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>

Zero-term Rank Preservers

BEASLEY, LEROY B.,SONG, SEOK-ZUN,LEE, SANG-GU 제주대학교 기초과학연구소 2002 基礎科學硏究 Vol.15 No.1

We obtain characterizations of those linear operators that preserve zero-term rank on the m×n matrices over antinegative semirings. That is, a linear operator T preserves zero-term rank if and only if it has the form T(X) = P(B_(o)X)Q, where P, Q are permutation matrices and B_(o)X is the Schur product with B whose entries are all nonzero and not zero-divisors.

Cytokine secreted by S100A9 via TLR4 in monocytes delays neutrophil apoptosis by inhibition of caspase 9/3 pathway

Lee, N.R.,Park, B.S.,Kim, S.Y.,Gu, A.,Kim, D.H.,Lee, J.S.,Kim, I.S. Saunders Scientific Publications, W.B. Saunders ; 2016 Cytokine Vol.86 No.-

Dysregulation of neutrophil apoptosis causes pathogenesis and aggravation of allergy. S100A9 exists as one of the proteins in the neutrophils, triggering inflammatory responses by activating the immune cells. In this study, we investigated whether S100A9 affects constitutive neutrophil apoptosis by activating the monocytes in normal and allergic subjects. Supernatant from human monocytic THP-1 cells after treatment with S100A9 suppressed normal neutrophil apoptosis by inhibiting the activations of caspase 9 and caspase 3. S100A9 upregulated the release of MCP-1, IL-6, and IL-8 in THP-1 cells. An increase in cytokine was suppressed by CLI-095, a Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 inhibitor, PP2, a Src inhibitor, rottlerin, a PKCδ inhibitor, MAP kinase inhibitors, including PD98059, SB202190, and SP600125, and BAY-11-7085, an NF-κB inhibitor. Src, PKCδ, ERK½, p38 MAPK, and JNK were phosphorylated by S100A9. The phosphorylation of Src and PKCδ was suppressed by CLI-095, and the activation of ERK½, p38 MAPK, and JNK was inhibited by CLI-095, PP2, and rottlerin. S100A9 induced NF-κB activity, and the activation was suppressed by CLI-095, PP2, rottlerin, and MAPK kinase inhibitors. In normal and allergic subjects, supernatant from normal and allergic monocytes after stimulation with S100A9 suppressed normal and allergic neutrophil apoptosis, respectively; MCP-1, IL-6, and IL-8 in the supernatant was increased by S100A9. The cytokine secretion induced by S100A9 is related to TLR4, Src, PKCδ, ERK½, p38 MAPK, JNK, and NF-κB. Taken together, S100A9 induces anti-apoptotic effect on normal and allergic neutrophils by increasing cytokine secretion of monocytes. These findings may help us to better understand neutrophil apoptosis regulated by S100A9 and pathogenesis of allergic diseases.

Effect of polymorphisms in the GBP1, Mx1 and CD163 genes on host responses to PRRSV infection in pigs

Niu, P.,Shabir, N.,Khatun, A.,Seo, B.J.,Gu, S.,Lee, S.M.,Lim, S.K.,Kim, K.S.,Kim, W.I. Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co 2016 Veterinary microbiology Vol.182 No.-

<P>Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is the most economically important disease to the swine industry, and effective prevention strategy for this disease is still required. Guanylate-binding protein 1 (GBP1) and myxovirus resistance protein 1 (Mx1) are two important proteins belonging to the GTPase superfamily that have been previously described to show antiviral effects. CD163 is considered the most important receptor for PRRSV attachment and internalization. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of these genes on host resistance against PRRSV infection in conjunction with the host immune response following PRRSV challenge. The results showed that pigs with AG genotype for the GBPI exon2 exhibited a significantly higher average daily weight gain (ADWG) and lower average viremia than AA or GG genotype. Furthermore, pigs harbouring the AG genotype for the GBP1 gene presented greater CD4(+)CD25(+) and CD8(+)CD25(+) T cell populations at 4 and 18 days post challenge (dpc), respectively, as compared with other genotypes whereas pigs with CC genotype for the CD163 gene displayed significantly higher nucleocapsid-specific antibody titers at 11 dpc. However, pigs with a single 11-bp deletion or insertion in the Mx1 gene did not show significant differences in either weight gain or viremia. Based on these results, we concluded that GBPI is most significantly associated with resistance against PRRSV infection and efficient T cell activation in pigs. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>

