1.Experience at Department of Laboratory Medicine during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Daegu
Sunggyun PARK ; Do-Hoon KIM ; Won-Mok LEE ; Ung-Sook HA ; Dong-Seok JEON ; Jae-Hee LEE ; Namhee RYOO
Annals of Clinical Microbiology 2020;23(4):225-231
The first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea was reported in January 2020.As the secondary transmissions accelerated within the country, the government revised the outbreak alert for COVID-19 from attention to caution. Mid-February, when a massive outbreak was reported from a church in Daegu, our institution initiated testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). More than 300 laboratory tests were performed within the first 2 months, before the number of cases began to decline. Here, we describe our experience of 4 months at the department of Laboratory Medicine, Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital, located in Daegu, where a massive COVID-19 outbreak occurred.
2.Protease-Activated Receptor-2 Is Associated with Terminal Differentiation of Epidermis and Eccrine Sweat Glands.
Yong Sup SHIN ; Hyung Won KIM ; Chang Deok KIM ; Hyun Woo KIM ; Jin Woon PARK ; Sunggyun JUNG ; Jeung Hoon LEE ; Young Kwon KO ; Young Ho LEE
Annals of Dermatology 2015;27(4):364-370
BACKGROUND: Protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2) participates in various biological activities, including the regulation of epidermal barrier homeostasis, inflammation, pain perception, and melanosome transfer in the skin. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the basic physiological role of PAR-2 in skin. METHODS: We investigated PAR-2 expression in human epidermis, skin tumors, and cultured epidermal cells using western blot and immunohistochemical analysis. Additionally, we examined the effect of the PAR-2 agonist, SLIGRL-NH2, on cultured keratinocytes. RESULTS: Strong PAR-2 immunoreactivity was observed in the granular layer of normal human skin and the acrosyringium of the eccrine sweat glands. In contrast, weak PAR-2 immunoreactivity was seen in the granular layer of callused skin and in the duct and gland cells of the eccrine sweat glands. Interestingly, PAR-2 immunoreactivity was very weak or absent in the tumor cells of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and syringoma. PAR-2 was detected in primary keratinocytes and SV-40T-transformed human epidermal keratinocytes (SV-HEKs), an immortalized keratinocyte cell line, but not in SCC12 cells. SV-HEKs that were fully differentiated following calcium treatment displayed higher PAR-2 expression than undifferentiated SV-HEKs. Treatment of cultured SV-HEKs with PAR-2 agonist increased loricrin and filaggrin expression, a terminal differentiation marker. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that PAR-2 is associated with terminal differentiation of epidermis and eccrine sweat glands.
Blotting, Western
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Bony Callus
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Calcium
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Carcinoma, Squamous Cell
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Cell Line
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Epidermis*
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Homeostasis
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Humans
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Inflammation
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Keratinocytes
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Melanosomes
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Pain Perception
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Receptor, PAR-2
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Skin
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Sweat Glands*
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Sweat*
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Syringoma