OBJECTIVE: Leptin, a secreted protein of the Ob gene by white adipose tissue, plays an important role in the regulation of food intake and energy consumption in the brain and acts as a potential growth stimulator in normal and neoplastic breast cancer cells. However, a potential role of leptin as an endocrine regulator is unknown in ovarian cancer. In the present study, we investigated the expression of leptin and its receptors in various histologic types of ovarian cancer and immortalized ovarian cancer cell lines to find out potential effect of leptin on the cell growth and activation of ovarian cancer cell line. METHODS: The ovarian cancer tissues, serous (n=18), mucinous (n=15), clear cell (n=12) and endometrioid type (n=14), were used for immuno-histochemical staining for leptin (Ob) and leptin-receptors (Ob -R). Ovrian cancer cell lines (non-mucinous: SNU-8, OVCAR-3, and SKOV-3) and mucinous: MUC) were used for RT-PCR, Western blot analysis, and [H3] thymidine incorporation assay for the cell growth and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase. RESULTS: Both long (Ob-Rb) and short (Ob-Rt) isoforms of leptin receptors are expressed in non-mucinous type of ovarian cancer tissues (serous, clear cell carcinoma and endometrioid cell carcinoma) and in non-mucinous ovarian cancer cell lines (SNU-8, OVCAR-3 and SKOV-3 cells). However, leptin and its receptors are not found in mucinous cancer cells and mucinous cancer cell line (MUC). In immunohistochemical staining, the immunreactive leptin is expressed on the nuclei of the stratified cuboidal-to-columnar epithelial cells whereas its receptor was sparsely expressed on the innermost epithelial cell clusters and cytoplasm in non-mucinous tumor. However, there are no immunoreactive leptin and its receptor expressions in the mucinous tumor. In addition, treatment with leptin resulted in the growth stimulation of ovarian cancer cell line, an activation of ERK 1/2 and inhibition of constitutive phosphorylation of p38 Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). CONCLUSION: Taken together, our data demonstrates preliminary that the expression of leptin and its receptor is different according to the cell types of the ovarian cancer. Also it canbe thought that leptin immunolocalized on the nuclei in non-mucinous type but not in mucinous possibly acts as a nuclear transcription factor. Further studies are necessary to validate whether leptin may be a potential regulator for ovarian cancer.
Adipose Tissue, White ; Blotting, Western ; Brain ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cell Line ; Cytoplasm ; Eating ; Epithelial Cells ; Leptin ; Mucins ; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Phosphorylation ; Protein Isoforms ; Protein Kinases ; Receptors, Leptin ; Thymidine ; Transcription Factors

PURPOSE: The Professional Graduate Medical School (PGMS) was established in 2003 in South Korea to train doctors that had better humanities and various educational backgrounds. By comparing the learning styles between students of the Medical College (MC) and PGMS, we investigated the characteristics of these students. METHODS: The Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) is used to determine learning preferences. It is composed of 12 statements on concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. Six hundred nine students from all years of the 2 medical schools completed the Kolb LSI between June 1st and June 30th, 2008 (response rate: 91.4%). RESULTS: MC students preferred Kolb's 'assimilator (56.3%)' and 'diverger (25.6%)', and PGMS students preferred Kolb's 'assimilator (61.2%)' and 'converger (19.3%)'. PGMS students showed a higher preference for abstract conceptualization compared with MC students (adjusted Odds Ratio=2.191; 95% Confidence Interval=1.115~4.306). CONCLUSION: This study showed that the learning styles of PGMS and MC students differed. We can use this result not only in developing curricula and teaching strategies, but also in providing support to students.
Curriculum ; Humanities ; Humans ; Learning ; Republic of Korea ; Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical

