Publications by authors named "Jin-Ku Kang"

Article Synopsis
  • Obesity leads to type 2 diabetes (T2D) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with increased levels of a protein called Kctd17 in the livers of obese individuals being linked to these conditions.
  • In experiments with genetically modified mice and CRISPR technology, researchers found that elevated Kctd17 levels worsen glucose and lipid metabolism, while reducing Kctd17 improved these metabolic functions.
  • The study suggests that Kctd17 promotes metabolic disturbances by stabilizing another protein called Chrebp, indicating that targeting Kctd17 could be a potential new treatment for obesity-related metabolic diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major cause of cancer deaths, primarily occurring in patients with chronic liver disease and advanced fibrosis, with hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) playing a significant role.
  • Research on mouse models showed that HSCs have a tumor-promoting function, interacting with liver cells to influence both liver cell (hepatocyte) growth and death during HCC development.
  • A shift in HSC types during liver disease progression leads to increased HCC risk, where protective mediators become less active while tumor-promoting factors gain dominance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A 71-year-old man had a serious liver issue with symptoms like fever and abdominal pain, and doctors thought it might be liver cancer at first.
  • After tests showed some problems in his liver, doctors treated him with antibiotics and then did surgery, discovering he had a pyogenic liver abscess (PLA) that had burst.
  • The patient got better, stayed in the hospital for 13 days, and later check-ups showed he was completely healthy again, highlighting the importance of careful diagnosis and treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Increased fat in the body raises the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood.
  • Researchers found that a protein called PHLPP2 is elevated in fat cells of obese mice, which led them to create mice that lack this protein specifically in fat cells.
  • These knockout mice had lower fat and better glucose control on a high-fat diet, suggesting that targeting PHLPP2 could improve metabolism by enhancing fat breakdown and increasing beneficial factors like adiponectin, which may help reduce obesity-related liver issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lightwand is a convenient tool that can be used instead of a laryngoscope for intubation. Tracheal intubation causes direct stimulation of the larynx, drastically increasing hemodynamic values including blood pressure and heart rate. This study aims to identify the effect of different doses of esmolol on hemodynamic changes during lightwand intubation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Primary repair of acute ligament injury is possible due to the proximity of the ends. In the case of chronic injury, however, primary repair is difficult because the ends of ruptured ligament will have receded, and tendon graft, transfer, or reconstruction is needed. Satisfactory clinical results have been reported after reconstruction with newly formed interposed scar tissue between the ends of the ruptured tendon in chronic Achilles tendon injury and chronic extensor halluces longus (EHL) tendon injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Tarsal tunnel syndrome (TTS) is a compressive neuropathy of the posterior tibial nerve and its branches. Tarsal coalition is defined as a fibrous, cartilaginous, or osseous bridging of 2 or more tarsal bones. TTS with tarsal coalition is uncommon.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

As the prevalence of obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) continue to increase, the need for pharmacologic therapies becomes urgent. However, endeavors to identify and develop novel therapeutic strategies for these chronic conditions are balanced by the need for safety, impeding clinical translation. One shared pathology of these two diseases is a maladaptive reactivation of the Notch signaling pathway in liver.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Hepatic γ-secretase plays a crucial role in regulating LDLR cleavage and the breakdown of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins, impacting fat metabolism in the body.
  • The study examined whether inhibiting γ-secretase would affect the risk of liver fat accumulation, abnormal lipid levels, and artery hardening when mice were fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet.
  • Results showed that γ-secretase inhibition significantly lowered cholesterol levels, reduced liver fat content, and improved other metabolic markers in the mice, suggesting it could help address diet-related metabolic issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Hereditary multiple exostoses (HME) is an autosomal dominant disease that causes multiple exostoses throughout the body. It usually occurs around the metaphysis of the long bones, and when it involves the hip, symptoms arise due to deformity and the mass effect. If the lesion does not involve the joint or is not associated with arthritis, symptoms can be relieved by surgical excision of the osteochondroma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Insulin resistance, a key etiological factor in metabolic syndrome, is closely linked to ectopic lipid accumulation and increased intracellular Ca concentrations in muscle and liver. However, the mechanism by which dysregulated intracellular Ca homeostasis causes insulin resistance remains elusive. Here, we show that increased intracellular Ca acts as a negative regulator of insulin signaling.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Many reports have shown that crude extracts of the American cockroach have therapeutic effects on inflammation. In a previous study, our research group showed that an antimicrobial peptide (Periplanetasin-2) derived from the American cockroach via de novo transcriptome analysis inhibited apoptosis of human colonocytes and inflammatory responses of the mouse gut caused by Clostridium difficile toxin A. Here, we examined whether Periplanetasin-4 (Peri-4), another antimicrobial peptide identified via de novo transcriptome analysis of the American cockroach, could also inhibit the various toxicities induced by C.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

releases two exotoxins, toxin A and toxin B, which disrupt the epithelial cell barrier in the gut to increase mucosal permeability and trigger inflammation with severe diarrhea. Many studies have suggested that enteric nerves are also directly involved in the progression of this toxin-mediated inflammation and diarrhea. toxin A is known to enhance neurotransmitter secretion, increase gut motility, and suppress sympathetic neurotransmission in the guinea pig colitis model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