Confocal imaging of biomarkers at a single-cell resolution: quantifying 'living' in 3D-printable engineered living material based on Pluronic F-127 and yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Žunar Bojan,Ito Taiga,Mosrin Christine,Sugahara Yoshiyuki,Bénédetti Hélène,Guégan Régis,Vallée Béatrice 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Engineered living materials (ELMs) combine living cells with non-living scaffolds to obtain life-like characteristics, such as biosensing, growth, and self-repair. Some ELMs can be 3D-printed and are called bioinks, and their scaffolds are mostly hydrogel-based. One such scaffold is polymer Pluronic F127, a liquid at 4 °C but a biocompatible hydrogel at room temperature. In such thermally-reversible hydrogel, the microorganism-hydrogel interactions remain uncharacterized, making truly durable 3D-bioprinted ELMs elusive.We demonstrate the methodology to assess cell-scaffold interactions by characterizing intact alive yeast cells in cross-linked F127-based hydrogels, using genetically encoded ratiometric biosensors to measure intracellular ATP and cytosolic pH at a single-cell level through confocal imaging.When embedded in hydrogel, cells were ATP-rich, in exponential or stationary phase, and assembled into microcolonies, which sometimes merged into larger superstructures. The hydrogels supported (micro)aerobic conditions and induced a nutrient gradient that limited microcolony size. External compounds could diffuse at least 2.7 mm into the hydrogels, although for optimal yeast growth bioprinted structures should be thinner than 0.6 mm. Moreover, the hydrogels could carry whole-cell copper biosensors, shielding them from contaminations and providing them with nutrients.F127-based hydrogels are promising scaffolds for 3D-bioprinted ELMs, supporting a heterogeneous cell population primarily shaped by nutrient availability.

Efficient synthesis of mibefradil analogues: an insight into <i>in vitro</i> stability

Lee, Ji Eun,Kwon, Tae Hui,Gu, Su Jin,Lee, Duck-Hyung,Kim, B. Moon,Lee, Jae Yeol,Lee, Jae Kyun,Seo, Seon Hee,Pae, Ae Nim,Keum, Gyochang,Cho, Yong Seo,Min, Sun-Joon The Royal Society of Chemistry 2014 Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry Vol.12 No.30

<P>This article describes the synthesis and biological evaluation of a chemical library of mibefradil analogues to investigate the effect of structural modification on <I>in vitro</I> stability. The construction of the dihydrobenzopyran structure in mibefradil derivatives <B>2</B> was achieved through two efficient approaches based on a diastereoselective intermolecular Reformatsky reaction and an intramolecular carbonyl–ene cyclization. In particular, the second strategy through the intramolecular carbonyl–ene reaction led to the formation of a key intermediate <B>3</B> in a short and highly stereoselective way, which has allowed for practical and convenient preparation of analogues <B>2</B>. Using this protocol, we could obtain 22 new mibefradil analogues <B>2</B>, which were biologically tested for <I>in vitro</I> efficacies against T-type calcium channels and metabolic stabilities. Among the synthesized compounds, we found that analogue <B>2aa</B> containing a dihydrobenzopyran ring and a secondary amine linker showed high % remaining activities of the tested CYP enzymes retaining the excellent T-type calcium channel blocking activity. These findings indicated that the structural modification of <B>1</B> was effective for improving <I>in vitro</I> stability, <I>i.e.</I>, reducing CYP inhibition and metabolic degradation.</P> <P>Graphic Abstract</P><P>New mibefradil analogues were synthesized by a diastereoselective intramolecular carbonyl–ene reaction as a key transformation. The structural modification of mibefradil significantly reduced CYP inhibition and microsomal degradation. <IMG SRC='http://pubs.rsc.org/services/images/RSCpubs.ePlatform.Service.FreeContent.ImageService.svc/ImageService/image/GA?id=c4ob00504j'> </P>

Fast 3D ¹H MRSI of the corticospinal tract in pediatric brain

Kim, Dong-Hyun,Gu, Meng,Cunningham, Charles,Chen, Albert,Baumer, Fiona,Glenn, Orit A.,Vigneron, Daniel B.,Spielman, Daniel Mark,Barkovich, Anthony James Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 2009 Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Vol.29 No.1