Laminin, an extracellular matrix glycoprotein composed of three polypeptide chains such as alpha , beta, and gamma is distributed in basement membranes of epithelium, muscle, and nervous tissues. Laminin functions as an extracellular cytoskeleton and regulates the differentiation and polarization of cells adjacent to the basement membrane. Along with type IV collagen and heparan sulfate proteoglycan, laminin forms a spike -like structure in the renal glomerular basement membrane (GBM). It has been previously demonstrated that the distribution and immune reaction of laminin are changed in response to the conditions of glomerulonephritis and that laminin plays a role in the reformation of GBM as well as the regeneration of renal glomerular cells. In the present study, the profile of expression and distribution of laminin/laminin beta1 chain were examined in different developmental stages and upon adriamycin administration. Kidney obtained from fetuses (16, 18, and 20 days old) and infants (1 and 7 days old) of Sprague -Dawley rats were either cryosectioned for immunohistochemical assays or ultrathin -sectioned for electron microscopy using immunogold staining methods. The results were as follows: 1. Intensive expression of laminin was observed in the GBM and surrounding mesenchymal tissues obtained from 16, 18, and 20 days old fetuses and in the glomerulus from one day neonates, whereas the level of staining decreased in the glomerulus from 7 days old infants. 2. Immunogold particles were observed in the comma -shaped nephron, in particular in cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum, vesicles and nuclear membrane of endothelial cells and mesangial cells obtained from 18 days old fetuses. 3. The immune reactions of laminin beta1 chain were trace detected in the kidney from fetuses (16, 18, and 20 days old) and weakly in tissues surrounding blood capillary and mesangial tissues from one day old neonates. 4. After 24 hours following adriamycin treatment, the reactivity of laminin was slightly enhanced in the renal glomerulus, when compared with that of untreated controls. This enhancement persisted up to 1 week of adriamycin treatment. Laminin beta1 chain was weakly detectable, while further treatment with adriamycin for another 24 hours reduced the intensity of laminin beta1 chain. Taken together, these results suggest that laminin is localized in the GBM at the high level during early fetal stages but the expression levels decrease after birth. Moreover, administration with adriamycin may result in an increase in the immune reactivities of laminin and laminin beta1 chain by renal tissue damage followed by renal regeneration.
Animals ; Basement Membrane ; Capillaries ; Collagen Type IV ; Cytoskeleton ; Doxorubicin ; Endoplasmic Reticulum, Rough ; Endothelial Cells ; Epithelium ; Extracellular Matrix ; Fetus ; Glomerular Basement Membrane ; Glomerulonephritis ; Glycoproteins ; Heparan Sulfate Proteoglycans ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Kidney* ; Laminin* ; Mesangial Cells ; Microscopy, Electron ; Nephrons ; Nuclear Envelope ; Parturition ; Rats* ; Regeneration

A 78-year-old male cadaver showed bilateral anomalous muscles on the dorsum of the hand. An extensor digitorum brevis manus was noted on the dorsum of the right hand. It originated from the distal end of the radius and the radiocarpal joint ligaments and inserted into the metacarpophalangeal joint of the third digit. On the dorsum of the left hand, an extensor digiti medii proprius was identified. It originated from the distal third of the ulna near the extensor indicis proprius and the interosseous membrane and inserted into the metacarpophalangeal joint of the third digit. Awareness of these combined muscular variation would be helpful in understanding the identification of digital extensors and in requiring careful consideration for the reconstruction surgery of the hand.
Aged ; Cadaver ; Forearm ; Hand ; Humans ; Joints ; Ligaments ; Male ; Membranes ; Metacarpophalangeal Joint ; Muscles ; Radius ; Ulna

Background: and Purpose The influence of imaging features of brain frailty on outcomes were investigated in acute ischemic stroke patients with minor symptoms and large-vessel occlusion (LVO). Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of a prospective, multicenter, nationwide registry of consecutive patients with acute (within 24 h) minor (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score=0–5) ischemic stroke with anterior circulation LVO (acute minor LVO). Brain frailty was stratified according to the presence of an advanced white-matter hyperintensity (WMH) (Fazekas grade 2 or 3), silent/old brain infarct, or cerebral microbleeds. The primary outcome was a composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, and all-cause mortality within 1 year. Results: In total, 1,067 patients (age=67.2±13.1 years [mean±SD], 61.3% males) were analyzed. The proportions of patients according to the numbers of brain frailty burdens were as follows: no burden in 49.2%, one burden in 30.0%, two burdens in 17.3%, and three burdens in 3.5%. In the Cox proportional-hazards analysis, the presence of more brain frailty burdens was associated with a higher risk of 1-year primary outcomes, but after adjusting for clinically relevant variables there were no significant associations between burdens of brain frailty and 1-year vascular outcomes. For individual components of brain frailty, an advanced WMH was independently associated with an increased risk of 1-year primary outcomes (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]=1.33, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.03–1.71) and stroke (aHR=1.32, 95% CI=1.00–1.75). Conclusions The baseline imaging markers of brain frailty were common in acute minor ischemic stroke patients with LVO. An advanced WMH was the only frailty marker associated with an increased risk of vascular events. Further research is needed into the association between brain frailty and prognosis in patients with acute minor LVO.