Enhancement of facilitated olefin transport by amino acid in silver–polymer complex membranes

Silver ions dissolved in a polymer matrix are additionally coordinated by carbonyl oxygens of asparagines and their counter anions interact with cationic sites, resulting in the enhanced activity of the silver ion as an olefin carrier for facilitated olefin transport.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea through the Creative Research Initiatives Program. Sang Wook Kang and Kookheon Char also acknowledge the financial support from the National Research Laboratory Program (Grant M1- 0104-00-0191) and the Ministry of Education through the Brain Korea 21 Program of Seoul National University

Arterial Injury Associated with Tension-Free Vaginal Tapes-SECUR Procedure Successfully Treated by Radiological Embolization

Various postoperative complications have been reported after the use of tension-free vaginal tapes (TVT). The transobturator approach was introduced to minimize the potential complications. The next generation of recently introduced TVT-SECUR is intended to minimize the incidence of complications. Herein we report a case of internal pudendal artery injury sustained during this procedure that was successfully treated by radiological embolization. Angiography with vessel embolization, when available, should be considered when the arterial injury is suspected

Differential profiling of breast cancer plasma proteome by isotope-coded affinity tagging method reveals biotinidase as a breast cancer biomarker

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of women's death worldwide. It is important to discover a reliable biomarker for the detection of breast cancer. Plasma is the most ideal source for cancer biomarker discovery since many cells cross-communicate through the secretion of soluble proteins into blood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Plasma proteomes obtained from 6 breast cancer patients and 6 normal healthy women were analyzed by using the isotope-coded affinity tag (ICAT) labeling approach and tandem mass spectrometry. All the plasma samples used were depleted of highly abundant 6 plasma proteins by immune-affinity column chromatography before ICAT labeling. Several proteins showing differential abundance level were selected based on literature searches and their specificity to the commercially available antibodies, and then verified by immunoblot assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 155 proteins were identified and quantified by ICAT method. Among them, 33 proteins showed abundance changes by more than 1.5-fold between the plasmas of breast cancer patients and healthy women. We chose 5 proteins for the follow-up confirmation in the individual plasma samples using immunoblot assay. Four proteins, α1-acid glycoprotein 2, monocyte differentiation antigen CD14, biotinidase (BTD), and glutathione peroxidase 3, showed similar abundance ratio to ICAT result. Using a blind set of plasmas obtained from 21 breast cancer patients and 21 normal healthy controls, we confirmed that BTD was significantly down-regulated in breast cancer plasma (Wilcoxon rank-sum test, <it>p </it>= 0.002). BTD levels were lowered in all cancer grades (I-IV) except cancer grade zero. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of BTD was 0.78. Estrogen receptor status (<it>p </it>= 0.940) and progesterone receptor status (<it>p </it>= 0.440) were not associated with the plasma BTD levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study suggests that BTD is a potential serological biomarker for the detection of breast cancer.</p

Detection of swine hepatitis E virus in the porcine hepatic lesion in Jeju Island

Swine hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen due to its close genomic similarity to human HEV. The prevalence of swine HEV in the hepatic lesion of pigs from the Jeju Island was investigated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In total, 40 pigs with hepatitis lesions were selected from 19 different farms, based on examination by microscopy. RTPCR findings revealed swine HEV in 22 cases (55%), including 18 suckling pigs and 4 growing pigs. Several histopathological lesions, including multifocal lymphoplasmacytic hepatitis, portal inflammation, and focal hepatocellular necrosis, were observed in liver sections of swine HEV PCR-positive pigs. The present study suggests that the prevalence of swine HEV is very high in the pig population in Jeju Island, and that pigs are infected at early stages of growth (under 2 months of age). The high prevalence of swine HEV in pigs in Jeju Island and the ability of this virus to infect across species puts people with swine-associated occupations at possible risk of zoonotic infection.This work was supported by the Research Project on the Production of Bio-organs (No. 200503010403), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Korea

Prognostic Significance of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 and 18 in Cervical Cancer

To assess the prognostic significance of Human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 and 18 which have been supposed as high risk oncogenic viruses in cervical cancer, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to determine HPV type in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks. Samples were obtained from patients with stage I and II cervical cancer who underwent surgery from 1985 to 1986 at Seoul National University Hospital. In total 65 patients were enlisted, but 9 patients were excluded in data analysis because of poor amplification of ,a-globin during the PCR procedure. Cilnicopathologic factors (age, stage, histologic type, tumor size, lymph node metastasis) and 5 year survival rate were compared between HPV positive and HPV negative groups. The survival difference between HPV 16 positive and HPV 18 positive cases was also analyzed. HPV 16 /18 positive rate in cervical cancer is 80.4%(45 /56), and there is no significant difference in age, stage, histologic type, tumor size, nodal metastasis by HPV infection status. No difference was found in 5 year survival rate between HPV positive and negative groups. When compared with the HPV 16 positive group, the HPV 18 positive group did not show any difference in prognosis. These data suggested that the presence of HPV 16 or HPV 18 in cervical cancer had no relation with known prognostic factors. Either HPV positivity or HPV type (HPV 16 \IS. HPV 18) did not have any prognostic significance in cervical cancer

Detection of swine hepatitis E virus in the porcine hepatic lesion in Jeju Island

Swine hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen due to its close genomic similarity to human HEV. The prevalence of swine HEV in the hepatic lesion of pigs from the Jeju Island was investigated by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In total, 40 pigs with hepatitis lesions were selected from 19 different farms, based on examination by microscopy. RT-PCR findings revealed swine HEV in 22 cases (55%), including 18 suckling pigs and 4 growing pigs. Several histopathological lesions, including multifocal lymphoplasmacytic hepatitis, portal inflammation, and focal hepatocellular necrosis, were observed in liver sections of swine HEV PCR-positive pigs. The present study suggests that the prevalence of swine HEV is very high in the pig population in Jeju Island, and that pigs are infected at early stages of growth (under 2 months of age). The high prevalence of swine HEV in pigs in Jeju Island and the ability of this virus to infect across species puts people with swine-associated occupations at possible risk of zoonotic infection

Antioxidant Effects of the Ethanol Extract from Flower of Camellia japonica via Scavenging of Reactive Oxygen Species and Induction of Antioxidant Enzymes

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of the ethanol extract of the flower of Camellia japonica (Camellia extract). Camellia extract exhibited 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity in human HaCaT keratinocytes. In addition, Camellia extract scavenged superoxide anion generated by xanthine/xanthine oxidase and hydroxyl radical generated by the Fenton reaction (FeSO4 + H2O2) in a cell-free system, which was detected by electron spin resonance spectrometry. Furthermore, Camellia extract increased the protein expressions and activity of cellular antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase. These results suggest that Camellia extract exhibits antioxidant properties by scavenging ROS and enhancing antioxidant enzymes. Camellia extract contained quercetin, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, quercitrin and kaempferol, which are antioxidant compounds