Bee Venom-Associated Th1/Th2 Immunoglobulin Class Switching Results in Immune Tolerance of NZB/W F1 Murine Lupus Nephritis

Lee, Hyojung,Lee, Eui-joon,Kim, Hyunseong,Lee, Gihyun,Um, Eun-Jin,Kim, Youngchul,Lee, Boo-Yong,Bae, Hyunsu S. Karger AG 2011 American journal of nephrology Vol.34 No.2

<P>Abstract</P><P><I>Background/Aims:</I> Bee venom (BV) therapy has been used to treat inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis in humans and in experimental animals. This study was conducted to examine the therapeutic effect of BV on established lupus nephritis in New Zealand Black/White (NZB/W) F1 female mice. <I>Methods:</I> Beginning at 18 weeks of age, mice were given a subcutaneous injection of either BV (3 mg/kg BW) or an equal volume of saline once a week until the end of the study. To examine the effect of BV on CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells, splenocytes from NZB/W mice (23 weeks of age) were treated with BV (1 μg/ml) or PBS in the presence of anti-CD3ε (1 μg/ml) and anti-CD28 antibodies (4 μg/ml) for 48 h. <I>Results:</I> BV administration delayed the development of proteinuria to a significant extent, prevented renal inflammation, reduced tubular damage, and reduced immune deposits in the glomeruli. Interestingly, CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells were significantly increased in vitro and in vivo after BV treatment. <I>Conclusion:</I> Collectively, the administration of BV that has immune modulating effects represents an applicable treatment of lupus nephritis in NZB/W F1 mice.</P><P>Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel</P>

5-Lipoxygenase mediates RANKL-induced osteoclast formation via the cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1.

Lee, Jung-Min,Park, Hyojung,Noh, A Long Sae Mi,Kang, Ju-Hee,Chen, Ling,Zheng, Ting,Lee, Juhyun,Ji, Sun-Young,Jang, Chang-Young,Shin, Chan Soo,Ha, Hyunil,Lee, Zang Hee,Park, Hea-Young,Lee, Dong-Seok,Yi American Association of Immunologists 2012 Journal of Immunology Vol. No.

<P>5-Lipoxygenase (5-LO) catalyzes the formation of two major groups of leukotrienes, leukotriene B4 and cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs), and it has been implicated as a promising drug target to treat various inflammatory diseases. However, its role in osteoclastogenesis has not been investigated. In this study, we used mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMs) to show that 5-LO inhibitor suppresses RANKL-induced osteoclast formation. Inhibition of 5-LO was associated with impaired activation of multiple signaling events downstream of RANK, including ERK and p38 phosphorylation, and IκB degradation, followed by a decrease in NFATc1 expression. Ectopic overexpression of a constitutively active form of NFATc1 partly rescued the antiosteoclastogenic effect of 5-LO inhibitor. The knockdown of 5-LO in BMMs also resulted in a significant reduction in RANKL-induced osteoclast formation, accompanied by decreased expression of NFATc1. Similar effects were shown with CysLT receptor (CysLTR)1/2 antagonist and small RNA for CysLTR1 in BMMs, indicating the involvement of CysLT and CysLTR1 in 5-LO-mediated osteoclastogenesis. Finally, 5-LO inhibitor suppressed LPS-induced osteoclast formation and bone loss in the in vivo mouse experiments, suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy for treating diseases involving bone destruction. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate that 5-LO is a key mediator of RANKL-induced osteoclast formation and possibly a novel therapeutic target for bone-resorption diseases.</P>

Cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity is inhibited by Taxilli Ramulus

Lee, Gihyun,Lee, Jun-Ho,Ham, Kyoung Keun,Lee, Hyojung,Kim, Hyunseong,Lee, Hyeonhoon,Hong, Moochang,Shin, Minkyu,Bae, Hyunsu 대한독성유전단백체학회 2012 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.10 No.2

Taxilli Ramulus has been shown have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Cisplatin is the most active cytotoxic anti-cancer drugs. However, the nephrotoxicity of cisplatin limits its use as a therapeutic. In the present study, we examined whether Taxilli Ramulus could protect against cisplatin induced acute renal failure in mice. Taxilli Ramulus were administrated orally once a day for 3 days (150 or 300 mg/kg body wt). After 3 days, all groups of mice received a single dose of cisplatin (25 mg/kg (body wt)) intraperitoneally. Taxilli Ramulus treatment ameliorated renal dysfunction 72 h after cisplatin injection. Taxilli Ramulus treated group had significantly reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines when compared to the control group. These results show that Taxilli Ramulus is a potent herbal medicine that can reduce cisplatin nephrotoxicity. It also demonstrates that Taxilli Ramulus can prevent the renal toxic effects caused by cisplatin.

