Identification and smart design of peptide binders recognizing target biomarkers

There is an urgent need for novel diagnostic methods capable of non-invasive, sensitive and feasible early prediction of colorectal adenoma-to-carcinoma progression over conventional techniques. In this paper, we describe for the first time the use of phage display for the identification of novel peptide motifs that specifically recognize colorectal cancer (CRC) biomarkers for the prediction of colorectal adenoma-to-carcinoma progression. We performed a biopanning of phage displayed peptide library to identify novel peptide sequences specific for promising CRC biomarker, LRG1 and TTR. The peptides specific for LRG1 that is upregulated proteins in carcinoma had an amino acid sequence with QHIMHLPHINTL, while the peptides specific for TTR that is downregulated proteins in adenoma had an amino acid sequence with VHDDFRQDWQPS. ELISA assays were used to evaluate binding affinity for their targets. As a consequence, both phage-displayed peptides were found to be sub-picomolar binding affinities for their proteins. A quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is used as a diagnosis tool during biosensor development, and electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)) and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) are used as the detection methods in the biosensor. Overall these results demonstrate a simple platform for developing sensitive peptide-based biosensors for almost any desired protein target. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Functional neural differentiation of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells using bFGF and forskolin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from adipose tissue have the capacity to differentiate into mesenchymal as well as endodermal and ectodermal cell lineage <it>in vitro</it>. We characterized the multipotent ability of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) as MSCs and investigated the neural differentiation potential of these cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Human ADSCs from earlobe fat maintained self-renewing capacity and differentiated into adipocytes, osteoblasts, or chondrocytes under specific culture conditions. Following neural induction with bFGF and forskolin, hADSCs were differentiated into various types of neural cells including neurons and glia <it>in vitro</it>. In neural differentiated-hADSCs (NI-hADSCs), the immunoreactivities for neural stem cell marker (nestin), neuronal markers (Tuj1, MAP2, NFL, NFM, NFH, NSE, and NeuN), astrocyte marker (GFAP), and oligodendrocyte marker (CNPase) were significantly increased than in the primary hADSCs. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that the mRNA levels encoding for ABCG2, nestin, Tuj1, MAP2, NFL, NFM, NSE, GAP43, SNAP25, GFAP, and CNPase were also highly increased in NI-hADSCs. Moreover, NI-hADSCs acquired neuron-like functions characterized by the display of voltage-dependent tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive sodium currents, outward potassium currents, and prominent negative resting membrane potentials under whole-cell patch clamp recordings. Further examination by RT-PCR showed that NI-hADSCs expressed high level of ionic channel genes for sodium (SCN5A), potassium (MaxiK, Kv4.2, and EAG2), and calcium channels (CACNA1C and CACNA1G), which were expressed constitutively in the primary hADSCs. In addition, we demonstrated that Kv4.3 and Eag1, potassium channel genes, and NE-Na, a TTX-sensitive sodium channel gene, were highly induced following neural differentiation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These combined results indicate that hADSCs have the same self-renewing capacity and multipotency as stem cells, and can be differentiated into functional neurons using bFGF and forskolin.</p

Development of software for computing forming information using a component based approach

ABSTRACTIn shipbuilding industry, the manufacturing technology has advanced at an unprecedented pace for the last decade. As a result, many automatic systems for cutting, welding, etc. have been developed and employed in the manufacturing process and accordingly the productivity has been increased drastically. Despite such improvement in the manufacturing technology, however, development of an automatic system for fabricating a curved hull plate remains at the beginning stage since hardware and software for the automation of the curved hull fabrication process should be developed differently depending on the dimensions of plates, forming methods and manufacturing processes of each shipyard. To deal with this problem, it is necessary to create a “plug-in” framework, which can adopt various kinds of hardware and software to construct a full automatic fabrication system. In this paper, a framework for automatic fabrication of curved hull plates is proposed, which consists of four components and related software. In particular the software module for computing fabrication information is developed by using the ooCBD development methodology, which can interface with other hardware and software with minimum effort. Examples of the proposed framework applied to medium and large shipyards are presented

Treatment for the Lumbosacral Soft Tissue Defect after Spine Surgery

The lumbosacral area is one of the most frequently operated spine regions because of the prevalence of disease in that area. Although a lumbosacral soft tissue defect after surgery due to inflammation and other causes is rare, such soft tissue defects are difficult to treat. Therefore, suitable methods for treating lumbosacral soft tissue defects are necessary. Therefore, this study introduces a case-treated with a transverse lumbosacral rotational flap

Association between work-related health problems and job insecurity in permanent and temporary employees

OBJECTIVES: This research was conducted with an aim of determining the correlation between job insecurity and an employee’s work-related health problems among permanent and temporary workers. METHODS: Using the data from the First Korean Working Conditions Survey conducted in 2006, a total of 7,071 workers, excluding employers and the self-employed, were analyzed. Work-related health problems were categorized as backache, headache, abdominal pain, muscular pain, stress, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety or depression. Each problem was then analyzed for its relationship to job insecurity through logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Among the 7,071 workers, 5,294 (74.9%) were permanent workers and 1,777 (25.1%) were temporary workers. For the permanent workers, presence of high or moderate job insecurity appeared more closely linked to backache, headache, abdominal pain, muscular pain, stress, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, and depression compared to absence of job insecurity. However, for the temporary workers, only depression appeared to be associated with the presence of high job insecurity. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the presence of job insecurity is correlated with work-related health problems. The deleterious effects of job insecurity appeared to be stronger in permanent than temporary workers. Additional research should investigate ways to effectively reduce job insecurity

Tracing the historical origin of Joseon mummies considering the structural similarities between the burial systems of Korean and Chinese dynasties

Joseon mummies have proved to be excellent subjects for scientific research on the health and disease statuses of pre-modern Korean peoples. Despite its academic significance, the origins of the Hoegwakmyo tomb in which the Joseon mummy was discovered have not yet been entirely revealed. Meanwhile, over the past several decades, there have been some reports on mummies and cultural artifacts preserved very well in the tombs of several Chinese dynasties (especially Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing). Although the Chinese tombs were very diverse in structure, we note that some graves among them were structurally very similar to Joseon Hoegwakmyo tombs. Before the Hoegwakmyo tomb in Korea, there were already similar tombs in China, inside which dead persons were mummified like the Joseon mummies. Considering that the Hoegwakmyo tomb of the Joseon Dynasty was established by the influence of the Confucian ideology, the Korean and Chinese mummies might share common cultural origins in history