The Change of Noncoding RNA Expression in Olfactory Bulb of Hepatic Encephalopathy Mouse Model: Transcriptomic Analysis and Cellular Analysis.

Objectives: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a neuropsychiatric disorder associated with cirrhosis and chronic liver disease primarily driven by ammonia (NH3) toxicity, which leads to neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits. Recent studies have identified olfactory dysfunction as a potential early indicator of HE, linked to ammonia-induced neurotoxicity in the brain.

Methods: After confirming physiological alterations in olfactory cells induced by ammonia, we assessed gene expression changes in olfactory bulbs of bile duct ligation (BDL) mice as an HE mouse model.

Appetite loss in patients with dyspepsia: A retrospective study of clinical characteristics and effectiveness of Korean medicine treatment.

Loss of appetite is commonly observed in patients with dyspepsia in clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and effectiveness of Korean medical treatment for patients with dyspepsia and appetite loss. Clinical records of 225 patients with dyspepsia who visited the Digestive Diseases Clinic of Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital between January 1, 2022, and July 31, 2024, were reviewed.

Cross-talks between Metabolic and Translational Controls during Beige Adipocyte Differentiation.

Whether and how regulatory events at the translation stage shape the cellular and metabolic features of thermogenic adipocytes is hardly understood. In this study, we report two hitherto unidentified cross-talk pathways between metabolic and translational regulation in beige adipocytes. By analysing temporal profiles of translation activity and protein level changes during precursor-to-beige differentiation, we found selective translational down-regulation of OXPHOS component-coding mRNAs.

Potential use of human pluripotency-related gene expression reporter cell line for screening small molecules to enhance induction of pluripotency.

The reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is a crucial development in regenerative medicine, providing patient-specific cells for therapeutic uses. Traditional methods often utilize viral vectors and transcription factors that pose tumorigenic risks, rendering them unsuitable for clinical applications. This study explored the use of chemicals as a non-tumorigenic alternative for cell reprogramming.

Generation of integration-free human induced pluripotent stem cells from a patient with sporadic Parkinson's disease.

A human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line (KKUi002-A) was generated from a skin fibroblast of a 57-years-old (at sampling) male patient diagnosed with a sporadic Parkinson's disease (PD). A non-integration system was used to reprogram fibroblasts into iPSCs by an episomal vector (OCT4/p53, SOX2/KLF4, L-MYC/LIN28). The KKUi002-A iPSCs displayed typical iPSC morphology, expressed pluripotency markers, differentiated into derivatives of three germ layers, and had a normal karyotype.

Angiotensin Receptor Blockers and the Risk of Suspected Drug-Induced Liver Injury: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Electronic Health Record-Based Common Data Model in South Korea.

Introduction: Angiotensin receptor blockers are widely used antihypertensive drugs in South Korea. In 2021, the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety acknowledged the need for national compensation for a drug-induced liver injury (DILI) after azilsartan use. However, little is known regarding the association between angiotensin receptor blockers and DILI.

The role of microRNA-325-3p as a critical player in cell death in NSCs and astrocytes.

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are defined by their ability to self-renew and generate various cell types within the nervous system. Understanding the underlying mechanism by which NSCs proliferate and differentiate is crucial for the efficient modulation of neurogenesis. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs controlling gene expression concerned in post-transcriptional control by blocking messenger RNA (mRNA) translation or degrading mRNA.

Human lncRNA Regulates the Proinflammatory Response of Macrophage.

Macrophages are the major primary immune cells that mediate the inflammatory response. In this process, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important, yet largely unknown role. Therefore, utilizing several publicly available RNA sequencing datasets, we predicted and selected lncRNAs that are differentially expressed in M1 or M2 macrophages and involved in the inflammatory response.

H19X-encoded microRNAs induced by IL-4 in adipocyte precursors regulate proliferation to facilitate differentiation.

Adipose tissue, an organ critical for systemic energy homeostasis, is influenced by type 2 immunity in its development and function. The type 2 cytokine interleukin (IL)-4 induces the proliferation of bipotential adipocyte precursors (APs) in white fat tissue and primes these cells for differentiation into beige adipocytes, which are specialized for thermogenesis. However, the underlying mechanisms have not yet been comprehensively examined.

Homogeneity of XEN Cells Is Critical for Generation of Chemically Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells.

In induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), pluripotency is induced artificially by introducing the transcription factors , , , and . When a transgene is introduced using a viral vector, the transgene may be integrated into the host genome and cause a mutation and cancer. No integration occurs when an episomal vector is used, but this method has a limitation in that remnants of the virus or vector remain in the cell, which limits the use of such iPSCs in therapeutic applications.

Inhibition of Class I Histone Deacetylase Enhances Self-Reprogramming of Spermatogonial Stem Cells into Pluripotent Stem Cells.

Background And Objectives: Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) are the most primitive cells in spermatogenesis and are the only adult stem cells capable of passing on the genome of a given species to the next generation. SSCs are the only adult stem cells known to exhibit high Oct4 expression and can be induced to self-reprogram into pluripotent cells depending on culture conditions. Epigenetic modulation is well known to be involved in the induction of pluripotency of somatic cells.

