• Mycobiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.161-170
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• 2009

Cryptococcus neoformans is a basidiomycete human fungal pathogen that causes meningoencephalitis in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals. The ability to sense and respond to diverse extracellular signals is essential for the pathogen to infect and cause disease in the host. Four major stress-activated signaling (SAS) pathways have been characterized in C. neoformans, including the HOG (high osmolarity glycerol response), PKC/Mpk1 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase), calcium-dependent calcineurin, and RAS signaling pathways. The HOG pathway in C. neoformans not only controls responses to diverse environmental stresses, including osmotic shock, UV irradiation, oxidative stress, heavy metal stress, antifungal drugs, toxic metabolites, and high temperature, but also regulates ergosterol biosynthesis. The PKC(protein kinase C)/Mpk1 pathway in C. neoformans is involved in a variety of stress responses, including osmotic, oxidative, and nitrosative stresses and breaches of cell wall integrity. The $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin- and Ras-signaling pathways also play critical roles in adaptation to certain environmental stresses, such as high temperature and sexual differentiation. Perturbation of the SAS pathways not only impairs the ability of C. neoformans to resist a variety of environmental stresses during host infection, but also affects production of virulence factors, such as capsule and melanin. A drug(s) capable of targeting signaling components of the SAS pathway will be effective for treatment of cryptococcosis.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.47-51
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• 2005

Molecular mechanisms of biological processes are typically represented as 'pathways' that have a graph­analogical network structure. However, due to the diversity of topics that pathways cover, their constituent biological entities are highly diverse and the semantics is embedded implicitly. The kinds of interactions that connect biological entities are likewise diverse. Consequently, how to model or process pathway data is not a trivial issue. In this review article, we give an overview of the challenges in pathway database development by taking the INOH project as an example.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.1037-1051
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• 2018

The genus Rhodococcus is a phylogenetically and catabolically diverse group that has been isolated from diverse environments, including polar and alpine regions, for its versatile ability to degrade a wide variety of natural and synthetic organic compounds. Their metabolic capacity and diversity result from their diverse catabolic genes, which are believed to be obtained through frequent recombination events mediated by large catabolic plasmids. Many rhodococci have been used commercially for the biodegradation of environmental pollutants and for the biocatalytic production of high-value chemicals from low-value materials. Recent studies of their physiology, metabolism, and genome have broadened our knowledge regarding the diverse biotechnological applications that exploit their catabolic enzymes and pathways.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.95-101
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• 2010

This article is about diverse meanings, directions and related parts on pathways of meridians on face mentioned in "Yeongchoo Kyeongmaek". In this article, I focus on finding right positions of pathways and right names of what is related with pathways. In methods, I found out names of face part related with pathways of meridians in "Kyeongmaek" and compared with other names. As a result, I suggest that we have to make a fine definition about erms describing pathways of meridians instead of meridian points and broad names on face.

• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.152-157
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• 2014

The iron uptake and utilization pathways play a critical role in allowing human pathogens, including Cryptococcus neoformans, the causative agent of fatal meningoencephalitis, to survive within the mammalian body by competing with the host for iron. Here we show that the iron regulon is also required for diverse environmental stress responses and that in C. neoformans, it is regulated by the high-osmolarity glycerol response (HOG) pathway. Between CFO1 and CFO2, two ferroxidase genes in the iron regulon, CFO1 but not CFO2 was induced during oxidative and osmotic stress. Interestingly, we found that the HOG pathway repressed basal expression of both CFO1 and CFO2. Furthermore, when the HOG pathway was blocked, CFO2 also responded to oxidative and osmotic stress and the response of CFO1 was increased. We also established that CFO1 plays a major role in responding and adapting to diverse environmental stresses, including oxidative and genotoxic damage, osmotic fluctuations, heavy metal stress, and stress induced by cell membrane destabilizers. Therefore, our findings indicate that in C. neoformans, the iron uptake and utilization pathways are not only required for iron acquisition and survival, but also play a significant role in the environmental stress response through crosstalk with the HOG pathway.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2005

