Toward an Understanding of Contemporary Korean American Piano Music: A Stylistic Analysis of In-transit (1999), Piano Sonata (2006), and Inter-Mez-Zo (2006) by Beata Moon

Beata Moon is a second-generation Korean American musician who is actively involved in the American music field. She is a performing pianist but also serves as a promoter of new music and aesthetic education. As a composer, Moon has developed a distinctive style that is eclectic and accessible to the audience. The focus of the study is a stylistic analysis of Beata Moon\u27s three major solo piano works: In-Transit (1999), Piano Sonata (2006), and Inter-Mez-Zo (2006). The analysis includes examination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm and keyboard usage in each of Beata Moon\u27s three major solo piano works. This study also provides Moon\u27s biographical information and a transcript of a one-on-one interview

A Human Embryo of Carnegie Stage 12

A human embryo obtained from a salpinx removed for the treatment of tubal gestation was serially sectioned and observed. On gross examination, the embryo showed three prominent pharyngeal arches, but not the cervical sinus. The upper arm bud had just begun to appear with a slight elevation in the skin ectoderm. Both the anterior and posterior neuropores had already been closed. The heart was at the cardiac loop stage. The respiratory diverticulum, the dorsal pancreas and the beginning of the omental bursa had appeared. In the pharyngeal region, the adenohypophyseal pocket and the thyroid anlage were observed. The optic evagination showed no regional differentiation yet. From the above findings, we concluded that this embryo belonged to Carnegie stage 12

The bent conformation of poly(A)-binding protein induced by RNA-binding is required for its translational activation function

A recent study revealed that poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) bound to poly(A) RNA exhibits a sharply bent configuration at the linker region between RNA-recognition motif 2 (RRM2) and RRM3, whereas free PABP exhibits a highly flexible linear configuration. However, the physiological role of the bent structure of mRNA-bound PABP remains unknown. We investigated a role of the bent structure of PABP by constructing a PABP variant that fails to form the poly(A)-dependent bent structure but maintains its poly (A)-binding activity. We found that the bent structure of PABP/poly(A) complex is required for PABP's efficient interaction with eIF4G and eIF4G/eIF4E complex. Moreover, the mutant PABP had compromised translation activation function and failed to augment the formation of 80S translation initiation complex in an in vitro translation system. These results suggest that the bent conformation of PABP, which is induced by the interaction with 30 poly(A) tail, mediates poly(A)-dependent translation by facilitating the interaction with eIF4G and the eIF4G/eIF4E complex. The preferential binding of the eIF4G/eIF4E complex to the bent PABP/poly(A) complex seems to be a mechanism discriminating the mRNA-bound PABPs participating in translation from the idling mRNA-unbound PABPs.111Ysciescopu

An mRNA-specific tRNAi carrier eIF2A plays a pivotal role in cell proliferation under stress conditions: Stress-resistant translation of c-Src mRNA is mediated by eIF2A

c-Src, a non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase, activates NF-��B and STAT3, which in turn triggers the transcription of anti-apoptosis- and cell cycle-related genes. c-Src protein regulates cell proliferation, cell motility and programmed cell death. And the elevated level of activated c-Src protein is related with solid tumor generation. Translation of c-Src mRNA is directed by an IRES element which mediates persistent translation under stress conditions when translation of most mRNAs is inhibited by a phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eIF2 carrying the initiator tRNA (tRNAi) to 40S ribosomal subunit under normal conditions. The molecular basis of the stress-resistant translation of c-Src mRNA remained to be elucidated. Here, we report that eIF2A, an alternative tRNAi carrier, is responsible for the stress-resistant translation of c-Src mRNA. eIF2A facilitates tRNAi loading onto the 40S ribosomal subunit in a c-Src mRNAdependent manner. And a direct interaction between eIF2A and a stem-loop structure (SL I) in the c-Src IRES is required for the c-Src IRES-dependent translation under stress conditions but not under normal conditions. Finally, we showed that the eIF2Adependent translation of c-Src mRNA plays a pivotal role in cell proliferation under stress conditions. ? The Author(s) 2016.115sciescopu

eIF2A, an initiator tRNA carrier refractory to eIF2 kinases, functions synergistically with eIF5B

