Search Results (12)

Fibrotic disorders pose a significant global health burden due to limited treatment options, creating an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies. Amphiregulin (AREG), a low-affinity ligand for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), has emerged as a key mediator of fibrogenesis through dual signaling pathways. Unlike high-affinity EGFR ligands, AREG induces sustained signaling that activates downstream effectors and promotes the integrin-mediated activation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. This enables both canonical and non-canonical EGFR signaling pathways that contribute to fibrosis. Elevated AREG expression correlates with disease severity across multiple organs, including the lungs, kidneys, liver, and heart. The therapeutic targeting of AREG has shown promising antifibrotic and anticancer effects, suggesting a dual-benefit strategy. The increasing recognition of the shared mechanisms between fibrosis and cancer further supports the development of unified treatment approaches. The inhibition of AREG has been shown to sensitize fibrotic tumor microenvironments to chemotherapy, enhancing combination therapy efficacy. Targeted therapies, such as Self-Assembled-Micelle inhibitory RNA (SAMiRNA)-AREG, have demonstrated enhanced specificity and favorable safety profiles in preclinical studies and early clinical trials. Personalized treatment based on AREG expression may improve clinical outcomes, establishing AREG as a promising precision medicine target for both fibrotic and malignant diseases. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of AREG biology and evaluate its therapeutic potential in fibrosis and cancer. Full article

Background/Objectives: Infant FreeSurfer was introduced to address robust quantification and segmentation in the infant brain. The purpose of this study is to develop a new model for predicting the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight preterm infants using automated volumetry extracted from term-equivalent age (TEA) brain MRIs, diffusion tensor imaging, and clinical information. Methods: Preterm infants hospitalized at Severance Children’s Hospital, born between January 2012 and December 2019, were consecutively enrolled. Inclusion criteria included infants with birth weights under 1500 g who underwent both TEA MRI and Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Second Edition (BSID-II), assessments at 18–24 months of corrected age (CA). Brain volumetric information was derived from Infant FreeSurfer using 3D T1WI of TEA MRI. Mean and standard deviation of fractional anisotropy of posterior limb of internal capsules were measured. Demographic information and comorbidities were used as clinical information. Study cohorts were split into training and test sets with a 7:3 ratio. Random forest and logistic regression models were developed to predict low Psychomotor Development Index (PDI < 85) and low Mental Development Index (MDI < 85), respectively. Performance metrics, including the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC), accuracy, sensitivity, precision, and F1 score, were evaluated in the test set. Results: A total of 150 patient data were analyzed. For predicting low PDI, the random forest classifier was employed. The AUROC values for models using clinical variables, MR volumetry, and both clinical variables and MR volumetry were 0.8435, 0.7281, and 0.9297, respectively. To predict low MDI, a logistic regression model was chosen. The AUROC values for models using clinical variables, MR volumetry, and both clinical variables and MR volumetry were 0.7483, 0.7052, and 0.7755, respectively. The model incorporating both clinical variables and MR volumetry exhibited the highest AUROC values for both PDI and MDI prediction. Conclusions: This study presents a promising new prediction model utilizing an automated volumetry algorithm to distinguish long-term psychomotor developmental outcomes in preterm infants. Further research and validation are required for its clinical application. Full article

Microplastics contained in laundry wastewater are identified as the main cause of marine microplastics, accounting for approximately 35% of marine microplastics. In this study, a four-stage microplastic filter for laundry wastewater was developed and the removal rates of microplastics, COD, SS, and turbidity were checked through 50 tests to confirm the efficiency of the filter. The microplastic removal rate was confirmed using μFTIR with a high efficiency of 98.5% on average for 50 tests. The microplastics contained in laundry wastewater were identified as 57% PE, 9% PET, 9% PA, 8% PU, 8% PP, 6% PPMA, and 3% PAN. COD was measured using the COD manganese method, and the COD removal rate of the laundry wastewater filter was an average of 92% for 50 times. SS was verified by filtration using a vacuum pump and the average removal rate was 80% during 50 tests. Turbidity was confirmed with an average removal rate of 88% using a turbidity meter. As a result of the experiment, it was confirmed that when the developed filter was installed in laundry wastewater, not only microplastics but also various water pollutants were reduced. In addition, the water quality pollution index showing the highest correlation with microplastics in laundry wastewater was SS, and the p-value was confirmed to be 0.000. Full article

