Jung-Chul Kim

A TGF-?-inducible cell adhesion molecule, ?ig-h3, is downregulated in melorheostosis and involved in osteogenesis

Melorheostosis is a rare bone disease characterized by linear hyperostosis and associated soft tissue abnormalities. The skin overlying the involved bone lesion is often tense, shiny, erythematous, and scleodermatous. In order to look for genes differentially expressed between the normal and involved skin, we cultured skin fibroblasts from the skin lesions of several afflicted patients, and identified differentially expressed genes by reverse dot‐blot hybridization. We found that the genes human TGF‐β‐induced gene product (βig‐h3), osteoblast‐specific factor 2, osteonectin, fibronectin, and type I collagen were all downregulated in the affected skin fibroblasts, with βig‐h3 the most significantly affected. The expression of βig‐h3 was induced by TGF‐β in both affected and normal fibroblasts. In an effort to determine the mechanism of bone and skin abnormalities in melorheostosis, we made recombinant βig‐h3. Both immobilized and soluble recombinant βig‐h3 proteins with or without an RGD motif inhibited bone nodule formation of osteoblasts in vitro. Taken together, our results suggest that altered expression of several adhesion proteins may contribute to the development of hyperostosis and concomitant soft tissue abnormalities of melorheostosis, with βig‐h3 in particular playing an important role in osteogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 77:169–178, 2000.

Enhanced transfollicular delivery of adriamycin with a liposome and iontophoresis.

Abstract: To find a better way to deliver drugs into hair follicles, we tried two approaches: single topical application using various liposomes; and iontophoresis combined with topical application of ionic liposome. After delivery of adriamycin (ADR) to wax‐depilated rat skin, the transport of the drug was examined under fluorescence microscopy.

Novel wound dressing based on nanofibrous PHBV–keratin mats

Keratin is an important protein used for wound healing and tissue recovery. In this study, keratin was first extracted from raw materials and chemically modified to obtain stable keratin (m‐keratin). The raw and m‐keratin were examined by Raman spectroscopy. The molecular weight of the m‐keratin was analysed by SDS–PAGE. The m‐keratin was then blended with poly(hydroxybutylate‐co‐hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and electrospun to afford nanofibrous mats. These mats were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). From the 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) data, it was found that introduction of keratin enhanced cell proliferation. From wound‐healing test and histological examination results, it was shown that the composite mats accelerated wound recovery remarkably as compared to the PHBV control. It was concluded that PHBV–keratin may be a good candidate as a wound dressing. Copyright

Recipient-Site Influence in Hair Transplantation: A Confirmative Study

Dr. Norman Orentreich provided the scientific basis for the field of hair transplantation, stating that the transposed grafted skin maintains its integrity and that characteristics such as texture, color, growth rate, anagen period, and the majority of these transplanted grafts behave independent of the recipient site. The concept of ‘‘donor dominance’’ that he discovered formed the foundation of hair restoration surgery. We suggested that the recipient site influences the growth characteristics of transplanted hairs such as growth rate and anagen period when transplanted scalp hairs were transplanted to different recipient sites such as the lower leg, neck, palm, hand dorsum, and eyebrow. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the body hairs would keep their original growth characteristics when the body hairs were transplanted to the scalp area.

Discovery of differentially expressed genes related to histological subtype of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common human malignancies in the world. To identify the histological subtype‐specific genes of HCC, we analyzed the gene expression profile of 10 HCC patients by means of cDNA microarray. We proposed a systematic approach for determining the discriminatory genes and revealing the biological phenomena of HCC with cDNA microarray data. First, normalization of cDNA microarray data was performed to reduce or minimize systematic variations. On the basis of the suitably normalized data, we identified specific genes involved in histological subtype of HCC. Two classification methods, Fisherapos;s discriminant analysis (FDA) and support vector machine (SVM), were used to evaluate the reliability of the selected genes and discriminate the histological subtypes of HCC. This study may provide a clue for the needs of different chemotherapy and the reason for heterogeneity of the clinical responses according to histological subtypes.

Hair Cloning and Follicular Cell Implantation

The success of hair transplantation is often limited by the a vailability of donor hair. The use of donor hair from another individual is expected to be rejected without the use of immunosuppressants. Hair cloning has therefore been regarded as the future of hair transplantation.

The Use of Herbal Medicine

There are also a number of non-FDA-approved treatments currently available that supposedly improve circulation and nutrition in the scalp. These therapies are sold over the counter or via the Internet as treatment for male pattern baldness, but do not have efficacy proven by scientific study.

An Alternative Way of Graft Cutting

The excised strip is placed on a block of birchwood and sectioned into smaller segments using a no. 20 scalpel blade, with careful positioning of the blade between and at the same angle as the visible hair follicles (Fig. 4). With the same blade, each segment is then cut again into follicular units. Grafts are closely trimmed to eliminate all unneeded dermis and subcutaneous tissue, thereby providing very clean and neatly trimmed grafts. Clean and closely trimmed grafts allow for implantation in a greater density than grafts that are allowed to carry with them all surrounding dermis. Open image in new window Fig. 4. Graft cutting on a wood block