No abstract available.
Amino Acids* ; Blastocyst* ; Embryonic Structures*

Adipocyte differentiation is a very complex process in which whole-cell changes are accompanied. Among them, type I procollagen gene has been shown to specifically decrease during adipocyte differentiation; however, little is known about the molecular mechanism. To examine how type I procollagen gene expression is regulated at the level of transcription during adipocyte differentiation, 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line was used as an in vitro model. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that mRNA expression of type I procollagen gene was dramatically reduced during adipocyte differentiation. Time-course analysis indicated that decrease in mRNA expression occurred at early stage of differentiation. Studies on several stable cell lines showed that transcriptional activities of both alpha1 and alpha2 promoters decreased significantly during adipocyte differentiation. Despite extensive deletion-promoter analyses, however, we could not identify the cis-element responsible for the switch-off of type I procollagen gene during adipocyte differentiation, suggesting that the transcriptional repression of this gene occur through general transcription machinery rather than a specific cis-element. In conclusion, down-regulation of type I procollagen mRNA expression during adipocyte differentiation is due to repression of its promoter activity through general transcription machinery.
3T3 Cells ; Adipocytes/cytology/*metabolism ; Animal ; Cell Differentiation/*genetics ; Cell Line ; Collagen Type I/*genetics/metabolism ; Down-Regulation/genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genes, Reporter ; Kinetics ; Mice ; Mutation ; Procollagen/*genetics/metabolism ; Promoter Regions (Genetics) ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; Repressor Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic

Adipocyte differentiation is a very complex process in which whole-cell changes are accompanied. Among them, type I procollagen gene has been shown to specifically decrease during adipocyte differentiation; however, little is known about the molecular mechanism. To examine how type I procollagen gene expression is regulated at the level of transcription during adipocyte differentiation, 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line was used as an in vitro model. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that mRNA expression of type I procollagen gene was dramatically reduced during adipocyte differentiation. Time-course analysis indicated that decrease in mRNA expression occurred at early stage of differentiation. Studies on several stable cell lines showed that transcriptional activities of both alpha1 and alpha2 promoters decreased significantly during adipocyte differentiation. Despite extensive deletion-promoter analyses, however, we could not identify the cis-element responsible for the switch-off of type I procollagen gene during adipocyte differentiation, suggesting that the transcriptional repression of this gene occur through general transcription machinery rather than a specific cis-element. In conclusion, down-regulation of type I procollagen mRNA expression during adipocyte differentiation is due to repression of its promoter activity through general transcription machinery.
3T3 Cells ; Adipocytes/cytology/*metabolism ; Animal ; Cell Differentiation/*genetics ; Cell Line ; Collagen Type I/*genetics/metabolism ; Down-Regulation/genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genes, Reporter ; Kinetics ; Mice ; Mutation ; Procollagen/*genetics/metabolism ; Promoter Regions (Genetics) ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism ; Repressor Proteins/genetics/metabolism ; Transcription, Genetic

No abstract available.
Animals ; Constitution and Bylaws* ; Mice* ; Oocytes*

BACKGROUND: Aortic dissection is an uncommon disease but early mortality is as high as 1 percent per hour if untreated. However, major advances in the prompt noninvasive diagnosis and in the medical and surgical treatment of aortic dissection now improve the survival rate to an 75~82% of 5-year survival rate. In order to determine clinical features and long-term follow up results of patients with aortic dissection in Korea, we present a retrospective review of 54 patients with aortic dissection at our institute. METHODS: We review the medical records, echocardiograms and computed tomogram(CT) or magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) of 54 patients(mean age: 59+/-12 years, male: 27) who had aortic dissection between September 1991 and July 1997. Patients were classified according to DeBakey type. Clinical features were evaluated in relation to type. Long-term survival rate using Kaplan-Meier method were also evaluated in relation to type, sex and presence of undertaking operation. RESULTS: Of the 54 patients with aortic dissection, twenty two(41%) were classified to type I, eight(15%) to type II and twenty four(44%) to type III. Age(type I: 60 yrs, type II: 60 yrs, type III: 57 yrs), sex(male in type I: 10(45%)type II: 4(50% ), type III: 13(54%)) and pulse rate(type I: 84, type II: 75, type III: 78) according to the type of aortic dissection show no signifiant difference. In regarding to predisposing factors, hypertension was found in 40(74%) overall, Marfan syndrome 1(2%), bicuspid aortic valve 4(7%), and iatrogenic vascular injury 3(6%). Four-year survival rate was 48% in all patients who were followed for 28+/-26 months(1-168 months), 61% in type I, 44% in type II and 44% in the III. But, there are no statistically significant difference in 4-year survival rate according to type and sex or presence of undertaking operation(data not shown). There are many kinds of cause of death; multi-organ failure, renal failure, congestive heart failure, sepsis, ruptured aortic dissection, gastrointestinal bleeding, cerebrovascular disease and postoperative weaning failure in the dead patients from aortic dissection. And also we found that there are some kinds of cause of death not directly related with aortic dissection(sepsis, gastrointestinal bleeding and cerebrovascular disease) in patients, especially in type III. CONCLUSION: Overall four-year survival rate in patients with aortic dissection was 48% and there were no significant differences in survival rate accoring to type, sex and presence of undertaking operation. There were many kinds of cause of death in patients with aortic dissection and some causes of death was not directly related with aortic dissection. The survival rate in patients with aortic dissection will be increased by strict control of blood pressure and optimal timing of operation before development of aortic rupture.
Aortic Rupture ; Aortic Valve ; Bicuspid ; Blood Pressure ; Causality ; Cause of Death ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Heart Failure ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Male ; Marfan Syndrome ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Mortuary Practice ; Renal Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Sepsis ; Survival Rate ; Vascular System Injuries ; Weaning

