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Jung-Chul Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Jung-Chul Kim.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Hair restoration surgery in patients with pubic atrichosis or hypotrichosis: review of technique and clinical consideration of 507 cases.

BACKGROUND: Pubic atrichosis or hypotrichosis is a common condition in Korean women of Mongolian origin. This results in many patients receiving hair restoration surgery, which is currently thought to be the only definitive therapy. OBJECTIVE: To pursue more natural and realistic-appearing results, to define patient characteristics, and to estimate the survival rate of transplanted pubic hair through restoration surgery, we examined our cases of pubic hair restoration surgery with single-hair grafts. METHODS: We selected 507 patients with pubic atrichosis or hypotrichosis who visited for pubic hair transplantation between March 1, 2001, and February 28, 2005. We reviewed the medical charts of the 507 patients and performed statistical analysis. We also carried out a detailed evaluation of our surgical technique to 100 patients. In addition, 20 patients, who agreed to participate in the study for survival rate, had received transplantation of 40 hairs in a 1.5 x 1.5-cm area after the angular points were tattooed. The number of hairs grown after 1 year of transplantation was counted in each case. RESULTS: Among the 507 subjects, 169(33.3%) were in their 40s. The mean (+/-SD) patient age was 41.3+/-10.8 years. Of these, 115 patients (22.7%) had pubic atrichosis, and 392 patients (77.3%) had pubic hypotrichosis. In addition, 81.7% of atrichosis patients had a family history of atrichosis or hypotrichosis. Pubic atrichosis accompanied axillary atrichosis or hypotrichosis in 60.0 and 38.2% of the cases, respectively. The most common reason for the hair restorative procedure was the subject's sense of inferiority to the same sex (73.8%). The mean number of transplanted hairs was 929.3+/-76.6. The most common design pattern that we used was modified horizontal type (87.0%). The mean survival rate of single-hair grafts on the pubis was 73.6+/-7.6%. CONCLUSION: This study suggested that pubic hair transplantation surgery is a suitable cosmetic procedure to address the inferiority complex of patients with pubic atrichosis or hypotrichosis. Knowledge of natural pubic pattern and normal physiologic features is essential to create a natural and realistic appearance in a given subject.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Zollinger-Ellison syndrome associated with neurofibromatosis type 1: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Neurofibromatosis type 1 is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous disorder with characteristic features of skin and central nervous system involvement. Gastrointestinal involvement is rare, but the risk of malignancy development is considerable. Zollinger-Ellison syndrome is caused by gastrin-secreting tumors called gastrinomas. Correct diagnosis is often difficult, and curative treatment can only be achieved surgically. CASE PRESENTATION: A 41-year-old female affected by neurofibromatosis type 1 presented with a history of recurrent epigastric soreness, diarrhea, and relapsing chronic duodenal ulcer. Her serum fasting gastrin level was over 1000 pg/mL. An abdominal CT scan revealed a 3 x 2-cm, well-enhanced mass adjacent to the duodenal loop. She was not associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Operative resection was performed and gastrinoma was diagnosed by immunohistochemical staining. The serum gastrin level decreased to 99.1 pg/mL after surgery, and symptoms and endoscopic findings completely resolved without recurrences. CONCLUSION: Gastrinoma is difficult to detect even in the general population, and hence symptoms such as recurrent idiopathic peptic ulcer and diarrhea in neurofibromatosis type 1 patients should be accounted for as possibly contributing to Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

A case of osteoclast-like giant cell tumor of the pancreas with ductal adenocarcinoma: histopathological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and molecular biological studies.

Osteoclast-like giant cell tumor of the pancreas is a very rare neoplasm, of which the histiogenesis remains controversial. A 63-yr-old woman was hospitalized for evaluation of epigastric pain. An abdominal computerized tomography revealed the presence of a large cystic mass, arising from the tail of pancreas. A distal pancreatectomy with splenectomy was performed. Histologically, the tumor was composed of mononuclear stromal cells intermingled with osteclast-like giant cells. In addition, there was a small area of moderately to well differentiated ductal adenocarcinoma. The final pathologic diagnosis was osteoclast-like giant cell tumor of the pancreas with ductal adenocarcinoma. Here, we describe the histopathological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural and molecular biological findings of this tumor with review of the literature pertaining to this condition.

