Publications by authors named "Im W"

Despite the rapid advancement of glycosidase biotechnology, ginsenoside-transforming rhamnosidases remain underexplored due to a lack of research. In this study, we aimed to bridge this gap by evaluating eight putative rhamnosidases for their ability to transform ginsenosides. Among them, a novel rhamnosidase (C118) from was identified as being efficient at hydrolyzing ginsenoside Re.

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The development of efficient color conversion layers for μ-LED technology faces significant challenges owing to the limitations of materials that require binders. Binders are typically used to ensure uniform film formation in color-conversion layers, but they often cause optical losses, increase layer thickness, and introduce long-term stability issues. To address the limitations of materials requiring binders, cyclopropyltriphenylphosphonium manganese tetrabromide (CPTPMnBr) is synthesized, a novel lead-free metal halide.

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Research on perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) has primarily focused on modulating crystal growth to achieve smaller grain sizes and defect passivation using organic additives. However, challenges remain in controlling the intermolecular interactions between these organic additives and perovskite precursor ions for precise modulation of crystal growth. In this study, we synthesize two triphenylphosphine oxide (TPPO)-based multidentate additives: bidentate hexane-1,6-diyl-bis(oxy-4-triphenylphosphine oxide) (2-TPPO) and tetradentate pentaerythrityl-tetrakis(oxy-4-triphenylphosphine oxide) (4-TPPO).

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The unique properties of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), such as size, surface charge, and the ability to release silver ions, contribute to DNA damage, inducing of oxidative stress, and apoptosis in cancer cells. Thus, the potential application of AgNPs in the field of biomedicine, and cancer therapy are rapidly increasing day by day. Therefore, in this study, AgNPs were synthesized by extract of , and then the synthesized CM-AgNPs were fully characterized.

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Effective cancer therapy aims to treat primary tumors and metastatic and recurrent cancer. Immune checkpoint blockade-mediated immunotherapy has shown promising effects against tumors; however, its efficacy in metastatic or recurrent cancer is limited. Here, based on the advantages of nanomedicine, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that can target tumors are synthesized for photothermal therapy (PTT) and immunotherapy to treat primary and metastatic recurrent cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • Oxidized lipids, specifically KDdiA-PC and KOdiA-PC, are connected to serious health issues like cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure and stroke.
  • The study investigates how these oxidized phosphatidylcholines affect larger lipid bilayer membranes and how cholesterol interacts with them using advanced experimental techniques and simulations.
  • Findings indicate that these oxPCs lead to thinner bilayers with defects and change the bilayer's properties by altering lipid conformations, enhancing our understanding of lipid oxidation's role in heart disease and immune responses.
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Objective: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic radically shifted occupational patterns, leading to increased telecommuting and related stressors. Healthcare providers, among the most impacted group, faced heightened risks and workplace changes. Our study examined the efficacy of forest therapy in alleviating work-induced stress across various professions, exploring the need for profession-specific stress-relief strategies in the post-pandemic workplace.

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There is an increasing demand within the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries for biofriendly lipid-based active ingredient delivery systems. Micelles, liposomes, and lipid nanoparticles are currently the most used systems despite their limitations. Oleosomes, also known as lipid droplets, are promising alternatives to the existing strategies.

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Metastasis and recurrence are the main challenges in cancer treatment. Among various therapeutic approaches, immunotherapy holds promise for preventing metastasis and recurrence. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of treating primary cancer and blocking metastasis and recurrence with photo-immunotherapeutic nanoparticles, which were synthesized using two types of charged polysaccharides.

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Article Synopsis
  • Plastics are increasingly prevalent in our lives, breaking down into microplastics (MPs) that spread in the environment, exposing all living organisms to their effects.* -
  • Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny particles released by cells that aid in communication and can transport proteins and other materials between cells.* -
  • This study found that polystyrene microplastics can be transferred between cells through EVs, suggesting they may contribute to adverse health effects, and highlights the need for further research in this area.*
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Hyperuricemia is a condition when uric acid, a waste product of purine metabolism, accumulates in the blood. Untreated hyperuricemia can lead to crystal formation of monosodium urate in the joints, causing a painful inflammatory disease known as gout. These conditions are associated with many other diseases and affect a significant and increasing proportion of the population.

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Since its inception nearly a half century ago, CHARMM has been playing a central role in computational biochemistry and biophysics. Commensurate with the developments in experimental research and advances in computer hardware, the range of methods and applicability of CHARMM have also grown. This review summarizes major developments that occurred after 2009 when the last review of CHARMM was published.

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Stuttering is a complex speech disorder that is associated with a variety of etiologies, including psychological factors, metabolic disorders, and structural abnormalities. While stuttering is typically not caused by stroke, it is important to include it in the diagnostic evaluation, especially in patients with a history of neurological conditions. Of the clinical presentations of stroke-induced stuttering, transient stuttering following stroke has seldom been documented, as most patients who develop a stutter following a stroke end up developing permanent speech deficits.

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Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for effective therapeutic interventions alongside vaccines, especially given the rapid mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
  • This study investigates the antiviral properties and safety of 6'-Hydroxy justicidin B (6'-HJB), a compound from traditional Chinese medicine, as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
  • Results show that 6'-HJB effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 growth with lower toxicity than remdesivir and has a favorable safety profile in both cell lines and ferrets, indicating it may be a promising therapeutic option.
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Molecular modeling and simulation serve an important role in exploring biological functions of proteins at the molecular level, which is complementary to experiments. CHARMM-GUI (https://www.charmm-gui.

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The surface of a cell is crowded with membrane proteins. The size, shape, density, and mobility of extracellular surface proteins mediate cell surface accessibility to external molecules, viral particles, and other cells. However, predicting these qualities is not always straightforward, even when protein structures are known.

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Cesium lanthanide chloride (CsLnCl), a recently developed class of lanthanide-based zero-dimensional metal halides, has garnered a significant amount of interest because of its potential applications in scintillators, light-emitting diodes, and photodetectors. Although cesium lanthanide chloride demonstrates exceptional scintillator properties, conventional synthesis methods involving solid-state and solution-phase techniques are complex and limited on the reaction scale. This study presents a facile mechanochemical synthesis method for producing CsCeCl, CsTbCl, and CsEuCl metal halides on a 5 g scale.

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Article Synopsis
  • Scientists are working on a way to use a special virus called recombinant adenovirus (rAdV) to deliver genes for gene therapy.
  • However, using high doses of rAdV can cause problems because it might make the immune system attack the virus.
  • In this study, researchers created a new version of rAdV that includes a molecule called nc886, which helps reduce those immune reactions and allows the virus to work better without causing harm.
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Mechanoluminescence (ML) phosphors have found various promising utilizations such as in non-destructive stress sensing, anti-counterfeiting, and bio stress imaging. However, the reported NIR MLs have predominantly been limited to bulky particle size and weak ML intensity, hindering the further practical applications. For this regard, a nano-sized ZnGaO: Cr NIR ML phosphor is synthesized by hydrothermal method.

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Our sensory adaptation to cold and chemically induced coolness is mediated by the intrinsic property of TRPM8 channels to desensitize. TRPM8 is also implicated in cold-evoked pain disorders and migraine, highlighting its inhibitors as an avenue for pain relief. Despite the importance, the mechanisms of TRPM8 desensitization and inhibition remained unclear.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Membrane proteins (MPs) prefer one phase over another, which is measured by the partition coefficient (K), but understanding its physical mechanisms is challenging due to limited structural information.
  • - Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can help investigate MP partitioning, but issues like long equilibration times and large system sizes complicate their application.
  • - A new binary bilayer simulation method (BBS) allows for smaller systems that maintain the lateral packing of two membrane phases, potentially improving the efficiency of partitioning simulations, especially with advancements in lipid swapping techniques.
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Nanomedicines hold promise for the treatment of various diseases. However, treating cancer metastasis remains highly challenging. In this study, we synthesized gold nanorods (AuNRs) containing (α-GC), an immune stimulator, for the treatment of primary cancer, metastasis, and recurrence of the cancer.

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Alchemical relative binding free energy (ΔΔ) calculations have shown high accuracy in predicting ligand binding affinity and have been used as important tools in computer-aided drug discovery and design. However, there has been limited research on the application of ΔΔ methods to membrane proteins despite the fact that these proteins represent a significant proportion of drug targets, play crucial roles in biological processes, and are implicated in numerous diseases. In this study, to predict the binding affinity of ligands to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), we employed two ΔΔ calculation methods: thermodynamic integration (TI) with AMBER and the alchemical transfer method (AToM) with OpenMM.

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Atomic-scale molecular modeling and simulation are powerful tools for computational biology. However, constructing models with large, densely packed molecules, non-water solvents, or with combinations of multiple biomembranes, polymers, and nanomaterials remains challenging and requires significant time and expertise. Furthermore, existing tools do not support such assemblies under the periodic boundary conditions (PBC) necessary for molecular simulation.

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