Yong Sung Park

Percutaneous extrahepatic biliary stone removal by balloon sphincteroplasty and subsequent stone pushing with occlusion balloon is an effective, safe, and technically feasible procedure which can be used as an alternative method in patients when endoscopic extrahepatic biliary stone removal was not successful.

The generation of protective humoral immune responses against the receptor-binding domain (domain IV) of protective antigen [PA(dIV)] of Bacillus anthracis represents a plausible approach against anthrax toxin. In the current study, we have developed a naked DNA vaccine encoding calreticulin (CRT) linked to PA(dIV) of Bacillus anthracis [CRT/PA(dIV)]. We transfected a human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK 293) with CRT/PA(dIV) DNA and performed Western blotting and confocal microscopy analysis.

Oscillatory pipe flows of aqueous Carbopol solutions are investigated both experimentally and analytically. Using the PIV technique, the velocity profiles are measured and compared with the numerical solutions based on an elasto-viscoplastic rheological model, in which an elastic spring is serially connected to a regularized Bingham viscoplastic model. The rheological parameters, such as shear modulus of elasticity, yield stress and viscosity, are estimated from steady-shear measurements. Good a

Although copper functions as a cofactor in many physiological processes, copper overload leads to harmful effects in living cells. Thus, copper homeostasis is tightly regulated. However, detailed copper metabolic pathways have not yet been identified in filamentous fungi. In this report, we investigated the copper transcription factor AfMac1 (Aspergillus fumigatusMac1 homolog) and identified its regulatory mechanism in A. fumigatus. AfMac1 has domains homologous to the DNA-binding and copper-bin

Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen for immunocompromised patients, and genes involved in siderophore metabolism have been identified as virulence factors. Recently, we identified the membrane transporters sit1 and sit2, which are putative virulence factors of A. fumigatus; sit1 and sit2 are homologous to yeast Sit1, and sit1 and sit2 gene expression was up-regulated after iron depletion. When expressed heterologously in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sit1 and sit2 were localize

Pleurotus eryngii produces various functional molecules that mediate physiological functions in humans. Recently, we observed that P. eryngii produces molecules that have antidepressant functions. An ethanol extract of the fruiting body of P. eryngii was obtained, and the extract was purified by XAD-16 resin using an open column system. The ethanol eluate was separated by HPLC, and the fraction with an antidepressant function was identified. Using LC-MS, the molecular structure of the HPLC fract

Liu & Chan ( J. Fluid Mech. vol. 579, 2007, p. 467, hereinafter referred to as LC) derived analytical solutions for the interactions between shallow water waves and a viscous fluid seabed. In this paper we present a set of new experimental data on the solitary-wave-induced flows in a viscous muddy seabed so as to validate LC's theory and the approximations employed. In the experiments a clear silicone fluid was used as the viscous mud and particle image velocimetry was employed to measure th

Although iron and copper are co-ordinately regulated in living cells, the homeostatic effects of each of these metals on the other remain unknown. Here, we show the function of AfMac1, a transcriptional activator of the copper and iron regulons of Aspergillus fumigatus, on the interaction between iron and copper. In addition to the copper-specific AfMac1-binding motif 5′-TGTGCTCA-3′ found in the promoter region of ctrC, the iron-specific AfMac1-binding motif 5′-AT(C/G)NN(A/T)T(A/C)-3′ was identi

FgFtr1 and FgFtr2 are putative iron permeases, and FgFet1 and FgFet2 are putative ferroxidases of Fusarium graminearum. They have high homologies with iron permease ScFtr1 and ferroxidase ScFet3 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae at the amino acid level. The genes encoding iron permease and ferroxidase were localized to the same chromosome in the manner of FgFtr1/FgFet1 and FgFtr2/FgFet2. The GFP (green fluorescent protein)-fused versions of FgFtr1 and FgFtr2 showed normal functions when compared with

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the peroxisome proliferator-associated receptor-γ (PPARγ) and MUC1 mucin, two anti-inflammatory molecules expressed in the airways. Treatment of A549 lung epithelial cells or primary mouse tracheal surface epithelial (MTSE) cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) increased the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in cell culture media compared with cells treated with vehicle alone. Overexpression of MUC1 in A549 cells decre