The initiator tRNA (Met-tRNA(i)(Met)) at the P site of the small ribosomal subunit plays an important role in the recognition of an mRNA start codon. In bacteria, the initiator tRNA carrier, IF2, facilitates the positioning of Met-tRNAiMet on the small ribosomal subunit. Eukarya contain the Met-tRNAiMet carrier, eIF2 (unrelated to IF2), whose carrier activity is inhibited under stress conditions by the phosphorylation of its -subunit by stress-activated eIF2 kinases. The stress-resistant initiator tRNA carrier, eIF2A, was recently uncovered and shown to load Met-tRNAiMet on the 40S ribosomal subunit associated with a stress-resistant mRNA under stress conditions. Here, we report that eIF2A interacts and functionally cooperates with eIF5B (a homolog of IF2), and we describe the functional domains of eIF2A that are required for its binding of Met-tRNAiMet, eIF5B, and a stress-resistant mRNA. The results indicate that the eukaryotic eIF5B-eIF2A complex functionally mimics the bacterial IF2 containing ribosome-, GTP-, and initiator tRNA-binding domains in a single polypeptide.112Ysciescopu

High expression of NR1D1 is associated with good prognosis in triple-negative breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy

Background Nuclear receptor subfamily 1, group D, member 1 (NR1D1) is a ligand-regulated nuclear receptor and transcriptional factor. Although recent studies have implicated NR1D1 as a regulator of DNA repair and proliferation in breast cancers, its potential as a therapeutic target for breast cancer has not been assessed in terms of clinical outcomes. Thus, this study aims to analyze NR1D1 expression in breast cancer patients and to evaluate its potential prognostic value. Methods NR1D1 expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using an anti-NR1D1 antibody in 694 breast cancer samples. Survival analyses were performed using the Kaplan–Meier method with the log-rank test to investigate the association of NR1D1 expression with clinical outcome. Results One hundred thirty-nine of these samples exhibited high NR1D1 expression, mostly in the nucleus of breast cancer cells. NR1D1 expression correlated significantly with histological grade and estrogen receptor status. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) did not correlate significantly with NR1D1 expression in breast cancer patients regardless of whether they had received chemotherapy. Subgroup analysis performed according to molecular subtype of breast cancer showed a significant influence of high NR1D1 expression on OS (P = 0.002) and DFS (P = 0.007) in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treated with chemotherapy. Conclusions High NR1D1 expression level had a favorable impact on OS and DFS in patients with TNBC treated with chemotherapy. NR1D1 should be investigated further as a possible prognostic marker in TNBC patients receiving chemotherapeutic treatment and as a target in the development of chemotherapeutic approaches to treating TNBC.This work was supported by grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (2014M3A9D5A01073556, 2017R1A2B3011870, 2018R1A5A2024425, and BK21 Plus program)

Insulin Secretion and Incretin Hormone Concentration in Women with Previous Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

BackgroundWe examined the change in the levels of incretin hormone and effects of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) on insulin secretion in women with previous gestational diabetes (pGDM).MethodsA 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was conducted on 34 women with pGDM. In addition, 11 women with normal glucose tolerance, matched for age, height and weight, were also tested. The insulin, GIP, GLP-1, and glucagon concentrations were measured, and their anthropometric and biochemical markers were also measured.ResultsAmong 34 women with pGDM, 18 had normal glucose tolerance, 13 had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 1 had diabetes. No significant differences were found in GLP-1 concentration between the pGDM and control group. However, a significantly high level of glucagon was present in the pGDM group at 30 minutes into the OGTT. The GIP concentration was elevated at 30 minutes and 60 minutes in the pGDM group. With the exception of the 30-minute timepoint, women with IGT had significantly high blood glucose from 0 to 120 minutes. However, there was no significant difference in insulin or GLP-1 concentration. The GIP level was significantly high from 0 to 90 minutes in patients diagnosed with IGT.ConclusionGLP-1 secretion does not differ between pGDM patients and normal women. GIP was elevated, but that does not seem to induce in increase in insulin secretion. Therefore, we conclude that other factors such as heredity and environment play important roles in the development of type 2 diabetes