Nasser and Park: Development, state building, and elite consolidation

This thesis examines the relationship between elites and development and state building. It looks at how elite consolidation does or does not affect development and state building. It does this in the context of the cases of Egypt under Gamal Abdal Nasser and Korea under Park Chunghee. The thesis initially puts forward the argument that Korea\u27s advantages from the colonial era set the basis for later development and state building, and paved the way for elite consolidation into the 1960s. However, the thesis ultimately finds that while Korea may have had some advantages from the colonial era that helped in development and state building, this was but one factor of the ability of elites to consolidate well. It ultimately argues that the ability of elites to effectively consolidate is connected to the efficiency of the bureaucracy and exogenous catastrophic circumstances, which are in turn connected to the success of development and state building processes

Defining tropism and activity of natural and engineered extracellular vesicles

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have important roles as mediators of cell-to-cell communication, with physiological functions demonstrated in various in vivo models. Despite advances in our understanding of the biological function of EVs and their potential for use as therapeutics, there are limitations to the clinical approaches for which EVs would be effective. A primary determinant of the biodistribution of EVs is the profile of proteins and other factors on the surface of EVs that define the tropism of EVs in vivo. For example, proteins displayed on the surface of EVs can vary in composition by cell source of the EVs and the microenvironment into which EVs are delivered. In addition, interactions between EVs and recipient cells that determine uptake and endosomal escape in recipient cells affect overall systemic biodistribution. In this review, we discuss the contribution of the EV donor cell and the role of the microenvironment in determining EV tropism and thereby determining the uptake and biological activity of EVs

A novel method for the isolation of CD45-positive and CD45-negative cells from malignant pleural effusion

Background Patient-derived malignant pleural effusion (MPE) samples can be used to identify a patient-specific drug combination since MPE samples are readily available and cost-effective tumor cell sources. However, the isolation of target cancer cells from MPE has been inefficient because MPE samples contain a complex mixture of immune cells, non-cancerous cells, and cancer cells. Hence, new methods need to be developed to effectively isolate target cancer cells from MPE samples that can be used for 3-dimensional (3D) cell culture. Patient-derived in vitro 3D tumor models are expected to facilitate more precise drug treatment. Methods MPE samples were obtained from Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea with consent from patients previously diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma. We isolated target cells from MPE samples using 2 different Percoll-gradient centrifugation methods. Results The use of 40% and 75% Percoll-gradient centrifugation led to a clearer separation of CD45-positive (CD45pos) and CD45-negative (CD45neg) cells than the traditional 44% and 67% Percoll-gradient centrifugation method. Conclusion Our findings strongly suggest that the 40% and 75% Percoll-gradient centrifugation method is more useful for the isolation of CD45pos or CD45neg cells than the previously described Percoll-gradient centrifugation method. Furthermore, our novel method was useful for the isolation of MPE-derived target cancer cells that can be used to construct in vitro patient-specific 3D tumor models

The Role of Location of Tumor in the Prognosis of the Pancreatic Cancer

Identification of prognostic factors is important to improve treatment outcomes in pancreatic cancer. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the location of pancreatic cancer on survival and to determine whether it was a significant prognostic factor. Altogether, 2483 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer were examined. Comparative analysis of clinicopathologic characteristics, survival analysis, and multivariate analysis were performed. Cancers of the pancreatic head or the uncinate process were present in 49.5% of patients. The head/uncinate cancers had more clinical T1/T2 tumors (59.4% vs. 35.5%, p < 0.001) and a significantly higher 5-year survival rate (8.9% vs. 7.3%, p < 0.001) than the body/tail cancers. The 5-year survival rate in patients with head/uncinate cancers was significantly lower in the resectable (p = 0.014) and the locally advanced groups (p = 0.007). In patients who underwent resection with curative intent, the 5-year survival rate was lower in the head/uncinate group (p = 0.046). The overall outcome of the head/uncinate cancers was better than the body/tail cancers, due to the high proportion of resectable cases. In patients who underwent curative resection, the head/uncinate cancers had a higher number of T1/T2 tumors, but worse outcomes. In the multivariate analysis, tumor location was not an independent prognostic factor for pancreatic cancer

Cyclophilin A‐mediated mitigation of coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2

Abstract Human cyclophilin A (hCypA) is important for the replication of multiple coronaviruses (CoVs), and cyclosporine A inhibitors can suppress CoVs. The emergence of rapidly spreading severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) variants has sparked concerns that mutations affect the binding ability of the spike (S) protein to the angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) cell receptor, affecting the severity of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). Far‐western blotting and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) results revealed that hCypA interacts strongly with the viral SARS‐CoV‐2 receptor‐binding domain (RBD), with a binding affinity of 6.85 × 10−8 M. The molecular interaction between hCypA and the viral protein interface was shown using three‐dimensional structural analysis, which revealed the blocking of key residues on the RBD interface by hCypA. The RBD facilitates binding to the ACE2 receptor. The hCypA–S protein complex suppressed the binding of RBD to the ACE2 receptor, which a required event for CoV entry into the host cell. The reliability of this postulated blocking mechanism of the hCypA–SARS‐CoV2 RBD complex with ACE was confirmed by SPR and molecular interaction lateral flow (MILF) strip assay, which offers the immunochromatographic signal read‐outs. The emergence of new SARS‐CoV‐2 variants with key mutations in RBD had a negligible effect on the binding of the RBD variants to hCypA, indicating an effective mitigation strategy for SARS‐CoV‐2 variants. The MILF strip assay results also highlight the neutralizing effect of hCypA by effectively blocking RBD (wild type and its variants) from binding ACE2. Given the importance of hCypA in viral entry regulation, it has the potential to be used as a target for antiviral therapy

COVID-19 infection with asymptomatic or mild disease severity in young patients: Clinical course and association between prevalence of pneumonia and viral load.

Few studies have focused on clinical courses or viral loads in young asymptomatic or mild patients with COVID-19 infection. We sought to better understand the clinical course and association between viral load and prevalence of pneumonia in young COVID-19 patients with asymptomatic or mild disease severity. In this retrospective study, 106 COVID-19 young patients with asymptomatic or mild disease severity were analyzed for clinical characteristics, clinical course, prevalence of radiologically proven pneumonia and viral load. The cut-off value of viral load for presence of pneumonia was also investigated. The mean age was 28.0±9.3 years. Eleven patients (10.4%) experienced viral remission within one week of diagnosis, but one (0.9%) transferred to the hospital due to aggravation of pneumonia. Patients with pneumonia had significantly higher viral load than those without, and the cut-off value of the Ct value for presence of pneumonia were 31.38. The patients with pneumonia had significantly slower recovery times than those without. Diarrhea was significantly more common in patients with pneumonia than patients without pneumonia. In conclusion, most young asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients showed stable clinical course. There were significant differences in viral load and recovery times between patients with and without pneumonia