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Salivary glands that produce and secrete saliva, which is essential for lubrication, digestion, immunity, and oral homeostasis, consist of diverse cells. The long-term maintenance of diverse salivary gland cells in organoids remains problematic. Here, we establish long-term murine and human salivary gland organoid cultures. Murine and human salivary gland organoids express gland-specific genes and proteins of acinar, myoepithelial, and duct cells, and exhibit gland functions when stimulated with neurotransmitters. Furthermore, human salivary gland organoids are established from isolated basal or luminal cells, retaining their characteristics. Single-cell RNA sequencing also indicates that human salivary gland organoids contain heterogeneous cell types and replicate glandular diversity. Our protocol also enables the generation of tumoroid cultures from benign and malignant salivary gland tumor types, in which tumor-specific gene signatures are well-conserved. In this study, we provide an experimental platform for the exploration of precision medicine in the era of tissue regeneration and anticancer treatment.

Bacillus genus produces several secondary metabolites with biocontrol ability against various phytopathogens. Bacillus velezensis AK-0 (AK-0), an antagonistic strain isolated from Korean ginseng rhizospheric soil, was found to exhibit antagonistic activity against several phytopathogens. To further display the genetic mechanism of the biocontrol traits of AK-0, we report the complete genome sequence of AK-0 and compared it with complete genome sequences of closely related strains. We report the biocontrol activity of AK-0 against apple bitter rot caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, which could lead to commercialization of this strain as a microbial biopesticide in Korea. To retain its biocontrol efficacy for a longer period, AK-0 has been formulated with ingredients for commercialization, named AK-0 product formulation (AK-0PF). AK-0PF played a role in the suppression of the mycelial growth of the fungicide-resistant pathogen C. gloeosporioides YCHH4 at a greater level than the non-treated control. Moreover, AK-0PF exhibited greater disease suppression of bitter rot in matured under field conditions. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of the AK-0 strain, which has a 3,969,429 bp circular chromosome with 3808 genes and a G+C content of 46.5%. The genome sequence of AK-0 provides a greater understanding of the Bacillus species, which displays biocontrol activity via secondary metabolites. The genome has eight potential secondary metabolite biosynthetic clusters, among which, ituD and bacD genes were expressed at a greater level than other genes. This work provides a better understanding of the strain AK-0, as an effective biocontrol agent (BCA) against phytopathogens, including bitter rot in apple.

Smoking cessation aids in restoring lung function. However, whether long-term cessation can fully restore lung function has not been studied thoroughly, especially in Asian countries. This study aimed to evaluate the association between smoking cessation status and obstructive spirometry pattern among Koreans aged 40–79 years. In total, 6,298 men and 8,088 women aged 40–79 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015–2019) were analyzed for smoking cessation status, including the duration after quitting. Current-smokers showed a higher likelihood of having an obstructive spirometry pattern than never-smokers among both men (odds ratio [OR]: 3.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.32–4.29) and women (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.59–4.23). In men, the effect tended to decrease with longer duration after cessation, but male ex-smokers who had quit smoking ≥ 20 years ago still showed a higher likelihood of having an obstructive spirometry pattern than male never-smokers (OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.05–1.89). In female ex-smokers, there was no significant association with the obstructive spirometry pattern, compared to that in female never-smokers. This study emphasizes the benefits of smoking cessation, possibility of long-lasting harm to lung function due to tobacco smoking, and importance of smoking prevention.

Smoking cessation aids in restoring lung function. However, whether long-term cessation can fully restore lung function has not been studied thoroughly, especially in Asian countries. This study aimed to evaluate the association between smoking cessation status and obstructive spirometry pattern among Koreans aged 40–79 years. In total, 6298 men and 8088 women aged 40–79 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015–2019) were analyzed for smoking cessation status, including the duration after quitting. Current-smokers showed a higher likelihood of having an obstructive spirometry pattern than never-smokers among both men (odds ratio [OR]: 3.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.32–4.29) and women (OR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.59–4.23). In men, the effect tended to decrease with longer duration after cessation, but male ex-smokers who had quit smoking ≥ 20 years ago still showed a higher likelihood of having an obstructive spirometry pattern than male never-smokers (OR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.05–1.89). In female ex-smokers, there was no significant association with the obstructive spirometry pattern, compared to that in female never-smokers. This study emphasizes the benefits of smoking cessation, possibility of long-lasting harm to lung function due to tobacco smoking, and importance of smoking prevention.

