Analysis of the Efficacy of Universal Screening of Coronavirus Disease with Antigen-Detecting Rapid Diagnostic Tests at Point-or-Care Settings and Sharing the Experience of Admission Protocol-A Pilot Study.

Aims: To introduce the admission protocol of a COVID-19 specialized hospital outlined by the government, including the assessment of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), low dose chest computed tomography (CT) and antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) for patient screening.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 646 patients who were admitted between December 2020, and February 2021, during the third wave of COVID-19 in Korea. Ag-RDT and RT-PCR were routinely performed on all patients who required admission, and low-dose chest CT was performed on high-risk patients with associated symptoms.

Gold thread implantation promotes hair growth in human and mice.

Thread-embedding therapy has been widely applied for cosmetic purposes such as wrinkle reduction and skin tightening. Particularly, gold thread was reported to support connective tissue regeneration, but, its role in hair biology remains largely unknown due to lack of investigation. When we implanted gold thread and Happy Lift™ in human patient for facial lifting, we unexpectedly found an increase of hair regrowth in spite of no use of hair growth medications.

Stem cell treatment for patients with autoimmune disease by systemic infusion of culture-expanded autologous adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Prolonged life expectancy, life style and environmental changes have caused a changing disease pattern in developed countries towards an increase of degenerative and autoimmune diseases. Stem cells have become a promising tool for their treatment by promoting tissue repair and protection from immune-attack associated damage. Patient-derived autologous stem cells present a safe option for this treatment since these will not induce immune rejection and thus multiple treatments are possible without any risk for allogenic sensitization, which may arise from allogenic stem cell transplantations.

Neutralization of infectivity of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) by capsid-binding 2'F-RNA aptamers.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the main causative agent of porcine circovirus-associated diseases (PCVD), which is responsible for economic losses in the swine industry. The capsid protein of PCV2 has important role for virus neutralization that blocks viral infection. To develop the therapeutic agents, two 2'F-RNA aptamers that bound to the PCV2 capsid protein with nanomole affinity were isolated from a 2'F-RNA library by the Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX).

Genomic expression profiling in lymph nodes with lymphoid depletion from porcine circovirus 2-infected pigs.

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is the main causative agent of porcine circovirus-associated disease, such as post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, which involves lymphocyte depletion. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of lymphoid depletion. To gain insight into the interaction between virus and host cells, microarrays were used to analyse changes in genomic expression in lymph nodes following PCV2 infection of pigs, together with negative controls.

Elevated serum levels of S100 calcium binding protein A8 (S100A8) reflect disease severity in canine atopic dermatitis.

A monoclonal antibody to canine S100 calcium binding protein A8 (S100A8) was developed to determine the association between S100A8 and the disease severity of canine atopic dermatitis. Serum S100A8 concentrations were studied in dogs with canine atopic dermatitis (n=213) and healthy dogs (n=213). Statistical correlations between these indices and atopic dermatitis activity were established, and dermatitis severity was assessed according to the CADESI score.

bFGF enhances the IGFs-mediated pluripotent and differentiation potentials in multipotent stem cells.

It has widely been reported that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) promotes proliferation of human stem cells and contributes to the maintenance of their self-renewal capability through repeated replications. In contrast to embryonic stem cells (ESCs), the effects of growth factors on adult stem cells are poorly understood. In human umbilical cord blood-derived multipotent stem cells (hUCB-MSCs), bFGF is associated with an increased number of proliferating cells.

Isolation and characterization of canine umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to possess the potential for multiple differentiations abilities in vitro and in vivo. In canine system, studying stem cell therapy is important, but so far, stem cells from canine were not identified and characterized. In this study, we successfully isolated and characterized MSCs from the canine umbilical cord and its fetal blood.

Quercetin prevents cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload in rats.

Inhibition of cardiac hypertrophy leads to a significant reduction in cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Quercetin is by far the most abundant flavonoid and believed to ameliorate cardiovascular disease. Therefore, we investigated whether quercetin supplementation could attenuate the development of cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload.

Expression analysis of early response-related genes in rat liver epithelial cells exposed to thioacetamide in vitro.

Thioacetamide (TA) is a potent hepatotoxicant known to affect liver metabolism, inhibit mRNA transport and induce immune suppression. The genetic mechanism underlining this biological toxic compound is well understood using microarray technology. Thus, we used high-throughput rat genome oligonucleotide microarrays containing approximately 22,000 genes to investigate the genetic components of TA-related cytotoxicity in WB-F344 rat liver epithelial (WB-F344) cells.

In Vitro Differentiation and Expansion of Intrathymic T Cell Progenitors from Human Umbilical Cord Blood-Derived CD34(+) Cells.

Background And Objectives: CD4 positive cells play a central role in many lethal diseases, such as AIDS, cancer and autoimmunity diseases. CD4(-) commitment of hematopoietic stem cells involved in T cell lineage, monocyte and dendritic cells development. In this study, we showed that CD4 commitment out of thymus which may happen when hematopoietic cells undergo monocyte, dendritic cells or even earlier T cell progenitor differentiation.

OCT4A contributes to the stemness and multi-potency of human umbilical cord blood-derived multipotent stem cells (hUCB-MSCs).

The OCT4A gene, a POU homeodomain transcription factor, has been shown to be expressed in embryonic stem cells (ESC) as well as hUCB-MSCs. In this study, the roles played by OCT4A in hUCB-MSCs were determined by stably inhibiting OCT4A with lenti-viral vector-based small hairpin RNA (shRNA). A decreased rate of cell proliferation was observed in OCT4-inhibited hUCB-MSCs.

Therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stromal cells in a mouse breast cancer metastasis model.

Background Aims: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been studied intensively in regenerative medicine. However, their therapeutic potential against tumor formation and cancer metastasis is still unclear. The effects of transplantation of MSCs in early-stage of carcinogenesis, should be evaluated.

The penile erection efficacy of a new phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, mirodenafil (SK3530), in rabbits with acute spinal cord injury.

Mirodenafil (SK3530) is a new potent and selective inhibitor of cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). Recent clinical trials have demonstrated that mirodenafil is an effective treatment for erectile dysfunction. Its mechanism of action is enhancement of nitric oxide (NO) induced cGMP formation resulting in significant relaxation of the corpus cavernosum (CC).

Indole-3-carbinol prevents H(2)O(2)-induced inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication by inactivation of PKB/Akt.

Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) is a phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables and possesses a variety of biological and biochemical effects. Despite a wealth of data about the chemopreventive properties of I3C, its effects on gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC), which is associated with the promotion and progression phases of the multi-stage process of carcinogenesis, has not been studied. In this study, we examined the ability of I3C to prevent H(2)O(2)-induced inhibition of GJIC in WB-F344 rat liver epithelial cells (WB cells).

Human Hair Follicle Cells with the Cell Surface Marker CD34 Can Regenerate New Mouse Hair Follicles and Located in the Outer Root Sheath of Immunodeficient Nude Mice.

Background And Objectives: The bulge region of hair follicle has been reported as a putative reservoir of hair follicle stem cells. The purpose of this study was to compare hair follice CD34 negative (CD34-) cell with CD34 positive (CD34+) cell and to evaluate the ability to regenerate new hair of immunodeficient nude mouse.

Methods And Results: In this report, we isolated the cells with CD34, known as bulge-negative cell surface marker from cultured human hair follicle cells using by magnetic cell sorting (MACS), injected the cells to immunodeficient nude mouse.

Impaired functions of neural stem cells by abnormal nitric oxide-mediated signaling in an in vitro model of Niemann-Pick type C disease.

Nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in the promotion of neurodegeneration. However, little is known about the relationship between NO and the self-renewal or differentiation capacity of neural stem cells (NSCs) in neurodegenerative disease. In this study, we investigated the effect of NO on self-renewal of NSCs in an animal model for Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease.

Surface modification of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) induced proliferation and neural-like cells differentiation of umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Stem cell-based therapy has recently emerged for use in novel therapeutics for incurable diseases. For successful recovery from neurologic diseases, the most pivotal factor is differentiation and directed neuronal cell growth. In this study, we fabricated three different widths of a micro-pattern on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS; 1, 2, and 4 microm).

Efficacy of sulforaphane is mediated by p38 MAP kinase and caspase-7 activations in ER-positive and COX-2-expressed human breast cancer cells.

Sulforaphane is an antioxidant and a potent stimulator of natural detoxifying enzyme and associated with lowered risk of cancer that is associated with the consumption of cruciferous vegetables. The chemopreventive effects of SFN was investigated using the MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and the M13SV1-immortalized human breast luminal epithelial cells. Sulforaphane reduced proliferation in MCF-7 cells and inhibited cyclooxygenase-2 expression in M13SV1 cells treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA).

Defective cholesterol traffic and neuronal differentiation in neural stem cells of Niemann-Pick type C disease improved by valproic acid, a histone deacetylase inhibitor.

Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC) is a neurodegenerative and lipid storage disorder for which no effective treatment is known. We previously reported that neural stem cells derived from NPC1 mice showed impaired self-renewal and differentiation. We examined whether valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, could enhance neuronal differentiation and recover defective cholesterol metabolism in neural stem cells (NSCs) from NPC1-deficient mice (NPC1(-/-)).

Induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by Oligonol is mediated by Bcl-2 family regulation and MEK/ERK signaling.

Oligonol is a novel catechin-rich biotechnology product. The role of oligonol in modulating intracellular signaling mechanisms was investigated with the view of demonstrating its potential chemopreventive effect and the ability to inhibit cell proliferation using the estrogen-responsive MCF-7 and the estrogen-unresponsive MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines. Cell survival assay indicated that Oligonol was cytotoxic to both cells.

Signaling pathways of the early differentiation of neural stem cells by neurotrophin-3.

Neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) is well known to play an important role in facilitating neuronal survival and differentiation during development. However, the mechanisms by which neurotrophin-3 promotes prolonged Akt/MAPK signaling at an early stage are not well understood. Here, we report that NT-3 works at an early stage of neuronal differentiation in mouse neural stem cells (NSCs).

Regulation of human umbilical cord blood-derived multi-potent stem cells by autogenic osteoclast-based niche-like structure.

Stem cell niches provide the micro-environment for the development of stem cells. Under our culturing regimen, a kind of osteoclast-centralized structure supports the proliferation of MSCs, derived from human cord blood, once they reside on osteoclasts. MSCs in this structure expressed Oct4 which is a marker of embryonic stem cells.

Induction of human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells with embryonic stem cell phenotypes into insulin producing islet-like structure.

Success in islet-transplantation-based therapies for type I diabetes, coupled with a worldwide shortage of transplant-ready islets, has motivated efforts to develop renewable sources of islet-replacement tissue. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been successfully induced into insulin producing islet-like structure in several studies. However, the source of the ESCs has presented ethical and technical concerns.