Publications by authors named "H-J An"

Article Synopsis
  • - The aging process of the brain is affected by lifestyle, environmental, genetic factors, and age-related diseases, with advanced imaging and AI techniques helping to reveal the complexities of neuroanatomical changes.
  • - A study involving nearly 50,000 participants identified five major patterns of brain atrophy, which are quantified using R-indices to analyze their connections to various biomedical, lifestyle, and genetic factors.
  • - These R-indices not only predict disease progression and mortality but also offer a new, nuanced framework for understanding brain aging, which may enhance personalized diagnostics and improve clinical trial strategies.
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Cascade-reaction containers generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) as an alternative for antibiotic-based strategies for bacterial infection control, require endogenous oxygen-sources and ROS-generation close to or preferably inside target bacteria. Here, this is achieved by cetyltrimethylammonium-chloride (CTAC) assisted in situ metabolic labeling and incorporation of mesoporous SiO-nanoparticles, dual-loaded with glucose-oxidase and FeO-nanoparticles as cascade-reaction containers, inside bacterial cell walls. First, azide-functionalized d-alanine (D-Ala-N) was inserted in cell wall peptidoglycan layers of growing Gram-positive pathogens.

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Brain aging is a complex process influenced by various lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors, as well as by age-related and often co-existing pathologies. MRI and, more recently, AI methods have been instrumental in understanding the neuroanatomical changes that occur during aging in large and diverse populations. However, the multiplicity and mutual overlap of both pathologic processes and affected brain regions make it difficult to precisely characterize the underlying neurodegenerative profile of an individual from an MRI scan.

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  • The study examined how fluctuations in blood sugar levels (glycemic variability) relate to brain health markers, such as white matter hyperintensities and beta-amyloid plaques, as well as cognitive decline.
  • Results indicated that higher glycemic variability was linked to a greater presence of severe white matter changes and increased beta-amyloid accumulation.
  • Additionally, these brain changes partially influenced the relationship between glycemic variability and cognitive functions like memory and executive function.
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  • Radiotherapy (RT) is a key treatment for cancer, but expanding its use is difficult; researchers explored how microparticles released by irradiated tumor cells can mimic RT's effects and activate the immune system.
  • By engineering these microparticles with specific cytokines and chemokines, the study found that certain combinations significantly improved immune responses and led to cancer remission in advanced cases, particularly in mice with malignant pleural effusion.
  • The engineered microparticles, when used with a PD-1 monoclonal antibody, achieved a 60% cure rate by activating immune cells like CD8 T cells and macrophages, presenting a potential new approach for treating hard-to-treat cancers.
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Oncolytic viruses are of significant clinical interest due to their ability to directly infect and kill tumors and enhance the anti-tumor immune response. Previously, we developed KLS-3010, a novel oncolytic virus derived from the International Health Department-White (IHD-W) strain vaccinia virus, which has robust tumoricidal effects. In the present study, we generated a recombinant oncolytic virus, KLS-3020, by inserting three transgenes (hyaluronidase [PH-20], interleukin-12 [IL-12], and soluble programmed cell death 1 fused to the Fc domain [sPD1-Fc]) into KLS-3010 and investigated its anti-tumor efficacy and ability to induce anti-tumor immune responses in CT26.

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Methylation patterns in cell-free DNA (cfDNA) have emerged as a promising genomic feature for detecting the presence of cancer and determining its origin. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme digestion followed by sequencing (MRE-Seq) using cfDNA, and to investigate the cancer signal origin (CSO) of the cancer using a deep neural network (DNN) analyses for liquid biopsy of colorectal and lung cancer. We developed a selective MRE-Seq method with DNN learning-based prediction model using demethylated-sequence-depth patterns from 63,266 CpG sites using SacII enzyme digestion.

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  • Catecholamine-stimulated β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) signaling controls various physiological functions and impacts airway disease treatments, primarily through a well-known pathway involving G-adenylyl cyclase, cAMP, and PKA.
  • Regulation of βAR signaling is influenced by GRKs and β-arrestins, which can lead to desensitization and alternative signaling that counteracts the primary pathway, presenting a challenge for maximizing βAR therapy effectiveness.
  • A small molecule screen identified DFPQ, which selectively inhibits β-arrestin recruitment to βAR without disrupting its coupling to G proteins, offering a potential therapeutic advantage by preventing receptor desensitization and maintaining the efficacy of β
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  • Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal cancer with a low 5-year survival rate, largely due to its heterogeneity and rapid spread.
  • Recent studies indicate that the overexpression of Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) in PDAC is linked to poorer patient prognosis, making it a target for anti-cancer therapy.
  • The combination of the PRMT5 inhibitor T1-44 and the TGF-β1 signaling inhibitor Vactosertib has shown enhanced effectiveness by reducing tumor size and improving survival rates, while disrupting pathways related to cancer progression, particularly through the activation of the tumor suppressor Btg2.
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IgE is central to the development of allergic diseases, and its neutralization alleviates allergic symptoms. However, most of these antibodies are based on IgG1, which is associated with an increased risk of fragment crystallizable-mediated side effects. Moreover, omalizumab, an anti-IgE antibody approved for therapeutic use, has limited benefits for patients with high IgE levels.

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Subunit influenza vaccine only formulated with surface antigen proteins has better safety profiles relative to split-virion influenza vaccine. Compared to the traditional quadrivalent split-virion influenza vaccine, a novel quadrivalent subunit influenza vaccine is urgently needed in China. We completed a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, active-controlled, non-inferiority clinical study at two sites in Henan Province, China.

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Cascade-reaction chemistry can generate reactive-oxygen-species that can be used for the eradication of infectious biofilms. However, suitable and sufficient oxygen sources are not always available near an infection site, while the reactive-oxygen-species generated are short-lived. Therefore, we developed a magnetic cascade-reaction container composed of mesoporous FeO@SiO nanoparticles containing glucose-oxidase and l-arginine for generation of reactive-oxygen-species.

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Diabetic foot ulcers infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria form a severe complication of diabetes. Antimicrobial-loaded hydrogels are used as a dressing for infected wounds, but the ongoing rise in the number of antimicrobial-resistant infections necessitates new, nonantibiotic based designs. Here, a guanosine-quadruplex (G )-hydrogel composed of guanosine, 2-formylphenylboronic acid, and putrescine is designed and used as a cascade-reaction container.

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Introduction: Gastrointestinal endoscopic quality is operator-dependent. To ensure the endoscopy quality, we constructed an endoscopic audit and feedback system named Endo.Adm and evaluated its effect in a form of pretest and posttest trial.

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Mammalian brain glycome remains a relatively poorly understood area compared to other large-scale "omics" studies, such as genomics and transcriptomics due to the inherent complexity and heterogeneity of glycan structure and properties. Here, we first performed spatial and temporal analysis of glycome expression patterns in the mammalian brain using a cutting-edge experimental tool based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, with the ultimate aim to yield valuable implications on molecular events regarding brain functions and development. We observed an apparent diversity in the glycome expression patterns, which is spatially well-preserved among nine different brain regions in mouse.

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Objective: To identify whether somatic mutations in alter N-glycan structures in human brain tissues and cause nonlesional focal epilepsy (NLFE) or mild malformation of cortical development (mMCD).

Methods: Deep whole exome and targeted sequencing analyses were conducted for matched brain and blood tissues from patients with intractable NLFE and patients with mMCD who are negative for mutations in mTOR pathway genes. Furthermore, tissue glyco-capture and nanoLC/mass spectrometry analysis were performed to examine N-glycosylation in affected brain tissue.

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Eleven previously undescribed limonoids, trichisins A-K, including eight structural analogues A-H of trijugin and three H-J mexicanolide derivatives, together with two known mexicanolide derivatives were isolated from the fruits of Heynea trijuga Roxb. ex Sims. The structure determination was based on extensive physical data analyses (NMR, MS), and their basic skeletons and the absolute configurations of trichisins A, B, E, K and trichiconnarone A were assigned via X-ray crystallographic analysis (Cu Kα radiation).

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Isolated methylmalonic acidemia/aciduria (MMA) is a devastating metabolic disorder with poor outcomes despite current medical treatments. Like other mitochondrial enzymopathies, enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) is not available, and although promising, AAV gene therapy can be limited by pre-existing immunity and has been associated with genotoxicity in mice. To develop a new class of therapy for MMA, we generated a pseudoU-modified codon-optimized mRNA encoding human methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (hMUT), the enzyme most frequently mutated in MMA, and encapsulated it into biodegradable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs).

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We studied the contribution of Duox2 in mucosal host defense against influenza A virus (IAV) infection in in vivo lung. We found that Duox2 was required for the induction of type I and III interferon (IFN)s and transient Duox2 overexpression using cationic polymer polyethyleneimine (PEI) leads to suppression of IAV infection in in vivo lung. Twenty mice (C57BL/6J) were anesthetized and challenged by intranasal administration of 213 pfu/30 μl of IAV (WS/33/H1N1), and IAV-infected mice were euthanized at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14 days post infection (dpi).

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Background And Purpose: It is uncertain whether hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after large cerebral infarction is less frequent in dabigatran users than warfarin users. We compared the occurrence of HT after large cerebral infarction among rats pretreated with dabigatran, warfarin, or placebo.

Methods: This was a triple-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled experiment.

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Seed shattering is an agronomically important trait. Two major domestication factors are responsible for this: qSH1 and SH5. Whereas qSH1 functions in cell differentiation in the abscission zone (AZ), a major role of SH5 is the repression of lignin deposition.

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Purpose To compare the diagnostic performances of contrast agent-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced liver magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (referred to as EOB MR imaging) in the evaluation of disappearing colorectal liver metastases (CRLMs) after chemotherapy. Materials and Methods The eight institutional review boards approved this retrospective study and waived the requirement for informed consent. On the basis of retrospective searches in eight hospitals, 87 patients with 393 CRLMs, each patient with one or more CRLM that later disappeared on contrast-enhanced CT scans after chemotherapy, and subsequently underwent surgery for the CRLMs, were enrolled.

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Rationale: Direct conversion or reprogramming of human postnatal cells into endothelial cells (ECs), bypassing stem or progenitor cell status, is crucial for regenerative medicine, cell therapy, and pathophysiological investigation but has remained largely unexplored.

Objective: We sought to directly reprogram human postnatal dermal fibroblasts to ECs with vasculogenic and endothelial transcription factors and determine their vascularizing and therapeutic potential.

Methods And Results: We utilized various combinations of 7 EC transcription factors to transduce human postnatal dermal fibroblasts and found that ER71/ETV2 (ETS variant 2) alone best induced endothelial features.

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Three new butenolides aspernolides H-J (-) together with seven known ones (-) were isolated from the fungus sp. CBS-P-2. Their chemical structures were established on the basis of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopic data, HR-ESI-MS analysis, and their absolute configuration were determined by circular dichroism (CD) analysis.

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