Heavy Rain Face Image Restoration: Integrating Physical Degradation Model and Facial Component-Guided Adversarial Learning.

With the recent increase in intelligent CCTVs for visual surveillance, a new image degradation that integrates resolution conversion and synthetic rain models is required. For example, in heavy rain, face images captured by CCTV from a distance have significant deterioration in both visibility and resolution. Unlike traditional image degradation models (IDM), such as rain removal and super resolution, this study addresses a new IDM referred to as a and proposes a method for restoring high-resolution face images (HR-FIs) from ow-esolution eavy ain ace mages (LRHR-FI).

Plant-derived human recombinant growth factors and serum albumin maintain stemness of human-induced pluripotent stem cells.

Stem cells are an important therapeutic source for recovery and regeneration, as their ability of self-renewal and differentiation offers an unlimited supply of highly specialized cells for therapeutic transplantation. Growth factors and serum are essential for maintaining the characteristics of stem cells in culture and for inducing differentiation. Because growth factors are produced mainly in bacterial (Escherichia coli) or animal cells, the use of such growth factors raises safety concerns that need to be resolved for the commercialization of stem cell therapeutics.

Recent Advances in Anti-Metastatic Approaches of Herbal Medicines in 5 Major Cancers: From Traditional Medicine to Modern Drug Discovery.

Metastasis is the main cause of cancer-related death. Despite its high fatality, a comprehensive study that covers anti-metastasis of herbal medicines has not yet been conducted. The aim of this study is to investigate and assess the anti-metastatic efficacies of herbal medicines in the five major cancers, including lung, colorectal, gastric, liver, and breast cancers.

Generation of OCT4-EGFP, NANOG-tdTomato dual reporter human induced pluripotent stem cell line, KKUi001-A, using the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

OCT4 and NANOG are core transcription factor genes in self-renewal, differentiation, and reprogramming. Here, we generated an OCT4-EGFP, NANOG-tdTomato dual reporter hiPSC line, KKUi001-A, on the basis of human induced pluripotent stem cells using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. EGFP and tdTomato reporter were inserted into before the stop codon of OCT4 and NANOG, respectively.

Optimization of episomal reprogramming for generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells from fibroblasts.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by defined factors (, , , and ) from various human primary cells has been reported. Human fibroblasts have been widely used as a cellular source in reprogramming studies over recent decades. The original method of iPSC generation uses retro- or lentivirus vectors that require integration of viral DNA into the target cells.

Novel imprinted single CpG sites found by global DNA methylation analysis in human parthenogenetic induced pluripotent stem cells.

Genomic imprinting is the process of epigenetic modification whereby genes are expressed in a parent-of-origin dependent manner; it plays an important role in normal growth and development. Parthenogenetic embryos contain only the maternal genome. Parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells could be useful for studying imprinted genes.

Neural substrates of purely endogenous, self-regulatory control of attention.

Stimulus-driven orienting of attention toward a novel, salient stimulus is a highly adaptive behavior. In an opposing vein, it is also crucial to endogenously redirect attention to other stimuli of behavioral significance if the attended stimulus was evaluated to be unimportant. This stimulus-driven orienting and subsequent reorienting of attention are known to be mediated by similar neural substrates.

Effects of oral glucosamine hydrochloride and mucopolysaccharide protein in a rabbit model of osteoarthritis.

Aim: The aim was to study whether oral glucosamine hydrochloride (GlcN.HCl) or mucopolysaccharide protein (MucoP) has a structure-modifying effect on an anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) rabbit model of osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: OA was surgically induced in the right knees of rabbits by transection of the ACLT.

Porous antioxidant polymer microparticles as therapeutic systems for the airway inflammatory diseases.

Inhaling steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is the most common treatment for airway inflammatory diseases such as asthma. However, frequent steroid administration causes adverse side effects. Therefore, the successful clinical translation of numerous steroidal drugs greatly needs pulmonary drug delivery systems which are formulated from biocompatible and non-immunogenic polymers.

Hydrogen peroxide-activatable antioxidant prodrug as a targeted therapeutic agent for ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Overproduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) causes oxidative stress and is the main culprit in the pathogenesis of ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Suppression of oxidative stress is therefore critical in the treatment of I/R injury. Here, we report H2O2-activatable antioxidant prodrug (BRAP) that is capable of specifically targeting the site of oxidative stress and exerting anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activities.

Changes of the Cytoplasmic Proteome in Response to Alcoholic Hepatotoxicity in Rats.

Proteomic analyses have already been used in a number of hepatological studies and provide important information. However, few reports have focused on changes in the cytoplasmic proteome. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate changes in cytoplasmic proteome of rats in response to alcoholic hepatotoxicity.

Antioxidant polymeric prodrug microparticles as a therapeutic system for acute liver failure.

Acetaminophen (APAP) is the most widely used analgesic and its overdose, intentional or unintentional, is known to cause massive oxidative stress and liver tissue damages characterized by hepatocellular apoptosis and hemorrhagic necrosis, leading to acute liver failure (ALF). There has been great interest in the use of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory drugs for the effective treatment of ALF. Manganese porphyrin (MnP), a nonpeptidyl mimic of superoxide dismutase is a promising compound with antioxidant activity, but its application is curtailed by a short half-life in blood.