Antigens, CD↗
PubMed2004

The correlation between cyclooxygenase-2 expression and hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

Overexpression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is associated with tumorigenesis in a number of human cancers. Recently, COX-2 overexpression has also been reported in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), especially in well-differentiated HCC. However, doubt has been cast on these claims concerning HCC. Here we show by Western blot analysis that COX-2 protein level is higher in the adjacent chronic hepatitis liver than in the tumors themselves. We also show, by immunohistochemical staining, that the mean intensity of COX-2 expression in cirrhotic liver specimens is significantly higher than in normal livers and in moderately-differentiated HCC. In addition, the frequency and level of expression of COX-2 in poorly differentiated HCC was similar to that of well-differentiated HCC. Nevertheless all types of HCC expressed more COX-2 than normal livers, and immunofluorescence staining showed cytoplasmic expression of COX-2 in 7 out of 8 human hepatoma cell lines. Collectively, our data suggest that both chemoprevention and chemotherapy of HCC by COX-2 specific inhibitors should be considered. Our data also suggest that COX-2 may play a role in the advanced stages as well as early stages of hepatocarcinogenesis.

Blotting, Western↗
PubMed2004

NS398 inhibits the growth of Hep3B human hepatocellular carcinoma cells via caspase-independent apoptosis.

Overexpression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is associated with the development of a number of human cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition, NS398, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, has been found to inhibit the growth of COX-2 expressing HCC cell lines. However, the mechanism of this effect remains unclear. Here, we report that NS398 inhibits the growth of the Hep 3B human HCC cell line and that inhibition results from the induction of apoptosis with no evidence of cell cycle arrest. We also show that the extent of apoptosis is greatly influenced by culture conditions. The NS398-induced apoptosis in Hep 3B cells is caspase-independent. Our data point to the feasibility of preventing HCC by means of COX-2 inhibitors, and show that the environment influences the cytotoxic effect of NS398 on cancer cells.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗
PubMed2004

Regional distribution of two related Northeast Asian genotypes of JC virus, CY-a and -b: implications for the dispersal of Northeast Asians.

JC virus (JCV) is a useful marker to trace human dispersal. Two genotypes of JCV (MY and CY) are mainly distributed in Northeast Asia. The population history of people carrying MY has been studied in some detail but that of people carrying CY remains poorly understood. To gain insights into the population history of Northeast Asians carrying CY we analyzed the genetic variation in CY isolates. We constructed a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree from 28 complete CY DNA sequences: on the resultant tree the CY DNA sequences diverged into two clades, designated CY-a and -b, each clustered with a high bootstrap probability. The split into CY-a and -b was estimated to have occurred about 10 000 years ago, based on K(s) values (synonymous substitutions per synonymous site) and the suggested rate of synonymous nucleotide substitutions. Comparison of the 28 complete CY sequences revealed six nucleotide mismatches between CY-a and -b, one of which showed a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). We then PCR-amplified a region of the genome containing this polymorphic site from many CY isolates in various Northeast Asian populations and classified the isolates into CY-a or -b according to the RFLP analysis. CY-a was more abundant than CY-b in various Chinese and Japanese populations but CY-b was more abundant than CY-a in South Koreans. On the basis of the present findings we inferred the population history in East Asians carrying CY.

Asia↗
PubMed2003

Growth promotion of HepG2 hepatoma cells by antisense-mediated knockdown of glypican-3 is independent of insulin-like growth factor 2 signaling.

Glypican-3 (GPC3) encodes a cell-surface heparan- sulfate proteoglycan and its expression is frequently silenced in ovarian cancer, mesotheliomas, and breast cancer cell lines and ectopic expression of GPC3 inhibited the growth of these cells, suggesting that GPC3 plays a negative role in cell proliferation. In contrast, up-regulation of GPC3 is often observed in hepatoma, neuroblastoma, and Wilms' tumor. Whether GPC3 plays the same growth inhibitory role in these tumors remains to be studied. Here we report that antisense-mediated knockdown of GPC3 in the HepG2 hepatoma cells significantly promotes the growth of hepatoma cells. In addition, we show that this growth promotion is independent of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) signaling. Our data suggest that GPC3 plays a growth-suppressing role in hepatoma and provide cell biological evidence inconsistent with the hypothesis that GPC3 acts as a growth suppressor by downregulating IGF2.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed2003

Blocking endogenous glypican-3 expression releases Hep 3B cells from G1 arrest.