In the crustacean immune system, leucine-rich repeat (LRR) is one of the major structures for recognizing pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). LRR domain-containing proteins belong to the LRR family, which is a large group of proteins with more than 6000 genes in the database. They are involved in very diverse physiological functions, mainly by interacting with other proteins. In a previous study, the LvLRRm, a transmembrane protein containing only LRR domain, was identified in the white leg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei. Its versatile role in performing multiple immunomodulation activities has been reported. However, there is still a lack of research on its efficient function at the protein level. To investigate its interactions with other proteins, we applied a convenient method called the ‘Hybrid LRR technique’ to produce a recombinant LvLRRm. The LvLRRm and hagfish’s variable lymphocyte receptors (VLRs) fragments were fused to the conserved LxxLxLxxN motif while retaining the β-strand. In addition, we established interactions between hybrid proteins and the flagellin of Salmonella typhimurium by performing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis. The results of the SPR analysis demonstrated notable affinity for both LvLRRm and hybrid proteins towards Salmonella flagellin. The designed LvLRRm hybrid proteins bring insight for universal applications without losing protein functions. Full article

Microplastic pollution in the ocean has a major impact on marine organisms, including digestive system damage and reduced growth and fertility. This study investigated the amount, size, color, type, and presence of heads and intestines of microplastics by size in Litopenaeus vannamei, a type of marine organism. Microplastic analysis was performed using FTIR and digital microscopy. The number of microplastics by the size of the shrimp ranged from 1.73 to 3.8 MPs per 10 g, and the microplastic size of less than 100 μm was 77–92%, with blue showing the highest ratio. As for the type of plastic, PE and PP showed the highest ratio, and PET, PS, nylon, and PVC were found. Microplastics were found to be 11.83 MPs/10 g for heads and intestines and 3.16 MPs/10 g for samples without heads and intestines. This study adds to evidence for the presence of high levels of microplastics in the intestines and heads of shrimp. It also enhances our understanding of the need for efficient plastic waste management in the ocean and the impact of microplastics on marine biota. Full article

Hydrothermal vents are chemosynthetically driven ecosystems and one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Vent communities exhibit remarkable taxonomic novelty at the species and supra-species levels, and over 80% of vent species are endemic. Here, we used mitochondrial DNA to identify the biogeographic distribution of Munidopsis lauensis and the heme-binding regions of A1-type COX1 from six species (including M. lauensis) to investigate whether genetic variation in the protein structure affects oxygen-binding ability. We verified the identity of Indian Ocean specimens by comparing sequences from the barcoding gene mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) with known M. lauensis sequences from the NCBI database. The data show that these are the first recorded specimens of M. lauensis in the Indian Ocean; previously, this species had been reported only in the southwest Pacific. Our findings support the hypothesis that vent fauna in the Pacific and Indian Oceans can interact via active ridges. In the case of the mitochondrial DNA-binding site, the arrangement of heme-binding ligands and type A1 motif of M. lauensis was identical to that in other species. Moreover, our findings suggest that the mechanism of oxygen binding is well conserved among species from terrestrial organisms to hydrothermal extremophiles. Overall, dispersal of the same species to geologically separated hydrothermal vents and conserved heme-binding regions in mitochondrial proteins suggest that hydrothermal species might have evolved from shallow sea organisms and became distributed geographically using a dispersion corridor. Full article

