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JC polyomavirus (JCPyV)는 viral group I, Polyomaviridae로 분류되는 사람 병원성 바이러스 이다. JCPyV는 최근 하수 등 수질오염 지표로 제안됨에 따라 수질환경에서 모니터링 필요성이 제기되고 있다. 임상 및 환경 시료 중 JCPyV 검출을 위해서 PCR 시스템이 사용되어 왔다. 그러나 신속하고 높은 검출 민감도를 가진 방법의 필요성에 따라 이번 연구에서는 등온증폭 프라이머 조합을 개발하였다. 이번에 개발한 방법은 기존 PCR 시스템에 비해 더욱 신속 및 약 10배 더 높은 검출 민감도를 보여주었다. 또한 본 연구에서 개발한 검출 방법의 재 검정을 위해서 HaeIII 제한효소를 이용한 방법을 함께 고안하였다. 따라서 이번 연구는 임상, 환경 등의 시료에서 JCPyV를 모니터링 하기 위한 방법으로 활용이 기대된다.

Background and Objectives: acute kidney injury (AKI), formerly called acute renal failure (ARF), is commonly defined as an abrupt decline in renal function, clinically manifesting as a reversible acute increase in nitrogen waste products—measured by blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine levels—over the course of hours to weeks. AKI occurs in about 20% of all hospitalized patients and is more common in the elderly. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the occurrence of AKI, and to detect and treat early, since it is known that a prolonged period of kidney injury increases cardiovascular complications and the risk of death. Despite advances in modern medicine, there are no consistent treatment strategies for preventing the progression to chronic kidney disease. Through many studies, the safety and efficacy of natural products have been proven, and based on this, the time and cost required for new drug development can be reduced. In addition, research results on natural products are highly anticipated in the prevention and treatment of various diseases. In relation to AKI, many papers have reported that many natural products can prevent and treat AKI. Conclusions: in this paper, the results of studies on natural products related to AKI were found and summarized, and the mechanism by which the efficacy of AKI was demonstrated was reviewed. Many natural products show that AKI can be prevented and treated, suggesting that these natural products can help to develop new drugs. In addition, we may be helpful to elucidate additional mechanisms and meta-analysis in future natural product studies.

The prostatic hyperplasia in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) leads to obstructive micturition symptoms. Previous studies showed that pontine micturition center (PMC), ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), and medial preopticnucleus (MPA) regions in the brain have been known to regulate the urinary bladder function. The present study shows the influences of Panax ginseng on nerve growth factor (NGF) expressions in PMC, vlPAG, and MPA regions in the brain. Wistar rats were used for the present study. The rats split into four groups; 4 groups (n=6) in control group, BPH-induced group, BPH-induced and P. ginseng-treated group, and BPH-induced and finasteride-treated group. BPH in rats was induced by testosterone and the animals were evaluated for NGF expression in PMC, vlPAG, and MPA regions in the brain. The NGF expression was identified using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The NGF expression by IHC showed spots with dark brown color. In our results, NGF expressions in PMC, vlPAG, and MPA regions in the brainstem of the BPH-induced group showed increase than the control animal. These increased NGF expressions in three regions were decreased using treatment with P. ginseng (200mg/kg). These results suggest that P. ginseng has therapeutic effects on the symptoms of BPH and is associated with the regulation of NGF expression in the brain. In conclusion, the administration of P. ginseng helps nerve growth factor activation.

Objective Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is the core enzyme in the renin–angiotensin system (RAS), which catalyzes the production of angiotensin II (Ang II). The aim of this study was to determine whether ACE gene is associated with the development of the periodontal disease. Design To investigate whether ACE is involved in the development of the periodontal disease, 199 periodontal disease patients and 165 control subjects were studied. The ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). SNPStats and SPSS 18.0 were used for the analysis of genetic data. Logistic regression models were performed to determine odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI), and P value. Results Genotypic frequencies of I/I, I/D, and D/D were 25.4%, 42.3%, and 32.3% vs . 35.3%, 41.7%, and 23.1% (periodontal disease group vs . control group), respectively. In the genotype analysis of the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism, codominant and log-additive models both showed significant association with periodontal disease [OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.05–3.61, P = 0.036 in the codominant model (I/I vs . D/D); OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02–1.90, P = 0.034 in the log-additive model (I/I vs . I/D vs . D/D)]. Conclusions These results suggest that the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism may be associated with the susceptibility to the periodontal disease in the Korean population.

Prostaglandins (PGs) play pathogenic and protective roles in inflammatory diseases. The novel concept of PGs as immune modulators is being documented by several investigators. By establishing an in vitro experimental model containing human follicular dendritic cell-like cells, HK cells, we reported that HK cells produce prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) and prostaglandin I 2 (PGI 2 ) and that these PGs regulate biological functions of T and B cells. Methods: To investigate the respective contribution of cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and COX-2 to PGE 2 and PGI 2 production in HK cells, we performed siRNA technology to knock down COX enzymes and examined the effect on PG production. Results: Both PGE 2 and PGI 2 productions were almost completely inhibited by the depletion of COX-2. In contrast, COX-1 knockdown did not significantly affect PG production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Conclusion: The current results suggest that mPGES-1 and PGIS are coupled with COX-2 but not with COX-1 in human follicular dendritic cell (FDC) and may help understand the potential effects of selective COX inhibitors on the humoral immunity.