<B>Purpose</B><P>To develop a <SUP>1</SUP>H magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) sequence that can be used to image infants/children at 3T and by combining it with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography, extract relevant metabolic information corresponding to the corticospinal tract (CST).</P><B>Materials and Methods</B><P>A fast 3D MRSI sequence was developed for pediatric neuroimaging at 3T using spiral k-space readout and dual band RF pulses (32 × 32 × 8 cm field of view [FOV], 1 cc iso-resolution, TR/TE = 1500/130, 6:24 minute scan). Using DTI tractography to identify the motor tracts, spectra were extracted from the CSTs and quantified. Initial data from infants/children with suspected motor delay (n = 5) and age-matched controls (n = 3) were collected and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) ratios were quantified.</P><B>Results</B><P>The average signal-to-noise ratio of the NAA peak from the studies was ≈22. Metabolite profiles were successfully acquired from the CST by using DTI tractography. Decreased NAA ratios in those with motor delay compared to controls of ≈10% at the CST were observed.</P><B>Conclusion</B><P>A fast and robust 3D MRSI technique targeted for pediatric neuroimaging has been developed. By combining with DTI tractography, metabolic information from the CSTs can be retrieved and estimated. By combining DTI and 3D MRSI, spectral information from various tracts can be obtained and processed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:1–6. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.</P>

CDr10b inhibits the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase induced by lipopolysaccharide

Gu, G.J.,Lim, S.J.,Ahn, S.i.,Lee, S.C.,Chang, Y.T.,Choi, T.H.,Kim, B.S.,Eom, Y.B.,Lee, N.K.,Youn, H.S. North-Holland ; Elsevier Science Ltd 2014 european journal of pharmacology Vol.742 No.-

The pathophysiological processes of inflammation can lead to a host of diseases, such as periodontitis, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even cancer. The dysregulated inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) activation play important roles in the development of certain inflammatory diseases. Here, we investigated the effects of CDr10b which is originally developed for a microglia staining probe on inflammation, by modulating NF-κB activation and iNOS and COX-2 expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine macrophages. The CDr10b suppressed NF-κB activation and iNOS and COX-2 expression induced by LPS. All the results suggest that CDr10b is a promising novel agent for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Wettability modification of cyclic olefin copolymer surface and microchannel using micromilling process

Gang, Myeong Gu,Chae, Ki Woon,Kim, Wook-Bae,Jung, Young Hun,Jun, Martin B.G.,Min, Byung-Kwon Elsevier 2019 Journal of manufacturing processes Vol.37 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Microchannels must have appropriate physical (e.g., shape, size and surface roughness) and chemical (e.g., functional groups and wettability) properties to be used in microfluidic devices. In general, microchannels, which are made of polymeric materials, are produced through a molding process and chemically treated to have proper wettability. However, mold fabrication and chemical treatment require a significant amount of time and cost. In this study, we used a micromilling process to fabricate a microchannel on polymer material. The contact angle on the machined surface was changed according to the wettability model by varying the surface roughness controlled by cutting parameters. By mechanical cutting of the naturally hydrophobic polymer, the contact angle could be physically changed from 76° to 109° by changing cutting parameters without any chemical change.</P>

Emergence of room-temperature ferroelectricity at reduced dimensions

Lee, D.,Lu, H.,Gu, Y.,Choi, S.-Y.,Li, S.-D.,Ryu, S.,Paudel, T. R.,Song, K.,Mikheev, E.,Lee, S.,Stemmer, S.,Tenne, D. A.,Oh, S. H.,Tsymbal, E. Y.,Wu, X.,Chen, L.-Q.,Gruverman, A.,Eom, C. B. American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2015 Science Vol.349 No.6254

<P><B>Thinning films induces ferroelectricity</B></P><P>Thin ferroelectric films are needed in computers and medical devices. However, traditional ferroelectric films typically become less and less polarized the thinner the films become. Instead of using a good ferroelectric and making it thinner, Lee <I>et al.</I> started with SrTiO<SUP>3</SUP>, which in its bulk form is not ferroelectric. This material does have naturally occurring nanosized polarized regions. and when the thickness of the SrTiO<SUB>3</SUB> films reaches the typical size of these regions, the whole film aligns and becomes ferroelectric.</P><P><I>Science</I>, this issue p. 1314</P><P>The enhancement of the functional properties of materials at reduced dimensions is crucial for continuous advancements in nanoelectronic applications. Here, we report that the scale reduction leads to the emergence of an important functional property, ferroelectricity, challenging the long-standing notion that ferroelectricity is inevitably suppressed at the scale of a few nanometers. A combination of theoretical calculations, electrical measurements, and structural analyses provides evidence of room-temperature ferroelectricity in strain-free epitaxial nanometer-thick films of otherwise nonferroelectric strontium titanate (SrTiO<SUB>3</SUB>). We show that electrically induced alignment of naturally existing polar nanoregions is responsible for the appearance of a stable net ferroelectric polarization in these films. This finding can be useful for the development of low-dimensional material systems with enhanced functional properties relevant to emerging nanoelectronic devices.</P>