Publications by authors named "Je-Kyung Seong"

Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, poses serious global health risks, including the potential for secondary liver injury related to metabolic enzyme changes.
  • This study explores how prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 affects alcohol-induced liver damage, using transgenic mice that express human ACE2.
  • Results showed that infected mice experienced worsened liver injury after alcohol consumption, with alterations in metabolic enzymes and increased levels of a toxic alcohol byproduct, indicating a complex interaction between COVID-19 and alcohol effects on the liver.
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Importance: The brain and adipose tissue interact metabolically, and if there is a problem with the energy metabolism of the brain, it cannot maintain the energy balance with the adipose tissue. Therefore, when adenylate kinase 5 (), which regulates energy metabolism in the brain, is knocked out, problems with lipid metabolism may occur.

Objective: We aimed to elucidate the metabolic function and phenotype of , a gene with an unknown function in metabolism.

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Background: In the last few decades, numerous efforts have been made to develop a better mouse model to overcome the current limitations of laboratory inbred mouse models such as have a weaker and simpler immune status. As part of these efforts, in Korea, the Hallym university medical genetics research team has been developing a new inbred strain of Korean wild mouse KWM/Hym. It was suggested that this strain, which is derived from wild mice, might be useful for genetic research and may become a valuable tool for overcoming some limitations seen in inbred mice that are currently used in the laboratory.

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Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), attributed to the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has posed global health challenges since it first emerged in 2019, and its impact continues to persist. The neurotropic nature of SARS-CoV-2 remains undisclosed, though researchers are proposing hypotheses on how the virus is transmitted to the central nervous system. One of the prevailing hypotheses is that SARS-CoV-2 travels through the olfactory nerve system via the olfactory epithelium (OE).

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Background/objectives: is a medicinal plant, but the scientific basis is still unclear. This study thoroughly investigated phenols from extract (GLE) to determine their potential as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents.

Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS) were used to analyze the compounds in GLE.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cancer is caused by abnormal cell growth and currently has no definitive cure, leading to several side effects from treatments.
  • Apoptosis, a natural process of programmed cell death, is being researched as a way to control cancer.
  • This review focuses on the anticancer potential of prunetin and its glycoside, prunetin glucoside, specifically how they may trigger cell death mechanisms in different types of cancer.
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Recent studies have focused on identifying novel genes involved in the browning process of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT). In this context, we propose that the mitochondrial ATPase gene lactation elevated 1 (Lace1) utilizes lactate to regulate the browning capacity of iWAT, specifically in response to challenge with CL-316,243 (CL), a beta3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR) agonist. The mice were injected with CL over a span of 3 days and exposed to cold temperatures (4-6 °C) for 1 week.

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  • Myh1 is identified as a mouse gene linked to deafness, with its role in the auditory system still unclear; knockout mice show significant hearing impairment and abnormal hair cell function.
  • Research shows that MYH1 variants in humans contribute to non-progressive hearing loss, with some individuals also experiencing osteopenia.
  • Structural and functional analysis indicates that MYH1 variants disrupt regular activity in outer hair cells, highlighting the gene's essential role in hearing and its genetic connection to hearing loss in affected families.
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Mitochondrial dysfunction induced by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations has been implicated in various human diseases. A comprehensive analysis of mitochondrial genetic disorders requires suitable animal models for human disease studies. While gene knockout via premature stop codons is a powerful method for investigating the unique functions of target genes, achieving knockout of mtDNA has been rare.

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PDGFRA+ cells have been identified as adipocyte stem cells (ASCs) that differentiate into beige adipocytes in white adipose tissue (WAT) following thermogenic stimuli. To elucidate the molecular heterogeneity of ASCs, we conducted single-cell transcriptomic profiling of PDGFRA+ cells isolated from the inguinal WAT (iWAT) of mice treated with the beta3 adrenergic receptor agonist CL316243. Single-cell RNA-seq revealed nine major clusters, which were categorized into four groups: resting, proliferating, differentiating, and adipogenic factor-expressing cells (AFECs).

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Environmental noise is associated with various health outcomes. However, the mechanisms through which these outcomes influence behavior and metabolism remain unclear. This study investigated how environmental noise affects the liver, adipose tissue, and brain metabolic functions, leading to behavioral and body weight changes.

