Seungjoo Haam

Magnetic nanoparticles offer potential advances in cancer treatment. One example is cancer theranostics, which refers to the combination of a diagnostic tool, i.e., magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and therapeutic entities such as drugs, oligonucleotides, antibodies, and peptides. They can be conjugated with bioactive molecules and have the ability to form a magnetic field gradient under an external magnetic field. They can offer a variety of active drug delivery and imaging strategies along wit

Powerful adjuvants to augment vaccine efficacy with a less immunogenic vaccine system are in great demand. In this study, a novel squalene-based cationic poly(amino acid) adjuvant (CASq) that elicits both cellular (Th1) and humoral (Th2) immune responses is developed. CASq is demonstrated to promote cellular uptake of viral antigen and stimulate macrophages, leading to active production of interleukin-12. Furthermore, co-administration of inactivated pdm H1N1 vaccine with CASq significantly incr

Considerable attention is given to drug delivery technology that efficiently delivers appropriate levels of drug molecules to diseased sites with significant therapeutic efficacy. Nanotechnology has been used to develop various strategies for targeted drug delivery, while controlling the release of drugs because of its many benefits. Here, a delivery system was designed to control drug release by external magnetic fields using porous silica and magnetic nanoparticles. Magnetic nanochains (MNs) o

Double-doped magnetic particles that incorporated magnetites into both the surface and inside the silica cores were fabricated via the sol-gel reaction of citrate-stabilized magnetites with silicon alkoxide. Double-doped magnetic particles were easily fabricated and exhibited an higher magnetism in comparison to the singledoped magnetic particles that were prepared by the erosion of surface-deposited magneties from double-doped magentic particles. Thin gold layer was formed over magnetic silica

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infections have occurred continuously and crossed the species barrier to humans, leading to fatalities. A polymerase chain reaction based molecular test is currently the most sensitive diagnostic tool for HPAIV; however, the results must be analyzed in centralized diagnosis systems by a trained individual. This requirement leads to delays in quarantine and isolation. To control the spread of HPAIV, rapid and accurate diagnostics suitable for field

Nanomaterials have recently received significant attention as photothermal agents and fluorescence contrast agents for molecular therapeutics due to their unique optical properties (e.g. light absorption). In particular, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) have been recently utilized as photothermal agents (for photothermal therapy) because of the solubility of SWNTs as well as their light absorbing capability at the near-infrared region. In this work, we have developed the SWNT-based phototh

Noninvasive investigation of microRNAs (miRNAs) expression, which is deeply related to biological phenomena such as stem cell differentiation, in culture soup is particularly useful for monitoring of stem cell differentiation without phototoxicity of living cells, especially when cell morphologies remain unchanged during differentiation. However, real-time detection of miRNA in culture soup is not recommended because of insufficient miRNA amounts in culture soup. In this study, a convenient meth

Multifunctional nano-systems are an enticing approach toward the design of nanoparticles with desiredcharacteristics because of interactions between various components of the system. The combination ofvarious imaging modalities often augments the advantages and simultaneously overcomes restrictionsencountered by the individual techniques. This report describes the development of multifunctional goldcore/iron oxide porous-shell nanoparticles (AuFe NPs) functionalized with matrix metalloproteinase

We have investigated the function and mechanisms of the CARM1-SNF5 complex in T3-dependent transcrip-tional activation. Using specific small interfering RNAs (siRNA) to knock down coactivators in HeLa α2 cells, we found that coactivator associated arginine methyl-transferase 1 (CARM1) and SWI/SNF complex compo-nent 5 (SNF5) are important for T3-dependent tran-scriptional activation. The CARM1- SWI/SNF chroma-rapid reversal of H3-K9 methylation. Importantly, siRNA treatment against CARM1 and/or S

A fully integrated micro-channel fuel processor system consisting of vaporizer, steam reformer, heat exchanger and preferential CO oxidation (PROX) was developed using low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC). To fabricate a compact all-in-one system, each substrate was stacked to build a multilayered type fuel processor. A CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst and Pt-based catalyst prepared by wet impregnation were deposited inside the micro-channel of steam reformer and PROX, respectively. The performance of

In this study, peptide-loaded microparticles were prepared using an aerosol solvent extraction system (ASES) by employing supercritical carbon dioxide as an antisolvent. The effects of the molecular weight of poly(Llactide)(PLLA), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), the block length of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(L-lactide)(mPEG-PLLA), the blending of PLLA and PEG, and the drug-to-polymer feed ratio on the formation of leuprolide acetate (LA)-loaded microparticles and their release characteris

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which are thought to be the main candidate for metastasis, are gaining importance owing to their potential impact on human health and public welfare. For capturing CTCs, antigen-antibody interaction has been used in which specific antigens expressed on cell surface of CTCs can be bound to antibodies immobilized on substrates. Conventional detection methods for CTCs have often suffered not only from relatively low antigen-antibody coupling efficiency but also from

Methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(L-lactide) (MPEG-PLLA) diblock copolymer was synthesized via ring-opening polymerization, and MPEG-PLLA microparticles were then prepared using an aerosol solvent extraction system (ASES) technique with compressed carbon dioxide as antisolvent. The MPEG-PLLA microparticles were prepared at temperatures ranging from 25 ℃ to 55 ℃ and at pressures from 85 bar to 150 bar. The concentration of MPEG-PLLA copolymer, solution flow rate, and CO_2 flow rate were adjust

The electrical repulsive energy between two model cylinders was calculated by solving nonlinear Poission- Boltzmann (P-B) equation under Derjaguin approximation. Effects of the surface potential, Debye screening length, and configuration of cylinders on the repulsive interaction energy were examined. Due to the anisotropy of the shape of cylinder, the interaction repulsive energy showed dependence to the configuration of particles; cylinders aligned in end-to-end configuration showed largest rep