PURPOSE: Typically, a diagnosis of erythema nodosum (EN) is based on clinical features. However, other diseases manifest with inflammatory nodules of the lower limbs in addition to EN, such as the EN-like lesions of Behcet's disease (BD). The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the frequency of histologically proven EN among diseases diagnosed clinically as EN, to determine underlying causes of EN, and to compare clinical and histologic features between EN and other diseases. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We selected 99 patients diagnosed clinically with EN and performed skin biopsies. All pathologic slides were evaluated and diagnosed; and after histologic diagnoses were made we reviewed the patients' medical records. RESULTS: Among the 99 patients diagnosed clinically with EN, 47 were biopsy-verified EN. The EN-like lesions of BD and nodular vasculitis were both in the primary differential diagnosis of EN. No definite difference in clinical features exists among these three diseases. Histologically, EN demonstrated septal panniculitis in the majority of patients. Lobular panniculitis was frequently observed in NV, and mixed or mostly lobular panniculitis was observed in the EN-like lesion. Vasculitis was rarely observed in EN; however lymphocytic vasculitis was observed frequently in EN-like lesions and neutrophilic vasculitis was observed in NV. The frequency of granulomatous inflammation was highest in NV. Some cases of patients with typical BD demonstrated classic EN lesions. CONSLUSION: It was extremely difficult to clinically differentiate EN from EN-like lesions or NV. We feel skin biopsy is mandatory for the diagnosis of lower extremity erythematous nodular lesions.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Erythema Nodosum/etiology/*pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

Bovine mastitis is an infectious disease with a major economic influence on the dairy industry worldwide. Many factors such as environment, pathogen, and host affect susceptibility or resistance of an individual cow to bovine mastitis. Recently, there has been considerable interest in defining genetic and immunological markers that could be used to select for improved disease resistance. In this study we have analyzed the lymphocyte subpopulations of mastitis-resistant and susceptible cows using monoclonal antibodies specific for bovine leukocyte differentiation antigens and flow cytometry. We have also used a microarray typing technique to define the bovine leukocyte antigen (BoLA) class I and class II haplotypes associated with resistance or susceptibility to bovine mastitis. A striking finding of the present study is that susceptibility to mastitis was associated with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotypes that have only a single set of DQ genes. The study also revealed that susceptible cows had CD4:CD8 ratios of less than one in both their mammary gland secretions and peripheral blood. These results raise the possibility that the number of DQ genes that a cow has and/or a cow's CD4:CD8 ratio could be used as indicators of susceptibility to bovine mastitis.
Alleles ; Animals ; Antigens, Differentiation/immunology ; Cattle ; Cell Count/veterinary ; Female ; Flow Cytometry/veterinary ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Histocompatibility Antigens/genetics/immunology ; Korea ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear/cytology/*immunology/microbiology ; Lymphocyte Subsets/*immunology/microbiology ; Mastitis, Bovine/genetics/*immunology/microbiology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis/veterinary ; Statistics, Nonparametric

There are several causes of tooth discoloration following root canal treatment. In this study, we evaluated the effects of sealers on tooth discoloration and internal bleaching. Twenty-four teeth were divided into 4 groups: control group, AH plus, Endosequece BC, and MTA fillapex group. Root canal filling was performed using each sealer conventionally and non-vital bleaching was performed with sodium perborate. The L, a, and b values were measured using Vita easyshade. Tooth discoloration after root canal treatment occurs irrespective of the type of sealers and may cause discoloration with only gutta-percha cone. The effect of non-vital bleaching following the use of calcium silicate-based sealers such as Endosequece BC and MTA fillapex was higher than that of AH plus. Therefore, it needs careful use of sealers in endodontics and calcium silicate-based sealers have advantages of bleaching in case of discolored tooth.
Calcium ; Dental Pulp Cavity ; Endodontics ; Gutta-Percha ; Pemetrexed ; Sodium ; Tooth Discoloration ; Tooth

Ameloblasts are specialized cells derived from the dental epithelium that produce enamel, a hierarchically structured tissue comprised of highly elongated hydroxylapatite (OHAp) crystallites. The unique function of the epithelial cells synthesizing crystallites and assembling them in a mechanically robust structure is not fully elucidated yet, partly due to limitations with in vitro experimental models. Herein, we demonstrate the ability to generate mineralizing dental epithelial organoids (DEOs) from adult dental epithelial stem cells (aDESCs) isolated from mouse incisor tissues. DEOs expressed ameloblast markers, could be maintained for more than five months (11 passages) in vitro in media containing modulators of Wnt, Egf, Bmp, Fgf and Notch signaling pathways, and were amenable to cryostorage. When transplanted underneath murine kidney capsules, organoids produced OHAp crystallites similar in composition, size, and shape to mineralized dental tissues, including some enamel-like elongated crystals. DEOs are thus a powerful in vitro model to study mineralization process by dental epithelium, which can pave the way to understanding amelogenesis and developing regenerative therapy of enamel.
Mice ; Animals ; Durapatite/metabolism* ; Dental Enamel/metabolism* ; Ameloblasts/metabolism* ; Amelogenesis ; Stem Cells ; Organoids