The association between matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) gene polymorphisms and cancer risk has been investigated in many published studies; however, the currently available results are inconclusive. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to provide conclusive evidence for an association between the MMP2 polymorphism (-735 C/T) and cancer risk. Sixteen case-control studies with 11792 individuals were included in this meta-analysis. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were used to investigate the strength of the association. Overall, the MMP2 polymorphism (-735 C/T) was not associated with cancer risk in any of the models. However, the subgroup analysis revealed that dominant model (C/T+T/T vs. C/C: OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.01-1.53) and codominant 1 model (C/T vs. C/C: OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.05-1.62) were significantly associated with cancer risk in the Caucasian population. In conclusion, our meta-analysis indicated that the MMP2 polymorphism (-735 C/T) might be genetic risk factor for the carcinogenesis in Caucasians. However, more studies with a larger sample size are needed to provide more precise evidence.

Hwa Jung Ryu,1,* Mu Yeb Seo,2,* Sung Kyu Jung,1 Eun Ho Maeng,2 Seung-Young Lee,2 Dong-Hyouk Jang,2 Taek-Jin Lee,2 Ki-Yeon Jo,2 Yu-Ri Kim,3 Kyu-Bong Cho,4 Meyoung-Kon Kim,3 Beom Jun Lee,5 Sang Wook Son1 1Department of Dermatology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, 2Korea Testing and Research Institute, Gyunggido, 3Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, 4Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, Shinheung College, Uijeongbu, 5College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Republic of Korea *These authors contributed equally to this work and both should be considered first authors Abstract: Zinc oxide (ZnO) works as a long-lasting, broad-spectrum physical sunblock, and can prevent skin cancer, sunburn, and photoaging. Nanosized ZnO particles are used often in sunscreens due to consumer preference over larger sizes, which appear opaque when dermally applied. Although the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of nanoparticles (NPs) in sunscreens in 1999, there are ongoing safety concerns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the subchronic toxicity of ZnO NPs after dermal application according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Test Guidelines 411using Good Laboratory Practice. Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into eight (one control, one vehicle control, three experimental, and three recovery) groups. Different concentrations of ZnO NPs were dermally applied to the rats in the experimental groups for 90days. Clinical observations as well as weight and food consumption were measured and recorded daily. Hematology and biochemistry parameters were determined. Gross pathologic and histopathologic examinations were performed on selected tissues from all animals. Analyses of tissue were undertaken to determine target organ tissue distribution. There was no increased mortality in the experimental group. Although there was dose-dependent irritation at the site of application, there were no abnormal findings related to ZnO NPs in other organs. Increased concentrations of ZnO in the liver, small intestine, large intestine, and feces were thought to result from oral ingestion of ZnO NPs via licking. Penetration of ZnO NPs through the skin seemed to be limited via the dermal route. This study demonstrates that there was no observed adverse effect of ZnO NPs up to 1,000 mg/kg body weight when they are applied dermally. Keywords: zinc oxide, nanoparticles, subchronic toxicity, dermal exposure

In mobile computing the location information of the objects is an important factor in providing customized services to the users. The location-based service (LBS) is one of the technologies providing the services adoptively according to the changed user position. The existing filtering technology employed in the typical pub/sub model has some drawbacks such as useless connection and wasted queue space. In this paper we propose an efficient and dynamic location- based event service solving these problems. It is achieved by employing location monitor which dynamically manages the event channel. Performance evaluation shows that the proposed scheme provides much higher performance than the existing scheme when the number of suppliers is larger than six.

Hwa Jung Ryu,1,* Nak-won Seong,2,* Byoung Joon So,1 Heung-sik Seo,2 Jun-ho Kim,2 Jeong-Sup Hong,2 Myeong-kyu Park,2 Min-Seok Kim,2 Yu-Ri Kim,3 Kyu-Bong Cho,4 Mu yeb Seo,2 Meyoung-Kon Kim,3 Eun Ho Maeng,2 Sang Wook Son1 1Department of Dermatology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; 2Korea Testing and Research Institute, Gyunggi-Do, South Korea; 3Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; 4Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, Shinheung College, Uijeongbu, South Korea *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Silica is a very common material that can be found in both crystalline and amorphous forms. Well-known toxicities of the lung can occur after exposure to the crystalline form of silica. However, the toxicities of the amorphous form of silica have not been thoroughly studied. Themajority of in vivo studies of amorphous silica nanoparticles (NPs) were performed using an inhalation exposure method. Since silica NPs can be commonly administered through the skin, a study of dermal silica toxicity was necessary to determine any harmful effects from dermal exposures. The present study focused on the results of systemic toxicity after applying20nm colloidal silica NPs on rat skin for90days, in accordance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development test guideline411with a good laboratory practice system. Unlike the inhalation route or gastrointestinal route, the contact of silica NPs through skin did not result in any toxicity or any change in internal organs up to a dose of2,000mg/kg in rats. Keywords: silica nanoparticles, toxicity, dermal route

Background: The chemical characteristics of the exo-secretion from Phellinus linteus (referred to as exo-secretion) including the compositions of amino acids and monosaccharides were investigated. In addition, cytotoxicity of the exo-secretion on 5 tumor cell lines derived from human cancers and its...