Glypican-3 (GPC3) encodes a cell-surface heparan-sulfate proteoglycan mutated in type 1 Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndrome (SGBS1), an X-linked overgrowth syndrome. The phenotype of SGBS1 patients and of GPC3 knockout mice suggests that GPC3 plays a negative role in cell proliferation, and an apoptosis-inducing role in specific tissues. Ectopic expression of GPC3 in some cell lines has supported the idea that GPC3 inhibits cell growth. Here we report that blocking endogenous GPC3 expression with an antisense transcript promotes the growth of Hep G2 and Hep 3B hepatoma cell lines. Moreover, antisense inhibition releases Hep 3B cells from cell cycle arrest. Hence, our data further support the notion that GPC3 is an inhibitor of cell proliferation and demonstrate that it modulates cell cycle progression.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Glypican-3 is overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

To identify candidate genes that could be used as diagnostic and therapeutic targets for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), we searched for the genes that are overexpressed in HCC by combining representational difference analysis and microarray. Genes such as glypican-3 (GPC3), insulin-like growth factor 2, long-chain fatty-acid-coenzyme A ligase 4, farnesyl diphosphate synthase were frequently identified in our screening. Northern blot analysis with these four genes confirmed their overexpression in HCC. Among them we found that GPC3 transcript is upregulated in six out of seven cases of HCC. Immunoblot and immunohistochemical staining using polyclonal anti-GPC3 antibodies further confirmed that GPC3 protein is indeed increased in HCC tumor samples. We also found that GPC3 is secreted into culture media from cell lines derived from HCC. We conclude that GPC3 is a good molecular marker for HCC.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed2003

Fatty acid-CoA ligase 4 is overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Fatty acid-CoA ligase 4 (FACL4) is a central enzyme controlling the unesterified arachidonic acid (AA) level in cells. It has been shown that FACL4 blocks apoptosis and promotes colon carcinogenesis by lowering the cellular level of unesterified AA. Consistent with this, FACL4 is upregulated in colon adenocarcinoma. The status of FACL4 in other tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is not known. Here, we report that FACL4 is overexpressed in human HCC compared with adjacent normal liver tissues. FACL4 mRNA and protein were overexpressed in 5 out of 12 (41.7%) and 3 out of 8 (37.5%) cases of HCC, respectively. Immunohistochemical staining showed strong fine granular intracytoplasmic staining in tumor cells, whereas we observed occasional weak staining in normal liver tissues surrounding the tumors. We found that 14 out of 37 (37.8%) HCC expressed moderate to strong FACL4 immunostaining. Both normal adult and fetal liver tissues showed very weak to no detectable staining, whereas 3 out of 10 (30%) cirrhotic livers expressed weak staining. In addition, we found that 4 out of 8 (50%) human hepatoma cell lines expressed high levels of FACL4 by northern blot analysis. Our results show that FACL4 is a new molecular marker for HCC and suggest that the FACL4 pathway may be involved in liver carcinogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The pattern of differentially expressed genes in biliary atresia.

Biliary atresia is a progressive obliterative cholangiopathy, but the etiology of this disorder remains uncertain. Identifying genes specifically expressed in biliary atresia and analyzing the pattern of expression may lead to a better understanding of the pathogenesis. Liver tissues were taken from a recipient with biliary atresia and a normal donor during liver transplantation. Total RNA was extracted from each sample and reversely transcribed to cDNA. Then radiolabeled cDNA probe pools were made by random primed DNA labeling method and used for screening of differentially expressed genes by hybridizing with expressed sequence tags (EST) dot blot panel. Northern blot hybridization was done to confirm that these genes are also differentially expressed in other liver tissues. Among 1730 EST clones, 26 cDNA clones were significantly overexpressed in biliary cirrhosis, while 2 clones were significantly decreased in biliary atresia. By Northern blot hybridization, the results of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 and IGFBP-2 were well correlated with differential EST screening (DES). This study identified the pattern of differentially expressed genes in the biliary cirrhosis due to biliary atresia using DES technique.

Biliary Atresia↗
PubMed2002

Gene expression profile analysis in human hepatocellular carcinoma by cDNA microarray.

We performed gene expression profiling of normal and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) liver tissues using a high-density microarray that contained 3,063 human cDNA. The results of a microarray hybridization experiment from eight different HCC tissues were analyzed and classified by the Cluster program. Among these differentially-expressed genes, the galectin-3, serine/threonine kinase SGK, translation factor eIF-4A, -4B, -3, fibroblast growth factor receptor, and ribosomal protein L35A were up-regulated; the mRNAs of Nip3, decorin, and the insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 were down-regulated in HCC. The differential expression of these genes was further confirmed by an RT-PCR analysis. In addition, our data suggest that the gene expression profile of HCC varies according to the histological types.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