Publications by authors named "Woojin Kang"

Article Synopsis
  • Calcium oscillations are rhythmic changes in calcium ion levels inside cells, which are crucial for various cellular functions.
  • These oscillations influence key biological events like neuron formation and stem cell growth, and their patterns vary by cell type.
  • Understanding and regulating these calcium fluctuations is important, as disruptions can lead to health issues, including neurodegenerative diseases.
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Hidden workers are defined as the three vulnerable subgroups of workers: the underemployed, the unemployed, and the discouraged workers. Hidden workers indeed the group with multiple identities; a transitioning retiree, jobseeker, caring for some, who may also have long term health conditions and ethnic minority all at the same time. Designing an intervention for this group necessitates the transdisciplinary knowledge.

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  • Activation of metabotropic glutamate 2 (mGlu) receptors shows promise as a new treatment for parkinsonism, with the positive allosteric modulator (PAM) LY-487,379 demonstrating effectiveness in primates.
  • The study tested a different mGlu PAM, BINA, and found that it significantly reduced parkinsonism symptoms in MPTP-lesioned marmosets, achieving comparable results to high doses of L-DOPA.
  • BINA not only decreased parkinsonism but also significantly reduced dyskinesia and psychosis-like behaviors, indicating that mGlu modulation could provide anti-parkinsonian benefits independent of specific chemical structures.
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  • The study investigates the effects of specific metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonists and modulators when used alongside L-DOPA in marmosets with Parkinson's disease symptoms.
  • Results showed that LY-404,039 and CBiPES significantly reduced bradykinesia and improved posture, while also enhancing alertness compared to other treatments.
  • These findings suggest that targeting mGluR may offer new therapeutic options for improving Parkinson's symptoms when used in conjunction with L-DOPA.
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There is mounting evidence that positive allosteric modulation of metabotropic glutamate type 2 receptors (mGluR) is an efficacious approach to reduce the severity of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA)-induced dyskinesia, psychosis-like behaviours (PLBs), while conferring additional anti-parkinsonian benefit. However, the mGluR positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) tested so far, LY-487,379 and CBiPES, share a similar chemical scaffold. Here, we sought to assess whether similar benefits would be conferred by a structurally-distinct mGluR PAM, biphenylindanone A (BINA).

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LY-404,039 is an orthosteric agonist at metabotropic glutamate 2 and 3 (mGlu 2/3 ) receptors, with a possible additional agonist effect at dopamine D 2 receptors. LY-404,039 and its pro-drug, LY-2140023, have previously been tested in clinical trials for psychiatric indications and could therefore be repurposed if they were shown to be efficacious in other conditions. We have recently demonstrated that the mGlu 2/3 orthosteric agonist LY-354,740 alleviated L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA)-induced abnormal involuntary movements (AIMs) in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rat without hampering the anti-parkinsonian action of L-DOPA.

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  • The advanced patterning process is essential for creating next-gen high-speed, low-power devices, with area-selective atomic layer deposition (AS-ALD) being a promising method, though it faces challenges in resolution and selectivity.
  • This study presents a new technique called superlattice-based AS-ALD (SAS-ALD) that uses a 2D MoS-MoSe superlattice template, achieving a minimum half pitch size of sub-10 nm by controlling chemical vapor deposition (CVD) precursors.
  • SAS-ALD improves selectivity through unique adsorption and diffusion processes of precursors, allowing for effective selective deposition of various materials like AlO, HfO, Ru, Te,
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  • * Studies on mice with different genetic alterations in exocyst factors show that each deletion affects spermatogenesis differently, indicating that these factors have roles beyond just being part of the exocyst complex.
  • * The research revealed that while the EXOC3 factor is not essential for sperm development, the absence of EXOC7 causes severe defects, highlighting the exocyst's importance in spermatogenesis.
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  • Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder typically treated with pregabalin and gabapentin, with dopamine agonists used later due to potential symptom worsening; however, alternative treatments are being explored for patients not responding to these standard medications.
  • A case study is presented on a 58-year-old woman with a complex medical history who experienced severe RLS symptoms, which improved significantly after being treated with lamotrigine, alongside her usual medications, methadone and pramipexole.
  • This case indicates that lamotrigine might be an effective treatment for RLS, marking only the third documented instance of its successful use in this context, with no reported side effects.
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In some non-mammalian eggs, the fusion of one egg and multiple sperm (polyspermy) induces a robust rise in intracellular calcium ion (Ca) concentration due to a shortage of inducers carried by a single sperm. Instead, one of the sperm nuclei is selected inside the egg for normal embryogenesis. Polyspermy also occurs during the in vitro fertilization of human eggs; however, the fate of such eggs is still under debate.

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The mechanism by which seemingly normal sperm cause infertility is still under debate. Although CD9 is expressed in male reproductive tissues, its role in male fertility remains unclear. To address this, we investigated the role of CD9 in analyzing -deficient ( -KO) male mice.

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Rationale: Positive allosteric modulation of metabotropic glutamate type 4 (mGlu) receptors is a promising strategy to alleviate parkinsonian disability and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) induced dyskinesia. ADX-88178 is a highly selective mGlu positive allosteric modulator (PAM) that previously enhanced the anti-parkinsonian action of L-DOPA in the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objectives: We sought to explore the effects of ADX-88178 on psychosis-like behaviours (PLBs) in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-lesioned marmoset.

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An endogenous retrovirus-derived membrane protein, syncytin (SYN), contributes to placental function via trophoblast fusion. Multinuclear trophoblasts (syncytiotrophoblasts) physically and functionally mediate the interaction between fetal and maternal vessels in various ways. Suncus murinus (suncus) is a small mammalian species with a pregnancy duration of approximately 30 days, 1.

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  • LY-404,039 is an agonist for metabotropic glutamate receptors and may also affect dopamine D receptors, making it a candidate for treating conditions like Parkinson’s disease (PD) alongside schizophrenia.
  • Prior studies showed that another compound, LY-354,740, improved L-DOPA-induced symptoms in marmosets without activating dopamine receptors, suggesting different therapeutic mechanisms.
  • In this study, LY-404,039 significantly reduced dyskinesia and parkinsonism in marmosets already treated with L-DOPA, indicating its potential for repurposing in PD treatment due to its effectiveness.
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Proteasomes are highly sophisticated protease complexes that degrade non-lysosomal proteins, and their proper regulation ensures various biological functions such as spermatogenesis. The proteasome-associated proteins, PA200 and ECPAS, are predicted to function during spermatogenesis; however, male mice lacking each of these genes sustain fertility, raising the possibility that these proteins complement each other. To address this issue, we explored these possible roles during spermatogenesis by producing mice lacking these genes (double-knockout mice; dKO mice).

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  • In bacteria, polymers of inorganic phosphates, especially linear polyphosphate, aid in producing adenosine triphosphate (ATP), while sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) is thought to lack physiological roles in mammalian cells.
  • This study investigated the impacts of SHMP on mouse oocytes, which can reveal important intracellular changes during fertilization.
  • SHMP treatment led to significant calcium concentration increases in oocytes, causing them to form pronuclei and develop into two-cell embryos without sperm, suggesting SHMP may act as a calcium initiator in mammalian cells.
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Repeated implantation failure is a major cause of infertility among healthy women. Uterine β-catenin (CTNNB1) plays a critical role in implantation. However, the role of embryonic CTNNB1 during implantation remains unclear.

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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex disorder that leads to alterations in multiple neurotransmitter systems, notably glutamate. As such, several drugs acting at glutamatergic receptors have been assessed to alleviate the manifestation of PD and treatment-related complications, culminating with the approval of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist amantadine for l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA)-induced dyskinesia. Glutamate elicits its actions through several ionotropic and metabotropic (mGlu) receptors.

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  • Recent advancements in cell therapy and regenerative medicine emphasize the importance of cryopreservation in maintaining cell quality for long-term use.
  • This study presents a novel DMSO-free freezing medium for preserving differentiated neuronal cells, demonstrating that propylene glycol is an effective substitute for traditional cryoprotectants.
  • Results showed that a basic freezing medium with 10% propylene glycol significantly improved cell viability and adherence compared to 10% glycerol, highlighting the medium's potential for use in cell banking and transplantation.
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Superovulation is a method used to reduce the number of mice used per experiment by increasing the egg number. Conventionally, superovulation for obtaining mouse eggs involves the use of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) for stimulation and human CG for induction. Female mice of the C57BL/6 inbred strain spontaneously ovulate approximately 10 eggs.

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Dyskinesia remains an unmet need in Parkinson's disease (PD). We have previously demonstrated that glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) inhibition with ALX-5407 reduces dyskinesia and slightly improves parkinsonism in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-lesioned marmoset. Here, we sought to determine the effect of bitopertin, a clinically-tested GlyT1 inhibitor, on parkinsonism and dyskinesia in the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rat.

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A rapid, selective and sensitive method was developed and validated for the determination of LY-404,039 concentration in rat plasma using a butylation derivatization step to improve chromatographic characteristics and enhance signal intensity. The method consisted of a protein precipitation extraction followed by derivatization with butanol/HCl and analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The separation was achieved using a 100 × 2.

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The sperm consumes adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to maintain the cellular function, viability, acrosome reaction (AR), and motility. Extra-mitochondrial citrate synthase (eCS) catalyzes citrate production in the sperm head, and thus regulates sperm function through ATP synthesis, similarly to CS. This study aimed to investigate how eCS regulates AR.

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Supporting cells of oocytes, i.e., cumulus cells, control oocyte quality, which determines fertilization success.

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