Gastric cancer is a disease with the second cancer-related mortality in the world. Helicobacter pylori infection that is one of major causes of gastric carcinogenesis induces a chronic inflammation in stomach. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition and/or the accumulation of genetic mutation occur during regenerating the injured gastric epithelial cells due to chronic inflammation by the infection of H. pylori. Normal gastric cells can be transformed into cancer stem cells by the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and/or the accumulation of genetic mutation that initiate the development of gastric cancer. Gastric epithelial cells, bone marrow-derived cells and gastric stem cells in gastric tissue might be the source of gastric cancer stem cells as the target cells that might be susceptible for epithelial-mesenchymal transition and/or the accumulation of genetic mutation. Normal stem cells in gastric tissue regenerating the injured gastric tissue also have the potential to be cancer stem cells known as the origin of cancer development when their ability for regulating differentiation and/or proliferation of normal stem cells is damaged by epithelial-mesenchymal transition and/or the accumulation of genetic mutation. Therefore if the mechanism regulating the transformation of normal stem cells to cancer stem cells is discovered, it might suggest the fundamental therapeutic strategy for preventing the development of gastric cancer by the chronic infection of H. pylori.
Carcinogenesis* ; Epithelial Cells ; Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Inflammation ; Mortality ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; Stem Cells* ; Stomach ; Stomach Neoplasms

Suicide is a tragedy that has massive impact on society. In order to prevent suicide, active government intervention is necessary. The suicide rate in Seoul is rapidly increasing and is more than five times higher than that in the state of Massachusetts (MA) during the last decade, especially in the elderly. The suicide prevention program of MA is one of the most effective suicide prevention programs in the United States. The program views suicide as a preventable public health problem, and emphasizes treatment of depression and de-stigmatization of mental health illnesses to prevent suicide. Also, through active collaboration with mental health professionals, they try to identify at-risk populations and help them to get medical interventions. The program also actively collaborates with the regional coalition program and the Samaritans in taking care of the elderly, and supports the elderly in feeling worthwhile after retirement by helping them to work for communities as volunteers. For its part, the Seoul suicide prevention program puts more emphasis on "life respect culture" and "emotional support to high risk individuals by regular visiting". The annual budget of the Seoul suicide prevention program is one-quarter and that for mental health is about one-twentieth that of MA. Considering the high suicide rate and lower mental health service usage in Seoul, it is crucial to raise awareness of depression and decrease the stigma on mental illnesses. Furthermore, educational efforts with long-term investment in research on suicide are necessary.
Aged ; Budgets ; Cooperative Behavior ; Depression ; Humans ; Investments ; Massachusetts* ; Mental Health ; Mental Health Services ; Public Health ; Retirement ; Seoul ; Suicide* ; United States* ; Volunteers

Aberrant expression of BORIS/CTCFL (Brother of the Regulator of Imprinted Sites/CTCF-like protein) is reported in different malignancies. In this study, we characterized the entire promoter region of BORIS/CTCFL, including the CpG islands, to assess the relationship between BORIS expression and lung cancer. To simplify the construction of luciferase reporter cassettes with various-sized portions of the upstream region, genomic copies of BORIS were isolated using TAR cloning technology. We analyzed three promoter blocks: the GATA/CCAAT box, the CpG islands and the minisatellite region BORIS-MS2. Polymorphic minisatellite sequences were isolated from genomic DNA prepared from the blood of controls and cases. Of the three promoter blocks, the GATA/CCAAT box was determined to be a critical element of the core promoter, while the CpG islands and the BORIS-MS2 minisatellite region were found to act as regulators. Interestingly, the polymorphic minisatellite region BORIS-MS2 was identified as a negative regulator that repressed the expression levels of luciferase reporter cassettes less effectively in cancer cells compared with normal cells. We also examined the association between the size of BORIS-MS2 and lung cancer in a case–control study with 590 controls and 206 lung cancer cases. Rare alleles of BORIS-MS2 were associated with a statistically significantly increased risk of lung cancer (odds ratio, 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.02–4.08; and P=0.039). To conclude, our data provide information on the organization of the BORIS promoter region and gene regulation in normal and cancer cells. In addition, we propose that specific alleles of the BORIS-MS2 region could be used to identify the risk for lung cancer.
Alleles ; Clone Cells ; Cloning, Organism ; CpG Islands ; DNA ; Gene Expression* ; Luciferases ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Minisatellite Repeats* ; Promoter Regions, Genetic

PURPOSE: We aimed to see the frequency of concomitant ischemic heart disease (IHD) in Korean patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and to determine risk factors for an early postoperative acute myocardial infarction (PAMI) after elective open or endovascular AAA repair. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed a database of patients who underwent elective AAA repair over the past 11 years. Patients were classified into 3 groups: control group; group I, medical IHD treatment; group II, invasive IHD treatment. Rates of PAMI and mortality at 30 days were compiled and compared between groups according to the type of AAA repair. RESULTS: Six hundred two elective repairs of infrarenal or juxtarenal AAAs were enrolled in this study. The patients were classified into control group (n = 398, 66.1%), group I (n = 73, 12.1%) and group II (n = 131, 21.8%). PAMI developed more frequently after open surgical repair (OSR) than after endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) (5.4% vs. 1.3%, P = 0.012). In OSR patients (n = 373), PAMI developed 2.1% in control group, 18.0% in group I and 7.1% in group II (P < 0.001). In EVAR group (n = 229), PAMI developed 0.6% in control group, 4.3% in group I and 2.2% in group II (P = 0.211). On the multivariable analysis of risk factors of PAMI, PAMI developed more frequently in patients with positive functional stress test. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of concomitant IHD was 34% in Korean AAA patients. The risk of PAMI was significantly higher after OSR compared to EVAR and in patients with IHD compared to control group. Though we found some risk factors for PAMI, these were not applied to postoperative mortality rate.
Aneurysm ; Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Exercise Test ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction* ; Myocardial Ischemia* ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors*