Publications by authors named "Gi-Jin Kim"

Age-related ocular diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy are major causes of irreversible vision impairment in the elderly. Conventional treatments focus on symptom relief and disease slowdown, often involving surgery, but fall short of providing a cure, leading to substantial vision loss. Regenerative medicine, particularly mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), holds promise for ocular disease treatment.

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The vascular network contributes to the development of follicles. However, the therapeutic mechanism between vascular remodeling and ovarian functions is still unclear. Therefore, we demonstrated whether increased by placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) improves ovarian function in an ovariectomized rat model via vascular remodeling by signaling activation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Insulin resistance leads to problems with glucose metabolism, which negatively affects ovarian health, but there’s limited research on how glucose affects ovaries.
  • This study aimed to explore how PD-MSCs influence glucose metabolism via the IGFBP2-AMPK signaling pathway and its connection to ovarian function using a rat model with induced injury.
  • Results showed that PD-MSCs significantly boosted the expression of glucose metabolism-related genes and improved ovarian markers and hormone levels, suggesting that IGFBP2 plays a crucial role in enhancing both glucose metabolism and ovarian function.
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Oxidative stress initiates various degenerative diseases, and it is caused by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Oxidative stress is a key factor that causes infertility by inducing ovarian dysfunction, characterized by irregular hormone levels, lower quality of mature follicles, and loss of follicles. Hence, stem cell therapy has been actively studied as an approach to overcome the side effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on ovarian dysfunction.

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In a previous study, we investigated the effects of high-temperature requirement factor A4 (HtrA4) deficiency on trophoblasts using the BeWo KO cell line. However, the effects of this deficiency on angiogenesis remain unclear. To explore the role of HtrA4 in angiogenesis, HUVECs were co-cultured with wild-type BeWo cells (BeWo WT), BeWo KO, and HtrA4-rescued BeWo KO (BeWo KO-HtrA4 rescue) cells.

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Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a highly malignant tumor that is frequently associated with lymph node metastasis, resulting in poor prognosis and survival in patients. In the tumor microenvironment, hypoxia plays an important role in regulating cellular responses such as progressive and rapid growth and metastasis. In these processes, tumor cells autonomously undergo diverse transitions and acquire functions.

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  • Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy can help treat chronic liver disease by improving mitochondrial anaerobic metabolism, which is crucial for liver function.
  • A study created genetically modified bone marrow MSCs (BM-MSCs) that overexpress a protein called PRL-1 to assess their effects on rats with bile duct injury.
  • The modified BM-MSCs showed better antioxidant abilities, increased mitochondrial respiration, and improved liver function, highlighting their potential as a therapy for liver damage.
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Article Synopsis
  • DNA damage repair is essential for cell survival and involves mechanisms linked to antioxidant enzymes like peroxiredoxins (Prxs) and catalase (CAT).
  • Research showed that placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) overexpressing PRL-1 promote liver regeneration and have a significant impact on DNA repair mechanisms.
  • In TAA-injured rat livers, PRL-1(+) cells led to reduced apoptosis, increased antioxidant markers, and decreased levels of DNA damage compared to the non-transplanted control group.
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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are next-generation treatment in degenerative diseases. For the application of mesenchymal stem cell therapy to degenerative disease, transplantation conditions (e.g.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) overexpressing phosphatase regenerating liver-1 (PRL-1) can improve ovarian function and vascular remodeling in a rat model of ovarian insufficiency.
  • - After conducting a series of experiments where naive and PRL-1-overexpressed PD-MSCs were transplanted into ovariectomized rats, findings showed significant improvements in vascular structures and follicle development in the PRL-1 group compared to controls.
  • - The results highlighted that PRL-1 not only enhanced blood vessel formation but also increased the expression of critical growth factors and genes that aid in vascular remodeling and ovarian tissue health.
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Changes in the structure and function of blood vessels are important factors that play a primary role in regeneration of injured organs. WKYMVm has been reported as a therapeutic factor that promotes the migration and proliferation of angiogenic cells. Additionally, we previously demonstrated that placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) induce hepatic regeneration in hepatic failure via antifibrotic effects.

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Background: Cholesterol accumulation and calcium depletion induce hepatic injury via the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response. ER stress regulates the calcium imbalance between the ER and mitochondria. We previously reported that phosphatase of regenerating liver-1 (PRL-1)-overexpressing placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) promoted liver regeneration via mitochondrial dynamics in a cirrhotic rat model.

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Phosphatase of regenerating liver-1 (PRL-1) controls various cellular processes and liver regeneration. However, the roles of PRL-1 in liver regeneration induced by chorionic-plate-derived mesenchymal stem cells (CP-MSCs) transplantation remain unknown. Here, we found that increased PRL-1 expression by CP-MSC transplantation enhanced liver regeneration in a bile duct ligation (BDL) rat model by promoting the migration and proliferation of hepatocytes.

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Carotid artery stenosis is a dynamic process associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. However, knowledge of biomarkers useful for identifying and quantifying high-risk carotid plaques associated with the increased incidence of cerebrovascular events is insufficient. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the expression of ATP binding cassette transporter 1 (ABCA1) and validate its target microRNA (miRNA) candidates in human carotid stenosis arteries to identify its potential as a biomarker.

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Preterm labor (PTL) is one of the obstetric complications, and is known to be associated with abnormal maternal inflammatory response and intrauterine inflammation and/or infection. However, the expression of specific miRNAs associated with PTL is not clear. In this study, we performed combination analysis of miRNA array and gene array, and then selected one miRNA (miR-373-3p) and its putative target genes (CD44 and RDX) that exhibited large expression differences in term and PTL placentas with or without inflammation.

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Retinal degenerative diseases result from oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, leading to the loss of visual acuity. Damaged retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) and photoreceptor cells undergo mitophagy. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) protects from oxidative stress in RPE and improves mitochondrial functions.

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Inflammation is a major cause of several chronic diseases and is reported to be recovered by the immuno-modulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). While most studies have focussed on the anti-inflammatory roles of MSCs in stem cell therapy, the impaired features of MSCs, such as the loss of homeostasis by systemic aging or pathologic conditions, remain incompletely understood. In this study, we investigated whether the altered phenotypes of human placenta-derived MSCs (hPD-MSCs) exposed to inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IFN-γ, could be protected by MIT-001, a small anti-inflammatory and anti-necrotic molecule.

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Background: Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is a disorder, in which orbital connective tissues get in inflammation and increase in volume. Stimulants such as thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), insulin-like growth factor 1(IGF-1), IL-1, interferon γ, and platelet-derived growth factor cause differentiation into adipocytes of orbital fibroblasts (OFs) in the orbital fat and extraocular muscles. Human placental mesenchymal stem cells (hPMSCs) are known to have immune modulation effects on disease pathogenesis.

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Hexapeptide WKYMVm (Trp-Lys-Tyr-Met-Val-D-Met), a ligand of formyl peptide receptor 2, exhibits anti-inflammatory and angiogenic properties in disease models. However, the therapeutic effects of WKYMVm on hepatic fibrosis have not been evaluated to date. Therefore, we investigated whether WKYMVm exerts antifibrotic effects and induces vascular regeneration in a rat model of bile duct ligation (BDL).

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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells with critical roles in homeostasis and regeneration. MSCs undergo aging in response to various stresses, and this causes many diseases including degenerative disorders. Thus, regulation of aging factors is crucial for healthy aging.

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The trophoblast is a critical cell for placental development and embryo implantation in the placenta. We previously reported that placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PD-MSCs) increase trophoblast invasion through several signaling pathways. However, the paracrine effects of PD-MSCs on mitochondrial function in trophoblasts are still unclear.

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Background: Pituitary tumor-transforming gene 1 (PTTG1) was recently shown to be involved in the progression as well as the metastasis of cancers. However, their expression and function in the invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) remain unclear.

Methods: The expressions of PTTG1 and PTTG1-targeted miRNA in oral SCC cell lines and their invasion capability depended on PTTG1 expression were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR, Western blots, the transwell insert system and Zymography.

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Oxidative stress induces damages of various cell types or tissues through a repetitive imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and detoxification of the reactive intermediates. Thioacetamide (TAA) is well known for causing several degenerative diseases by oxidative stress. However, study of the antioxidant mechanisms of stem cells in TAA-injured rat model is insufficient.

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Liver diseases, despite the organ's high regenerative capacity, are caused by several environmental factors and persistent injuries. Their optimal treatment is a liver transplantation. However, this option is limited by donor shortages and immune response issues.

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Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy using gene delivery systems has been suggested for degenerative diseases. Although MSC-based clinical applications are effective and safe, the mode of action remains unclear. Researchers have commonly applied viral-based gene modification because this system has efficient vehicles.

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