Many air pollutants are inhaled by human breathing, increasing the prevalence of respiratory disease and even mortality. With the recent COVID-19 issue, the number of air pollutants affecting humans is demands further investigation. However, there are not many adequate air measuring devices that can cover a variety of air pollutants. In this study, the developed air measurement system is able to measure sixteen air pollutants (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, PM_4.0, PM_1.0, CO₂, CH₄, temperature, humidity, VOCs, O₂, H₂S, NH₃, SO₂, CO, O₃, NO₂) in real time. The developed ‘multi-item air quality monitoring system’ can measure sixteen air pollutants in real time and transmit them to the server and the smartphone application at the same time. It was developed to reduce air pollutant damage to humans by emergency alerts using the smartphone application. The development system is composed of hardware development (measurement device) and software development (smartphone application, server). To verify the reliability of the developed equipment, a comparative test, temperature–humidity accuracy test, and operating temperature test were conducted. In the comparative test, difference ratios of ±5% for PM₁₀, ±6% for PM_2.5, ±4% for O₃, ±5% for NO₂, ±7% for CO, and ±7% for SO₂ were found compared to the professional measuring devices. The temperature and humidity accuracy test result showed high reliability at ±1% and humidity ± 2%. The result of the operating temperature test showed that there was no problem in normal operation, However, further tests including the long-term comparative test and the closed chamber test will be carried out for all sensors. Additional work including a long-term test for more clear reliability of the device and closed chamber accuracy test for all 16-item sensors, data acquisition rate, and data transmit rate are in progress for commercializing the device. Full article

Microplastic contamination has become a problem, as plastic production has increased worldwide. Microplastics are plastics with particles of less than 5 mm and are absorbed through soil, water, atmosphere, and living organisms and finally affect human health. However, information on the distribution, toxicity, analytical methods, and removal techniques for microplastics is insufficient. For clear microplastic analytical methods and removal technologies, this article includes the following: (1) The distribution and contamination pathways of microplastics worldwide are reviewed. (2) The health effects and toxicity of microplastics were researched. (3) The sampling, pretreatment, and analytical methods of microplastics were all reviewed through various related articles. (4) The various removal techniques of microplastics were categorized by wastewater treatment process, physical treatment, chemical treatment, and biological treatment. This paper will be of great help to microplastic analysis and removal techniques. Full article

Bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Traditionally, STN DBS for PD is performed by using microelectrode recording (MER) and/or intraoperative macrostimulation under local anesthesia (LA). However, many patients cannot tolerate the long operation time under LA without medication. In addition, it cannot be even be performed on PD patients with poor physical and neurological condition. Recently, it has been reported that STN DBS under general anesthesia (GA) can be successfully performed due to the feasible MER under GA, as well as the technical advancement in direct targeting and intraoperative imaging. The authors reviewed the previously published literature on STN DBS under GA using intraoperative imaging and MER, focused on discussing the technique, clinical outcome, and the complication, as well as introducing our single-center experience. Based on the reports of previously published studies and ours, GA did not interfere with the MER signal from STN. STN DBS under GA without intraoperative stimulation shows similar or better clinical outcome without any additional complication compared to STN DBS under LA. Long-term follow-up with a large number of the patients would be necessary to validate the safety and efficacy of STN DBS under GA. Full article

Hyperthermia is a cancer treatment where tumor tissue is heated to around 40 °C. Hyperthermia shows both cancer cell cytotoxicity and immune response stimulation via immune cell activation. Immunogenic responses encompass the innate and adaptive immune systems, involving the activation of macrophages, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and T cells. Moreover, hyperthermia is commonly used in combination with different treatment modalities, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy, for better clinical outcomes. In this review, we will focus on hyperthermia-induced immunogenic effects and molecular events to improve radiotherapy efficacy. The beneficial potential of integrating radiotherapy with hyperthermia is also discussed. Full article

Although there is clinical demand for new technology that can accurately measure Parkinsonian tremors, automatic scoring of Parkinsonian tremors using machine-learning approaches has not yet been employed. This study aims to fill this gap by proposing machine-learning algorithms as a way to predict the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), which are similar to how neurologists rate scores in actual clinical practice. In this study, the tremor signals of 85 patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) were measured using a wrist-watch-type wearable device consisting of an accelerometer and a gyroscope. The displacement and angle signals were calculated from the measured acceleration and angular velocity, and the acceleration, angular velocity, displacement, and angle signals were used for analysis. Nineteen features were extracted from each signal, and the pairwise correlation strategy was used to reduce the number of feature dimensions. With the selected features, a decision tree (DT), support vector machine (SVM), discriminant analysis (DA), random forest (RF), and k-nearest-neighbor (kNN) algorithm were explored for automatic scoring of the Parkinsonian tremor severity. The performance of the employed classifiers was analyzed using accuracy, recall, and precision, and compared to other findings in similar studies. Finally, the limitations and plans for further study are discussed. Full article