Myoung Hee Kim

Flavonoids have been proposed to act as chemopreventive agents in numerous epidemiological studies and have been shown to inhibit angiogenesis and proliferation of tumor cells and endothelial cells in vitro. Angiogenesis requires tightly controlled extracellular matrix degradation mediated by extracellular proteolytic enzymes including matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and serine proteases, in particular, the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA)-plasmin system. In this study, we have invest

HOX transcription factors play an important role in determining body patterning and cell fate during embryogenesis. Accumulating evidence has shown that these genes act as positive and/or negative modulators in many types of cancer, including breast cancer, in a tissue-specific manner. We have previously reported that HOXB5 is aberrantly overexpressed in breast cancer tissues and cell lines. Here, we investigated the biological roles and clinical relevance of HOXB5 in breast cancer. Immunohistoc

We have previously documented that rat IL-2-activated NK (A-NK) cells produce matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9. In this study, we describe mouse A-NK cell-derived MMPs, including MT-MMPs, and also TIMPs. RT-PCR analysis from cDNA of mouse A-NK cells revealed mRNA for MMP-2, MMP-9, MMP-11, MMP-13, MT1-MMP, MT2-MMP, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression was confirmed by gelatin zymography. Moreover, we report for the first time that MT-MMPs are expressed by NK cells, i.e., lar

The single-stranded DNA of bacteriophage M13 is converted to a duplex replicative form by a mechanism involving RNA-primed initiation at a single unique site on the viral DNA. The DNA sequence that specifies the RNA primer is contained largely within one of two adjacent hairpin structures protected from DNase degradation by RNA polymerase. We have used in vitro techniques to construct a series of M13 mutants having deletions in the region of the complementary strand origin. Deletions of the dupl

Cold shock proteins (CSPs) of bacteria are produced in response to cold and function as RNA chaperones that are essential for cold adaptation. Arabidopsis thaliana COLD SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEIN 3 (AtCSP3) shares a domain with bacterial CSPs and is involved in acquisition of freezing tolerance. Our previous study revealed that many of the genes that are down regulated in an AtCSP3 knockout mutant (atcsp3-2) are functionally associated with responses to salt and drought as well as cold. Here, we exami

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women worldwide. Approximately 40% of patients with breast cancer acquire endocrine resistance following therapy with tamoxifen. Many explanations for the development of endocrine resistance have been put forward, one of them being the dysregulation of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The lncRNA HOTAIRM1, known to be involved in myelopoiesis as well as transcriptional regulation of the HOXA genes in embryonic stem cells, is also expre

In neuronal cells the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is transferred from the cytoplasm into synaptic vesicles by the vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT). The cytoplasmic tail of VAChT has been shown to contain signals that direct its sorting and trafficking. The role of clathrin-associated protein complexes in VAChT sorting to synaptic vesicles has been examined. A fusion protein between the VAChT cytoplasmic tail and glutathione S-transferase was used to identify VAChT-clathrin-associat

Prenatal stress during pregnancy leads to sex-specific effects on fetal development and disease susceptibility over the life span; however, the origin of sex differences has not been identified. The placenta not only plays a key role in fetal growth and development throughout pregnancy, but also affects the fetal programming underlying subsequent adult health and accounts. Therefore, sex-specific adaptation of the placenta may be central to the sex differences in fetal growth and survival. Here,

HOX genes encode a family of transcriptional regulators that are involved in pattern formation and organogenesis during embryo development. In addition, these genes play important roles in adult tissues and some of the dysregulated HOX genes are associated with cancer development and metastasis. Like many other HOX genes, HOXC9 is aberrantly expressed in certain breast cancer cell lines and tissues; however, its specific functions in breast cancer progression were not investigated. In the presen

HOX genes are transcription factors that play important roles in body patterning and many cellular processes during embryonic, fetal, and adult development. Given their important function in normal tissues, it is reasonable to assume that abnormal expression of HOX genes in adults could lead to serious diseases such as cancer. Our previous study reported HOXB5 to be significantly up-regulated in breast cancer, and its expression was found to be associated with tumor cell proliferation and invasi

PCa cells counteract the stress of prolonged serum deprivation by upregulating HIF-1 alpha protein which increases IGF-2 expression to promote cell survival.