Objective Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and its receptor MET are expressed in the salivary glands during developmental stages and tumor formation; however, the function of HGF in injured salivary gland tissues remains unclear. The present study investigated the role of HGF in protecting the salivary glands against radiation-induced injury using an organotypic culture method. Materials and methods Acinar-like organoids were formed by means of a three-dimensional (3D) human parotid tissue-derived spheroids (hPTS) culture method. Radioprotective effects of HGF on irradiated hPTS and signaling pathways on radioprotection were investigated. Results We detected MET expression in hPTS grown in a 3D culture. Treatment of irradiated hPTS with recombinant human HGF (rhHGF) restored salivary marker expression and secretory function of hPTS. Changes in the phosphorylation levels of apoptosis-related proteins through HGF-MET axis inhibited radiation-induced apoptosis. Treatment with PHA665752, a MET inhibitor, blocked MET-PI3K-AKT pathway, increased apoptosis, and suppressed the radioprotective effect of rhHGF against IR-induced damage of hPTS. Conclusions These results suggest that HGF is a key effector of radioprotection and that HGF-MET-PI3K-AKT axis is involved in protecting the salivary glands from radiation-induced apoptosis.

The effect of a 60 Hz time-varying electric field was studied using a facing-electrode device (FED) and a coplanar-electrode device (CED) for further investigation of the genotoxicity of 60 Hz time-varying magnetic field (MF) from preceding research. Neither a single 30-minute exposure to the CED or to the FED had any obvious biological effects such as DNA double strand break (DSB) and apoptosis in cancerous SCC25, and HeLa cells, normal primary fibroblast IMR90 cells, while exposures of 60 Hz time-varying MF led to DNA damage with induced electric fields much smaller than those used in this experiment. Nor did repetitive exposures of three days or a continuous exposure of up to 144 hours with the CED induce any DNA damage or apoptosis in either HeLa or IMR90 cells. These results imply that the solitary electric field produced by time-varying MF is not a major cause of DSBs or apoptosis in cancer or normal cells.

Vestibular schwannoma (VS), although a benign intracranial tumor, causes morbidities by brainstem compression. Since chemotherapy is not very effective in most Nf2-negative schwannomas, surgical removal or radiation therapy is required. However, depending on the size and site of the tumor, these approaches may cause loss of auditory or vestibular functions, and severely decrease the post-surgical wellbeing. Here, we examined the feasibility of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) as an intra-operative adjuvant treatment for VS after surgery. Cell death was efficiently induced in both human HEI-193 and mouse SC4 VS cell lines upon exposure to CAP for seven minutes. Interestingly, both apoptosis and necroptosis were simultaneously induced by CAP treatment, and cell death was not completely inhibited by pan-caspase and receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIK1) inhibitors. Upon CAP exposure, cell death phenotype was similarly observed in patient-derived primary VS cells and tumor mass. In addition, CAP exposure after the surgical removal of primary tumor efficiently inhibited tumor recurrence in SC4-grafted mouse models. Collectively, these results strongly suggest that CAP should be developed as an efficient adjuvant treatment for VS after surgery to eliminate the possible remnant tumor cells, and to minimize the surgical area in the brain for post-surgical wellbeing.

Cultural characteristics Lecanicillium lecani Btab01 and its insecticidal activity against tobacco whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) were investigated. On potato dextrose agar, tryptic soy agar and SDA+Y media, mycelial growth of L. lecani Btab01 was best at and suppressed above . Both solid culture and liquid culture of L. lecani Btab01 showed high insecticidal activity, 93.9 and 98.3% respectively, against nymph of tobacco whitefly, but there is no significant difference. When culture of L. lecani Btab01 was treated at the concentration of , , and cfu/ml, their insecticidal activity were 5.8%, 33.8%, 77.3% and 98.5% respectively, and values were 16.1 days, 7.3 days, 5.1 days and 3.5 days respectively. When nymphs were treated by the cultures of L. lecani Btab01 and maintained under saturated condition for zero hour, 24 hours and 168 hours, their control activities were 0%, 20.3% and 100% respectively. Spore germination of L. lecani Btab01 was increased about two times by adding edible oil. When L. lecani Btab01 was treated to control nymph with 0.1% edible oil, it showed high control activity(98.6%) compared to single treatment of L. lecani Btab01 (79.9%).

