Journal of biotechnology Vol.207 No.-

<P>With the advent of nanotechnology, new functional modules (e.g., nanomotors, nanoprobes) have become essential in several medical fields. Generally, mechanical modulators systems are the principal components of most cutting-edge technologies in modern biomedical applications. However, the in vivo use of motile probes has raised many concerns due to their low sensitivity and non-biocompatibility. As an alternative, biological enzymatic engines have received increased attention. In particular, ATPases, which belong to a class of motile enzymes that catalyze chemical metabolic reactions, have emerged as a promising motor due to their improved biocompatibility and performance. However, ATPases usually suffer from lower functional activity and are difficult to express recombinantly in bacteria relative to their conventional and synthetic competitors. Here, we report a novel functional modified ATPase with both a simple purification protocol and enhanced motile activity. For this mutant ATPase, a new bacterial subcloning method was established. The ATPase-encoding sequence was redesigned so that the mutant ATPase could be easily produced in an Escherichia coli system. The modified thermophilic F-1-ATPase (mTF(1)-ATPase) demonstrated 17.8 unit/mg ATPase activity. We propose that derivatives of our ATPase may enable the development of novel in vitro and in vivo synthetic medical diagnostics, as well as therapeutics. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>