, which causes pseudomembranous colitis, releases toxin A and toxin B. These toxins are considered to be the main causative agents for the disease pathogenesis, and their expression is associated with a marked increase of apoptosis in mucosal epithelial cells. Colonic epithelial cells are believed to form a physical barrier between the lumen and the submucosa, and abnormally increased mucosal epithelial cell apoptosis is considered to be an initial step in gut inflammation responses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Herpes Zoster is a disease that occurs after the virus is reactivated due to infection of the varicella virus in childhood. Risk factors are advanced age, malignant neoplasm, organ transplantation, immunosuppressive agents taking are known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the seasonal effect and other risk factors on the incidence of herpes zoster.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phytate is an antinutritional factor that impacts the bioavailability of essential minerals such as Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Mn(2+), Zn(2+), and Fe(2+) by forming insoluble mineral-phytate salts. These insoluble mineral-phytate salts are hydrolyzed rarely by monogastric animals, because they lack the hydrolyzing phytases and thus excrete the majority of them. The β-propeller phytases (BPPs) hydrolyze these insoluble mineral-phytate salts efficiently.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clostridium difficile causes mucosal damage and diarrhea by releasing two exotoxins: toxin A and toxin B. C. difficile colitis is associated with alterations in bowel flora and the failure to mount an effective antibody response.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

NADH:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is known to be involved in the regulation of energy synthesis and metabolism, and the functional studies of NQO1 have largely focused on metabolic disorders. Here, we show for the first time that compared to NQO1-WT mice, NQO1-KO mice exhibited a marked increase of permeability and spontaneous inflammation in the gut. In the DSS-induced colitis model, NQO1-KO mice showed more severe inflammatory responses than NQO1-WT mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We recently demonstrated that the antibacterial peptide, CopA3 (a D-type disulfide dimer peptide, LLCIALRKK), inhibits LPS-induced macrophage activation and also has anticancer activity in leukemia cells. Here, we examined whether CopA3 could affect neuronal cell proliferation. We found that CopA3 time-dependently increased cell proliferation by up to 31 ± 2% in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, and up to 29 ± 2% in neural stem cells isolated from neonatal mouse brains.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Previously, we demonstrated that the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) is present on fibroblasts, where it regulates focal contact. Here, we assessed whether this action of EpoR is involved in the reduced cell adhesion observed in colonocytes exposed to Clostridium difficile toxin A. EpoR was present and functionally active in cells of the human colonic epithelial cell line HT29 and epithelial cells of human colon tissues.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We recently demonstrated that the insect peptide CopA3 (LLCIALRKK), a disulfide-linked dimeric peptide, exerts antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities in a mouse colitis model. Here, we examined whether CopA3 inhibited activation of macrophages by LPS. Exposure of an unseparated mouse peritoneal cell population or isolated peritoneal macrophages to LPS markedly increased secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α; these effects were significantly inhibited by CopA3 treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clostridium difficile toxin A glucosylates Rho family proteins, resulting in actin filament disaggregation and cell rounding in cultured colonocytes. Given that the cellular toxicity of toxin A is dependent on its receptor binding and subsequent entry into the cell, we herein sought to identify additional colonocyte proteins that might bind to toxin A following its internalization. Our results revealed that toxin A interacted with ERK1 and ERK2 in two human colonocyte cell lines (NCM460 and HT29).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Phospholipase C-γl (PLC-γl) expression is associated with cellular transformation. Notably, PLC-gamma is up-regulated in colorectal cancer tissue and breast carcinoma. Because exotoxins released by Clostridium botulinum have been shown to induce apoptosis and promote growth arrest in various cancer cell lines, we examined here the potential of Clostridium difficile toxin A to selectively induce apoptosis in cells transformed by PLC-γl overexpression.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis are typically treated with vancomycin or metronidazole, but recent increases in relapse incidence and the emergence of drug-resistant strains of C. difficile indicate the need for new antibiotics. We previously isolated coprisin, an antibacterial peptide from Copris tripartitus, a Korean dung beetle, and identified a nine-amino-acid peptide in the α-helical region of it (LLCIALRKK) that had antimicrobial activity (J.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Phospholipase C-γl (PLC-γl) is known to play a critical role in cell adhesion and migration and is highly expressed in metastatic tumors. In the current study, we found that cells transformed by PLC overexpression (PLC-γl cells) exhibited a marked decrease in expression of the Epo receptor (EpoR). Here, we assessed the role of EpoR-dependent signaling pathways in PLC-γl-dependent regulation of cell adhesion and migration.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF