Publications by authors named "Won Bae Jeon"

Impaired cutaneous wound healing is a major complication in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), leading to increased amputation and mortality rates in affected patients. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are widely used seed cells for promoted tissue regeneration to improve wound closure under diabetic conditions. However, ASCs-based therapies remain limited due to difficulties in maintaining cell quality during transplantation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cryopreservation is a crucial method for long-term storage and stable allocation of human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), which are increasingly being used in various applications. However, preserving hPSCs in cryogenic conditions is challenging due to reduced recovery rates.

Methods: To address this issue, the Arginine-Glycine-Aspartate (RGD) motif was incorporated into a recombinant elastin-like peptide (REP).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An excessive and prolonged increase in glucose levels causes β-cell dysregulation, which is accompanied by impaired insulin synthesis and secretion, a condition known as glucotoxicity. Although it is known that both Lin28a and Lin28b regulate glucose metabolism, other molecular mechanisms that may protect against glucotoxicity are poorly understood. We investigated whether Lin28a overexpression can improve glucotoxicityinduced β-cell dysregulation in INS-1 and primary rat islet cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Enhancement of β-cell proliferation plays an important role in maintaining β-cell mass and function, and in improving pancreatic β-cell survival before transplantation. Extracellular matrix (ECM) components increase the adhesion and proliferation of β-cells, and the RGD-modified elastin-like polypeptide (RGD-ELP, REP) has been described as a bioactive matrix. In this study, we investigated whether REP could enhance β-cell adhesion and proliferation and elucidated the signaling pathways involved.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Successful islet transplantation critically depends on the isolation of healthy islets. However, the islet isolation procedure itself contributes to islet death due to the destruction of intra- and peri-islet extracellular matrices (ECMs) during digestion. We investigated whether an RGD-containing elastin-like polypeptide (REP) could function as a self-assembling matrix to replenish ECMs and protects islets from cell death.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pancreatic islets play an essential role in regulating blood glucose levels. Age-dependent development of glucose intolerance and insulin resistance results in hyperglycemia, which in turn stimulates insulin synthesis and secretion from aged islets, to fulfill the increased demand for insulin. However, the mechanism underlying enhanced insulin secretion remains unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The olfactory system can detect many odorants with high sensitivity and selectivity based on the expression of nearly a thousand types of olfactory receptors (ORs) in olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs). These ORs have a dynamic odorant detection range and contribute to signal encoding processes in the olfactory bulb (OB). To harness the capabilities of the olfactory system and develop a biomimetic sensor, stable culture and maintenance of ORNs are required.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) frequently results in severe disabilities and high mortality. RGD-containing elastin-like polypeptide (REP), a modified elastin-like polypeptide (ELP), is a thermally responsive biopolymer. REP has high affinity for cells and is known to show non-immunotoxicity, -cytotoxicity, and -inflammatory responses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Molecular changes during aging have been studied to understand the mechanism of aging progress. Herein, changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression in the whole blood of mice were studied to systemically reverse aging and propose them as non-invasive biomarkers. Through next-generation sequencing analysis, we selected 27 differentially expressed miRNAs during aging.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One crucial issue in stem cell therapy used for tissue repair is often the lack of selective carriers to deliver stem cells to the site of injury where the native extracellular matrix is pathologically damaged or lost. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a biomaterial that is permissive to stem cells and is suitable to replace injured or missing matrix. The major aim of this study is to investigate the potential of an RGD-containing elastin-like polypeptide (REP) with the structure TGPG[VGRGD(VGVPG)6]20WPC to engraft adipose stem cells (ASC) to full-thickness excisional wounds in mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The expression of specific transcription factors determines the differentiated features of postmitotic neurons. However, the mechanism by which specific molecules determine neuronal cell fate and the extent to which the functions of transcription factors are conserved in evolution are not fully understood. In C.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pancreatic islets secrete hormones that play a key role in regulating blood glucose levels (glycemia). Age-dependent impairment of islet function and concomitant dysregulation of glycemia are major health threats in aged populations. However, the major causes of the age-dependent decline of islet function are still disputed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Common 2-dimensional (2D) cell cultures do not adequately represent cell-cell and cell-matrix signaling and substantially different diffusion/transport pathways. To obtain tissue-mimic information on nanoparticle toxicity from in vitro cell tests, we used a 3-dimensional (3D) culture of human lung cells (A549) prepared with elastin-like peptides modified with an arginine-glycine-aspartate motif. The 3D cells showed different cellular phenotypes, gene expression profiles, and functionalities compared to the 2D cultured cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Various human solid tumors highly express IL-4 receptors which amplify the expression of some of anti-apoptotic proteins, preventing drug-induced cancer cell death. Thus, IL-4 receptor targeted drug delivery can possibly increase the therapeutic efficacy in cancer treatment. Macromolecular carriers with multivalent targeting moieties offered great advantages in cancer therapy as they not only increase the plasma half-life of the drug but also allow delivery of therapeutic drugs to the cancer cells with higher specificity, minimizing the deleterious effects of the drug on normal cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Effects of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) on the neuronal lineage marker expression, cell-cell interaction, caspase-3 mRNA transcription and reactive oxygen species production by N2a neuronal cells were assesses in 3-dimensional (3D) spheroid cultures, and the cytotoxicity were thoroughly compared with those of a conventional 2D monolayer-based toxicity assay. Increasing concentrations of PFOA or PFOS resulted in an increase in cell death. The half maximal inhibitory concentrations measured with spheroids were approximately one and a half times greater than the respective values for monolayer cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In this study, we aimed to compare the morphogenetic and neuronal characteristics between monolayer cells and spheroids. For this purpose, we established spheroid formation by growing SH-SY5Y cells on the hydrophobic surfaces of thermally-collapsed elastin-like polypeptide. After 4 days of culture, the relative proliferation of the cells within spheroids was approximately 92% of the values for monolayer cultures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) have been widely used as a biodegradable scaffold and thermoresponsive matrix, respectively. However, little attention has focused on the combinatorial use of these biomaterials for tissue engineering applications. An ELP matrix TGPG[VGRGD(VGVPG)6]20WPC (referred to as REP) contains multiple Arg-Gly-Asp motifs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

With the remarkable increase in the fields of biomedical engineering and regenerative medicine, biomaterial design has become an indispensable approach for developing the biocompatible carriers for drug or gene cargo and extracellular matrix (ECM) for cell survival, proliferation and differentiation. Native ECM materials derived from animal tissues were believed to be the best choices for tissue engineering. However, possible pathogen contamination by cellular remnants from foreign animal tissues is an unavoidable issue that has limited the use of native ECM for human benefit.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering is an ever evolving field that holds promise in treating numerous musculoskeletal diseases and injuries. An important impetus in the development of the field was the discovery and implementation of stem cells. The utilization of mesenchymal stem cells, and later embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, opens new arenas for tissue engineering and presents the potential of developing stem cell-based therapies for disease treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an important role in controlling the β-cell morphology, survival and insulin secretary functions. An RGD-modified elastin-like polypeptide (RGD-ELP), TGPG[VGRGD(VGVPG)(6)](20)WPC, has been reported previously as a bioactive matrix. In this study, to investigate whether RGD-ELP affects β-cell growth characteristics and insulin secretion, β-TC6 cells were cultured on the RGD-ELP coatings prepared via thermally induced phase transition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Integrin-mediated interaction of neuronal cells with extracellular matrix (ECM) is important for the control of cell adhesion, morphology, motility, and differentiation in both in vitro and in vivo systems. Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence is one of the most potent integrin-binding ligand found in many native ECM proteins. An elastin-mimetic recombinant protein, TGPG[VGRGD(VGVPG)6]20WPC, referred to as [RGD-V6]20, contains multiple RGD motifs to bind cell-surface integrins.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Excessive receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) signaling causes enhanced osteoclast formation and bone resorption. The downregulation of RANKL expression and its downstream signals may be an effective therapeutic approach to the treatment of bone loss diseases such as osteoporosis. Here, we found that coptisine, one of the isoquinoline alkaloids from Coptidis Rhizoma, exhibited inhibitory effects on osteoclastogenesis in vitro.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Elastin-like proteins (ELPs) modeled after tropoelastin are favored in the development of biomimetic matrices due to their biocompatibility and the possibility to precisely control their environmental responsiveness, mechanical properties, and fate within the cells by recombinant DNA technology-mediated design at the gene level. However, a basic prerequisite in the use of ELPs as cell culture matrices is the presence of a biofunctionality that can induce adhesion-mediated signaling pathways. To activate fibronectin-integrin signaling events from a cell-matrix interface and direct cell survival and proliferation, we biosynthesized a modular ELP, represented as TGPG[VGRGD(VGVPG)₆]₂₀ WPC, consisting of alternating elastic (VGVPG)₆structural domains and cell-binding VGRGD motifs that are intended to emulate various aspects of extracellular matrix proteins.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A series of elastin-like proteins, SKGPG[V(VKG)(3)VKVPG](n)-(ELP1-90)WP (n = 1, 2, 3, and 4), were biosynthesized based on the hydrophobic and lysine linkage domains of tropoelastin. The formation of self-assembled hydrophobic aggregates was monitored in order to determine the influence of cationic segments on phase transition properties as well as the sensitivity to changes in salt and pH. The thermal transition profiles of the proteins fused with only one or two cationic blocks (n = 1 or 2) were similar to that of the counterpart ELP1-90.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Osteoclasts are the only cell type capable of resorbing mineralized bone, and they act under the control of numerous cytokines produced by supporting cells such as osteoblasts and stromal cells. Among cytokines, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) was found to be a key osteoclastogenetic molecule that directly binds to its cognate receptor, RANK, on osteoclast precursor cells. In turn, RANKL, which is an essential factor for differentiation and activation of osteoclasts, is one of the major targets of anti-resorptive agents.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF