Publications by authors named "Youngmi Yu"

In the current study, we aimed to compare the levels of and factors associated with mental health attitude between males and females. Of particular interest was ascertaining the degree to which mental health literacy was related to mental health attitude and whether this relationship would vary by gender. A total of 732 participants aged 18 years or more were recruited from attendees at the 2016 Minnesota State Fair.

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In contrast to mammals, adult zebrafish have the ability to regrow descending axons and gain locomotor recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). In zebrafish, a decisive factor for successful spinal cord regeneration is the inherent ability of some neurons to regrow their axons via (re)expressing growth-associated genes during the regeneration period. The nucleus of the medial longitudinal fascicle (NMLF) is one of the nuclei capable of regenerative response after SCI.

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MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles during development and also in adult organisms by regulating the expression of multiple target genes. Here, we studied the function of miR-133b during zebrafish spinal cord regeneration and show upregulation of miR-133b expression in regenerating neurons of the brainstem after transection of the spinal cord. miR-133b has been shown to promote tissue regeneration in other tissue, but its ability to do so in the nervous system has yet to be tested.

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Protein phosphatase 1alpha (PP1alpha) regulates phosphorylation of BRCA1, which contains a PP1-binding motif (898)KVTF(901). Mutation of this motif greatly reduces the interaction between BRCA1 and PP1alpha. Here we show that mutation of the PP1-binding motif abolishes the ability of BRCA1 to enhance survival of Brca1-deficient mouse mammary tumor cells after DNA damage.

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High-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) was originally identified as a ubiquitously expressed, abundant nonhistone DNA-binding protein. Recently, it was found to act as a cytokine-like mediator of delayed endotoxin lethality and of acute lung injury. Previously, we reported that HMGB1 is massively released extracellularly and plays a cytokine-like function in the postischemic brain.

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Cerebral ischemic injury proceeds with excitotoxicity-induced acute neuronal death in the ischemic core and with delayed damage processes in the penumbra. However, knowledge concerning the direct mediators that connect these two processes is limited. Here, we demonstrate that high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a nonhistone DNA-binding protein, is massively released into the extracellular space immediately after ischemic insult and that it subsequently induces neuroinflammation in the postischemic brain.

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Ethyl pyruvate (EP) is a pyruvate derivative, and has recently been reported to prevent lethality in mice with established lethal sepsis and systemic inflammation. In a previous study, we reported that EP has a neuroprotective effect in a rat cerebral ischemia model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), in which it was found to be effective when injected as late as 12 h after MCAO/reperfusion. In the present study, we show that therapeutic window of pyruvate in this MCAO animal model is limited to 1 h (30 min before and 30 min after MCAO).

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Background And Purpose: Ethyl pyruvate (EP) is a pyruvate derivative that has been reported recently to prevent lethality in mice with established lethal sepsis and systemic inflammation. In this study, we examined the neuroprotective effect of EP in a rat cerebral ischemia model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to 1 hour of MCAO, and EP was administered at various time points before or after MCAO.

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The JNK interacting protein, JSAP1, has been identified as a scaffold protein for mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways and as a linker protein for the cargo transport along the axons. To investigate the physiological function of JSAP1 in vivo, we generated mice lacking JSAP1. The JSAP1 null mutation produced various developmental deficits in the brain, including an axon guidance defect of the corpus callosum, in which phospho-FAK and phospho-JNK were distributed at reduced levels.

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The activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been implicated in the pathological changes accompanying inflammatory and apoptotic processes of various cell types including neurons. In a kainic acid (KA)-induced mouse seizure model, p38 MAPK is induced in reactive astrocytes in the CA3 region of the hippocampus where severe neuronal loss occurs. Here we report the delayed and protracted activation of p38 MAPK in the CA3 region of the hippocampus of mice treated with KA.

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Neurite outgrowth is a central event of neuronal differentiation that proceeds in multiple processes requiring various cellular factors. Here we demonstrated that c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1 (JNK1) plays an essential role in RA-induced neurite outgrowth of SH-SY5Y cells. Treatment of SH-SY5Y cells with RA induced a strong activation of JNK1 within 10 min, and the immediate increase of JNK1 activity returned to the basal level in an hour.

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Here we report the dynamically regulated expression of p38beta MAPK isoform in specific subsets of cells in postischemic brain. The activity of p38beta MAPK in the postischemic brain revealed biphasic induction at 30 min and 4 days after 1 h MCAO. During the early surge period, p38beta MAPK was preferentially localized in the nucleus and dendrites of neurons in the future infarction area, while during the delayed surge p38beta MAPK was heavily induced in reactive astrocytes in penumbra.

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