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  • The activation of human immune cells by intestinal microorganisms, like probiotics and prebiotics, is crucial for maintaining a healthy balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria in the gut.
  • Probiotic products are becoming popular, especially for skin health and managing atopic dermatitis (AD), which is linked to immune system reactions and inflammation.
  • A study on anti-atopic substances showed that treatment reduced symptoms of AD by decreasing skin inflammation and improving immune responses, as observed through various tests on experimental animals.
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is a perennial herb found in coastal sand dunes throughout East Asia. This herb has been reported to have hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. It may be effective against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

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Free radical is a marker in various inflammatory diseases. The antioxidant effect protects us from this damage, which also plays an essential role in preventing inflammation. Inflammation protects the body from biological stimuli, and pro-inflammatory mediators are negatively affected in the immune system.

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Article Synopsis
  • Intranasal infection is a common method to study SARS-CoV-2 in mice, but it often results in high mortality rates, limiting research on non-fatal COVID-19 cases.
  • Substituting intranasal administration with aerosolized inhalation shows unique and milder pathological features that align better with COVID-19 symptoms seen in patients, such as chest CT patterns.
  • The research indicates that the inhalation model allows for the study of long COVID and related interventions by mimicking non-fatal COVID-19 conditions more effectively than the intranasal method.
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The biomedical research community addresses reproducibility challenges in animal studies through standardized nomenclature, improved experimental design, transparent reporting, data sharing, and centralized repositories. The ARRIVE guidelines outline documentation standards for laboratory animals in experiments, but genetic information is often incomplete. To remedy this, we propose the Laboratory Animal Genetic Reporting (LAG-R) framework.

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Acetaminophen (APAP), a widely used pain and fever reliever, is a major contributor to drug-induced liver injury, as its toxic metabolites such as NAPQI induce oxidative stress and hepatic necrosis. While N-acetylcysteine serves as the primary treatment for APAP-induced liver injury (AILI), its efficacy is confined to a narrow window of 8-24 h post-APAP overdose. Beyond this window, liver transplantation emerges as the final recourse, prompting ongoing research to pinpoint novel therapeutic targets aimed at enhancing AILI treatment outcomes.

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Background: The overstoring of surplus calories in mature adipocytes causes obesity and abnormal metabolic activity. The anti-obesity effect of a Celosia cristata (CC) total flower extract was assessed in vitro, using 3T3-L1 pre-adipocytes and mouse adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs), and in vivo, using high-fat diet (HFD)-treated C57BL/6 male mice.

Methods: CC extract was co-incubated during adipogenesis in both 3T3-L1 cells and ADSCs.

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Viral load and the duration of viral shedding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are important determinants of the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019. In this study, we examined the effects of viral doses on the lung and spleen of K18-hACE2 transgenic mice by temporal histological and transcriptional analyses. Approximately, 1×10 plaque-forming units (PFU) of SARS-CoV-2 induced strong host responses in the lungs from 2 days post inoculation (dpi) which did not recover until the mice died, whereas responses to the virus were obvious at 5 days, recovering to the basal state by 14 dpi at 1×10 PFU.

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Respiratory viral infection increases host susceptibility to secondary bacterial infections, yet the precise dynamics within airway epithelia remain elusive. Here, we elucidate the pivotal role of CD47 in the airway epithelium during bacterial super-infection. We demonstrated that upon influenza virus infection, CD47 expression was upregulated and localized on the apical surface of ciliated cells within primary human nasal or bronchial epithelial cells.

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Sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1c is involved in cellular lipid homeostasis and cholesterol biosynthesis and is highly increased in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, the molecular mechanism by which SREBP-1c regulates hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation in NASH animal models and patients have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we examined the role of SREBP-1c in NASH and the regulation of LCN2 gene expression.

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Article Synopsis
  • Adipose tissue adjusts to excess calorie intake by using immune cells to replace unhealthy fat cells with new ones, particularly focusing on lipid-associated macrophages (LAMs) that are significant in obesity and inflammatory diseases.
  • The study identifies TM4SF19, a protein found in LAMs, which prevents lysosome acidification; removing this protein enhances the process of clearing out damaged fat cells.
  • Mice without TM4SF19 show more restorative macrophages and adapt to high-fat diets by increasing the number of fat cells (hyperplasia) instead of enlarging them (hypertrophy), leading to better insulin sensitivity and energy use as a possible strategy to fight obesity-related health issues.
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Proper placental development in early pregnancy ensures a positive outcome later on. The developmental relationship between the placenta and embryonic organs, such as the heart, is crucial for a normal pregnancy. However, the mechanism through which the placenta influences the development of embryonic organs remains unclear.

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