Rapid Fabrication of Cu/Cu2O/CuO Photoelectrodes by Rapid Thermal Annealing Technique for Efficient Water Splitting Application

Minjeong Lee(Minjeong Lee),Hyojung Bae(Hyojung Bae),Hokyun Rho(Hokyun Rho),Vishal Burungale(Vishal Burungale ),Pratik Mane(Pratik Mane ),Chaewon Seong(Chaewon Seong),Jun-Seok Ha(Jun-Seok Ha) 한국마이크로전자및패키징학회 2020 마이크로전자 및 패키징학회지 Vol.27 No.4

The Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode has been successfully fabricated by Rapid Thermal Annealing technique. The structural characterization of fabricated photoelectrode was performed using X-Ray diffraction, while elemental composition of the prepared material has been checked with X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. The synthesis parameters are optimized on the basis of photoelectrochemical performance. The best photoelectrochemical performance has been observed for the Cu/Cu2O/CuO photoelectrode fabricated at 550 ℃ oxidation temperature and oxidation time of 50 seconds with highest photocurrent density of -3 mA/㎠ at -0.13 V vs. RHE.

농림업 분야 중점 협력국별 국제개발협력 전략 수립 (3차년도): 우간다

이효정(Lee Hyojung),이윤정(Lee Yoonjung),이미나(Lee Mina) 한국농촌경제연구원 2020 한국농촌경제연구원 기본연구보고서 Vol.- No.-

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Lysozyme cDNA From the Mole Cricket Gryllotalpa orientalis (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae)

Kyeongrin Bang,Hyojung Kwon,Minsup Lee,Jiae Lee,Sejung Hwang,Saeyoull Cho 한국응용곤충학회 2014 한국응용곤충학회 학술대회논문집 Vol.2014 No.04

A full-length lysozyme cDNA from Gryllotalpa orientalis was cloned and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of the lysozyme protein was 143 amino acids in length, with a calculated molecular mass of 15.84 kDa and an isoelectric point of 4.74. Sequence motifs, together with alignment and phylogenetic results, confirmed that G. orientalis lysozyme belongs to the C (chicken)-type lysozyme family of proteins. The protein sequence of lysozyme from G. orientalis showed high identity to that of Drosophila melanogaster (51.7%); however, in contrast to D. melanogaster lysozyme, G. orientalis lysozyme was immune inducible and expressed in a wide range of tissues. Expression of G. orientalis lysozyme mRNA was highest at 8 h post-infection and subsequently decreased with time after bacterial infection. We also expressed G. orientalis lysozyme protein in vitro using the pET expression system. Compared with the negative control, over-expressed G. orientalis lysozyme showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis by radial diffusion assay, with MIC values of 30.3 μM and 7.55 μM respectively. These results indicate that G. orientalis lysozyme may have stronger antimicrobial activity than other lysozymes against a broad range of microorganisms.

Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer’s Disease: Methodology and Baseline Sample Characteristics

MinSoo Byun,Dahyun Yi,JunHo Lee,YoungMin Choe,BoKyung Sohn,JunYoung Lee,HyoJung Choi,Hyewon Baek,YuKyeong Kim,YunSang Lee,ChulHo Sohn,Inhee MookJung,Murim Choi,YuJin Lee,DongWoo Lee,SeungHo Ryu,ShinGy 대한신경정신의학회 2017 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.14 No.6

Objective-The Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer’s disease (KBASE) aimed to recruit 650 individuals, aged from 20 to 90 years, to search for new biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and to investigate how multi-faceted lifetime experiences and bodily changes contribute to the brain changes or brain pathologies related to the AD process. Methods-All participants received comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluations, multi-modal brain imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, [11C]Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography (PET), and [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, blood and genetic marker analyses at baseline, and a subset of participants underwent actigraph monitoring and completed a sleep diary. Participants are to be followed annually with clinical and neuropsychological assessments, and biannually with the full KBASE assessment, including neuroimaging and laboratory tests. Results-As of March 2017, in total, 758 individuals had volunteered for this study. Among them, in total, 591 participants-291 cognitively normal (CN) old-aged individuals, 74 CN young- and middle-aged individuals, 139 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 87 individuals with AD dementia (ADD)-were enrolled at baseline, after excluding 162 individuals. A subset of participants (n=275) underwent actigraph monitoring. Conclusion-The KBASE cohort is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study that recruited participants with a wide age range and a wide distribution of cognitive status (CN, MCI, and ADD) and it has several strengths in its design and methodologies. Details of the recruitment, study methodology, and baseline sample characteristics are described in this paper.

Sleep spindles are generated in the absence of T-type calcium channel-mediated low-threshold burst firing of thalamocortical neurons

Lee, Jungryun,Song, Kiyeong,Lee, Kyoobin,Hong, Joohyeon,Lee, Hyojung,Chae, Sangmi,Cheong, Eunji,Shin, Hee-Sup National Academy of Sciences 2013 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF Vol.110 No.50

<P>T-type Ca<SUP>2+</SUP> channels in thalamocortical (TC) neurons have long been considered to play a critical role in the genesis of sleep spindles, one of several TC oscillations. A classical model for TC oscillations states that reciprocal interaction between synaptically connected GABAergic thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) neurons and glutamatergic TC neurons generates oscillations through T-type channel-mediated low-threshold burst firings of neurons in the two nuclei. These oscillations are then transmitted from TC neurons to cortical neurons, contributing to the network of TC oscillations. Unexpectedly, however, we found that both WT and KO mice for <I>Ca<SUB>V</SUB>3.1</I>, the gene for T-type Ca<SUP>2+</SUP> channels in TC neurons, exhibit typical waxing-and-waning sleep spindle waves at a similar occurrence and with similar amplitudes and episode durations during non-rapid eye movement sleep. Single-unit recording in parallel with electroencephalography in vivo confirmed a complete lack of burst firing in the mutant TC neurons. Of particular interest, the tonic spike frequency in TC neurons was significantly increased during spindle periods compared with nonspindle periods in both genotypes. In contrast, no significant change in burst firing frequency between spindle and nonspindle periods was noted in the WT mice. Furthermore, spindle-like oscillations were readily generated within intrathalamic circuits composed solely of TRN and TC neurons in vitro in both the KO mutant and WT mice. Our findings call into question the essential role of low-threshold burst firings in TC neurons and suggest that tonic firing is important for the generation and propagation of spindle oscillations in the TC circuit.</P>

Collaborative accountability for sustainable public health: A Korean perspective on the effective use of ICT-based health risk communication

Lee, Taejun (David),Park, Hyojung,Lee, Junesoo Elsevier 2019 Government information quarterly Vol.36 No.2

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>The sustainability of public health practices requires collaboration between the government and its citizens. On the government's side, social media can provide a conduit for communicating health risk information in an effective and timely fashion, while also engaging citizens in informed decision-making. On the citizen's side, information communication technology (ICT)-based practices cannot function unless citizens recognize and act on their responsibility to actively engage with government social media platforms. Despite an increasing interest in understanding the adoption of ICT practices and e-government services for health risk communication, there remains a crucial need for a comprehensive framework to explain which factors determine citizen use of digital government resources. The purpose of this study is to investigate how to increase government accountability for motivating citizens to engage in ICT-based health risk communication, thereby attaining sustainable public health practices through collaborative governance.</P> <P>By integrating trust and health risk information into the e-government adoption model (GAM), this research examines factors that influence citizens' likelihood of using government social media resources. Survey data from 700 Korean citizens were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that individuals with higher social media competency are more likely to (a) seek risk information through social media and (b) perceive the government's social media sites as easy to use. Consistent with the GAM, intentions to use the government's social media sites for information and interactions appear to increase as citizens perceive more value in using them regarding information quality, ease of use, functional benefit, and security. Furthermore, perceived trust in the government's social media resources appears to function as a mediator of this process. Initial trust in the government is an important determinant of perceptions of its digital resources. Citizens who trust the government tend to evaluate new initiatives positively and are more likely to accept and make use of them.</P> <P>The results of this study can inform policy design and implementation by elucidating the mechanisms that determine citizens' adoption and usage of digital government services. Theoretically, this work expands the GAM to include health risk communication and adds empirical evidence to the small yet growing body of knowledge of e-government initiatives. These findings also highlight the importance of public trust in the government, as this encourages citizens to seek health risk information and assistance from the government. Overall, the data and model generated in this investigation represent an important step toward the successful and sustainable modernization of public services.</P>

High-performance transparent pressure sensors based on sea-urchin shaped metal nanoparticles and polyurethane microdome arrays for real-time monitoring

Lee, Donghwa,Kim, Jongyoun,Kim, Honggi,Heo, Hyojung,Park, Kyutae,Lee, Youngu The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018 Nanoscale Vol.10 No.39

<P>An ultra-sensitive and transparent piezoresistive pressure sensor based on a sea-urchin shaped metal nanoparticle (SSNP)-polyurethane (PU) composite with microdome arrays is successfully fabricated for the first time. The piezoresistive pressure sensor with microdome arrays was prepared using a nanoimprinting process based on an intermediate polymer substrate (IPS) replica mold. It showed a superior sensitivity (71.37 kPa<SUP>−1</SUP>) and a high optical transmittance (77.7% at 550 nm) due to the effective quantum tunneling effect even at small concentrations of conductive SSNP filler (6 mg mL<SUP>−1</SUP>). The high-performance characteristics of the piezoresistive pressure sensor are attributed to the geometric effects of the microdome structure, especially the stress concentration at small contact spots and the deformation of the contact area. The piezoresistive pressure sensor with microdome arrays also exhibited a fast response/relaxation time (30 ms), ultra-low pressure detection (4 Pa), and excellent long-term stability under harsh conditions. In addition, the effectiveness of the piezoresistive pressure sensors in various sensing applications including sensing mapping, human arterial pulse monitoring, and the detection of muscle movement is also successfully demonstrated. It is anticipated that this novel transparent pressure sensor based on a SSNP-PU composite with microdome arrays will be a key component in the development of integrated transparent sensing applications.</P>