Eukaryotes produce various types of small RNAs of 19-28 nt in length. With rapidly increasing numbers of small RNAs listed in recent years, we have come to realize how widespread their functions are and how diverse the biogenesis pathways have evolved. At the same time, we are beginning to grasp the common features and rules governing the key steps in small RNA pathways. In this review, I will summarize the current classification, biogenesis, action mechanism and function of these fascinating molecules.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.1449-1459
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• 2009

Coptidis rhizoma (huanglian) is an herb that is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine that has recently been shown to possess anticancer activity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the anticancer effects of this herb is poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity of a combination of CR extract and arsenic trioxide, as well as the apoptotic pathway associated with its mechanism of action in human lung cancer H157 cells. Combined treatment of H157 cells with CR extract and arsenic trioxide resulted in significant apoptotic death. In addition, combined treatment with CR extract and arsenic trioxide acted in concert to induce a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}$), the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria, and an increase in the expression of pro-apoptotic p53 and Bax protein, which resulted in activation of caspases and apoptosis. CR extract combined with arsenic trioxide also increased the lipid peroxidation, mRNA expression of DR4 and DR5 and caspase-8 activity. These data indicate that combined treatment with CR extract and arsenic trioxide enhanced apoptotic cell death in H157 cells through diverse pathways, including mitochondrial dysfunction and death receptors, particularly DR4 and DR5. Thus, this treatment may be an effective from of chemotherapy.

• BMB Reports
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.78-81
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• 2003

The prevention of cancer is one of the most important public health and medical practices of the $21^{st}$ century. We have made much progress in this new emerging field, but so much remains to be accomplished before widespread use and practice become common place. Cancer chemoprevention encompasses the concepts of inhibition, reversal, and retardation of the cancer process. This process, called carcinogenesis, requires 20-40 years to reach the endpoint called invasive cancer. It typically follows multiple, diverse and complex pathways in a stochastic process of clonal evolution. These pathways appear amenable to inhibition, reversal or retardation at various points. We must therefore identify key pathways in the evolution of the cancer cell that can be exploited to prevent this carcinogenesis process. Basic research is identifying many genetic lesions and epigenetic processes associated with the progression of precancer to invasive disease. Many of these early precancerous lesions favor cell division over quiescence and protect cells against apoptosis when signals are present. Many oncogenes are active during early development and are reactivated in adulthood by aberrant gene promoting errors. Normal regulatory genes are mutated, making them insensitive to normal regulatory signals. Tumor suppressor genes are deleted or mutated rendering them inactive. Thus there is a wide range of defects in cellular machinery which can lead to evolution of the cancer phenotype. Mistakes may not have to appear in a certain order for cells to progress along the cancer pathway. To conquer this diverse disease, we must attack multiple key pathways at once for a predetermined period of time. Thus, agent combination prevention strategies are essential to decrease cancer morbidity. Furthermore, each cancer type may require custom combination of prevention strategies to be successful.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.264-270
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• 2018

Cells cope with diverse intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli in order to make adaptations for survival. The epigenetic landscape plays a crucial role in cellular adaptation, as it integrates the information generated from stimuli. Signaling pathways induced by stimuli communicate with chromatin to change the epigenetic landscape through regulation of epigenetic modifiers. Metabolic dynamics altered by these stimuli also affect the activity of epigenetic modifiers. Here, I review the current understanding of epigenetic regulation via signaling and metabolic pathways. In addition, I will discuss possible ways to achieve specificity of epigenetic modifications through the cooperation of stimuli-induced signal transduction and metabolic reprogramming.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.425-432
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• 2021

Aging is associated with functional and structural declines in organisms over time. Organisms as diverse as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and mammals share signaling pathways that regulate aging and lifespan. In this review, we discuss recent combinatorial approach to aging research employing C. elegans and mammalian systems that have contributed to our understanding of evolutionarily conserved aging-regulating pathways. The topics covered here include insulin/IGF-1, mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), and sirtuin signaling pathways; dietary restriction; autophagy; mitochondria; and the nervous system. A combinatorial approach employing high-throughput, rapid C. elegans systems, and human model mammalian systems is likely to continue providing mechanistic insights into aging biology and will help develop therapeutics against age-associated disorders.