The influenza virus is an important respiratory risk affecting humans, and effective treatments are needed. Some oriental medicines are currently applied for treatment of common colds as well as influenza infection. Previous studies have reported that the therapeutic properties of MA-128 are effective for treatment of psoriasis antiasthmatic and atopic dermatitis. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic properties of the novel herbal medicine, MA-128, for treatment of influenza virus infection by oral administration. MA-128 is an active natural biological compound from herbal-marine origin. The results showed that oral administration of MA-128 in mice could confer a survival benefit against Type A influenza virus infection. Daily oral administration of MA-128 resulted in delayed death in infected mice for three days against mouse adapted H3N2 (A/Philippines/2/82). However, it protected more than 60% of mice from lethal infection of 2009 pandemic H1N1 (A/Korea/CJ01/2009) influenza virus. In addition, lung viral titers were significantly reduced at seven days post infection (~100 times) compared with mock-treated mice and viruses were cleared at 9 dpi only in the MA-128 treated groups. This study demonstrated the potential of the novel herbal medicine, MA-128, as an herbal remedy against influenza A viruses.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of macrophages on growth of human colon cancer cells. The results showed that co-culture of colon cancer cells with macrophages inhibited the growth of colon cancer cells (HCT116 and SW620) depending on the number of macrophages, RAW 264.7 cells, and activated THP-1 cells accompanied by down regulation of pSTAT3 in cancer cells. We also found that expression and release of cancer cell growth inhibitory cytokines, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra) and IL-10, was increased in macrophages. Blocking of the STAT3 pathway with specific inhibitor and siRNA of STAT3 abolished the growth of colon cancer cells and expression of IL-1ra and IL-10. In addition, neutralization of IL-1ra and IL-10 with antibodies resulted in reversal of macrophage-induced inhibition of cancer cell growth. These data showed that IL-1ra and IL-10 released from macrophages inhibit growth of colon cancer cells through inhibition of the STAT3 pathway.

Field sequential 액정 디스플레이(FSLCD)는 컬러필터를 사용하지 않아 높은 투과율 특성을 보이고 광 원으로 LED를 사용함으로써 색재현성이 매우 우수하다. 하지만 FSLCD(60Hz 구동)를 실현하기 위해서는 액정의 응답속도가 5ms이하로 고속응답 특성을 보여야 한다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 고속응답 ECB(electrically controlled birefringence) 셀의 최적 구조를 연구하여 5ms 이하의 응답시간을 얻었다. 그리고 ECB 모드에서 높은 구동전압과 시야각을 개선하기 위해 필름 보상을 연구하였다. 판상형 액정필름(discotic film)과 TAC(triacetyl cellulose) 필름의 위상차 값을 최적화함으로써 구동전압을 5V로 낮추고 상하좌우에서 160° 이상(CR>10:1)의 시야각을 실현하였다.

The PepMoV has been considered the most frequently detected potyvirus. When it co-infects with CMV or PMMoV, it gives severe impact to total pepper harvest in Korea. Since F1 hybrid that resistant to PepMoV has not been developed, we have developed transgenic peppers using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with a Hc-Pro gene of the PepMoV. A large number of GM peppers were tested for resistance to the PepMoV, and after consequent self-crossing up to T4 generation, a highly tolerant pepper to PepMoV called T20 was selected. So far, BC4F1 lines have been selected by back-crossing with 4 elite lines through a breeding program. Very recently, based on molecular analysis, we have selected another event, #10-2, which is also resistant to PepMoV. Horticultural difference was investigated for both GM lines, #T20 and 10-2, and no significance was found comparing to non-GM lines.