Nanoporous titanium dioxide () is very attractive material for various applications due to the high surface to volume ratio. In this study, we have fabricated nanoporous thin films on Si by anodic oxidation. 500-nm-thick titanium (Ti) films were deposited on Si by using electron beam evaporation. Nanoporous structures in the Ti films were obtained by anodic oxidization using ethylene glycol electrolytes containing 0.3 wt% and 2 vol% under an applied bias of 5 V. The diameter of nanopores in the Ti films linearly increased with anodization time and the whole Ti layer could become nanoporous after anodizing for 3 hours, resulting in vertically aligned nanotubes with the length of 200~300 nm and the diameter of 50~80 nm. Upon annealing at in air, the anodized Ti films were fully crystallized to of rutile and anatase phases. We believe that our method to fabricate nanoporous films on Si is promising for applications to thin-film gas sensors and thin-film photovoltaics.

Previously, we showed that exposure of human normal and cancer cells to a 6 mT, 60 Hz gradient electromagnetic field (EMF) induced genotoxicity. Here, we investigated the cellular effects of a uniform EMF. Single or repetitive exposure to a 6 mT, 60 Hz uniform EMF neither induced DNA damage nor affected cell viability in HeLa and primary IMR-90 fibroblasts. However, continuous exposure of these cells to an EMF promoted cell proliferation. Cell viability increased 24.4% for HeLa and 15.2% for IMR-90 cells after a total 168 h exposure by subculture. This increase in cell proliferation was directly correlated with EMF strength and exposure time. When further incubated without EMF, cell proliferation slowed down to that of unexposed cells, suggesting that the proliferative effect is reversible. The expression of cell cycle markers increased in cells continuously exposed to an EMF as expected, but the distribution of cells in each stage of the cell cycle did not change. Notably, intracellular reactive oxygen species levels decreased and phosphorylation of Akt and Erk1/2 increased in cells exposed to an EMF, suggesting that reduced levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species play a role in increased proliferation. These results demonstrate that EMF uniformity at an extremely low frequency (ELF) is an important factor in the cellular effects of ELF-EMF.

Objectives/Hypothesis: Autologous dorsal nasal grafts have limitations including limited tissue availability, additional surgery time, donor site morbidity, a visible graft contour, and postoperative distortions and deformities owing to displacement and warping. This report describes our experience using combined Tutoplast-processed fascia lata (TPFL) and crushed cartilage for dorsal augmentation and contouring in rhinoplasty. Study Design: A retrospective clinical chart review. Methods: The study involved a total of 113 patients (68 male, 45 female), who underwent crushed cartilage-TPFL grafting to the nasal dorsum. Patient satisfaction was evaluated using a questionnaire. Photographs and postoperative histories were reviewed to assess complications including graft resorption, graft infection, warping, extrusion, irregularity, and postoperative deformity. Results: Different autologous grafts were used in combination with TPFL: septal cartilage in 70 cases (61.9%), septal cartilage and ethmoid bone in 17 cases (15.0%), costal cartilage in 15 cases (13.3%), and septal and conchal cartilage in 11 cases (9.7%). Of the 101 patients who responded to the questionnaire, 85.1% were satisfied with the surgical outcome. Complications were encountered in four patients (3.5%), comprising overcorrected dorsal augmentation in two patients, graft resorption in one patient, and dorsal irregularity in one patient. Eight patients (7.1%) required revision rhinoplasty due to dissatisfaction with the nasal tip shape (n = 6), graft resorption (n = 1) and overcorrected dorsal augmentation (n = 1). Conclusions: The combined use of crushed cartilage and TPFL appears to be a useful technique for dorsal augmentation and contouring. This technique provides favorable and predictable outcomes in rhinoplasty. Laryngoscope, 2009