Myung-Ho Bae

Identification of angiogenic properties of insulin-like growth factor II in in vitro angiogenesis models.

Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II), highly expressed in a number of human tumours, has been recently known to promote neovascularization in vivo. Yet, the detailed mechanism by which IGF-II induces angiogenesis has not been well defined. In the present study, we explored an angiogenic activity of IGF-II in in vitro angiogenesis model. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) treated with IGF-II rapidly aligned and formed a capillary-like network on Matrigel. In chemotaxis assay, IGF-II remarkably increased migration of HUVECs. A rapid and transient activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and p125 focal adhesion kinase (p125FAK) phosphorylation was detected in HUVECs exposed to IGF-II. IGF-II also stimulated invasion of HUVECs through a polycarbonate filter coated with Matrigel. Quantitative gelatin-based zymography identified that matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) activity generated from HUVECs was increased by IGF-II. This induction of MMP-2 activity was correlated with Northern blot analysis, showing in HUVECs that IGF-II increased the expression of MMP-2 mRNA, while it did not affect that of TIMP-2, a tissue inhibitor of MMP-2. These results provide the evidence that IGF-II directly induces angiogenesis by stimulating migration and morphological differentiation of endothelial cells, and suggest that IGF-II may play a crucial role in the progression of tumorigenesis by promoting the deleterious neovascularization.

Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) secreted from HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells shows angiogenic activity.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a typical hypervascular tumor. Since insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) has been reported to play a significant role in liver regeneration and hepatocarcinogenesis, we initially examined its angiogenic effect on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of 9-day-old chick embryos. We also investigated whether IGF-II secreted from HepG2 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells induces vascularization using the chick embryo CAM. We found that the concentrated conditioned media (CCM) of HepG2 cell culture induced angiogenesis on the CAM. We also identified IGF-II protein in the CCM from HepG2 cells by Western blot analysis. However, CCM from Chang liver cells, which are normal human liver cells and were free of IGF-II, did not induce angiogenesis in the CAM. These results suggest that IGF-II secreted from hepatocellular carcinoma cells may act as an angiogenic factor for the hypervascularization of HCC.

Regulation of Egr-1 by association with the proteasome component C8

Primary response transcription factor, Egr-1, is rapidly activated by a variety of extracellular stimuli. Activation of Egr-1 is shown to function as a master switch activated by ischemia to trigger expression of pivotal regulators of inflammation, coagulation and vascular hyperpermeability. Egr-1 is a short-lived protein, but the mechanism that regulates its stability has not yet been clarified. In this study, the yeast two-hybrid screening revealed that Egr-1 interacts significantly with PRC8 (proteasome component C8) and the specific interaction was confirmed by GST pull-down assay and coimmunoprecipitation. Interestingly, we found that the PRC8-mediated regulation of Egr-1 activity is associated with the proteasome pathway and PRC8 inhibits the transcriptional activity of Egr-1. In addition, Egr-1 protein was specifically multiubiquitinated by ubiquitin. These data strongly imply that Egr-1 protein is targeted for proteolysis by the ubiquitin-dependent proteasome pathway.

Short-wavelength infrared photodetector on Si employing strain-induced growth of very tall InAs nanowire arrays

One-dimensional crystal growth enables the epitaxial integration of III-V compound semiconductors onto a silicon (Si) substrate despite significant lattice mismatch. Here, we report a short-wavelength infrared (SWIR, 1.4–3u2009μm) photodetector that employs InAs nanowires (NWs) grown on Si. The wafer-scale epitaxial InAs NWs form on the Si substrate without a metal catalyst or pattern assistance; thus, the growth is free of metal-atom-induced contaminations, and is also cost-effective. InAs NW arrays with an average height of 50u2009μm provide excellent anti-reflective and light trapping properties over a wide wavelength range. The photodetector exhibits a peak detectivity of 1.9u2009×u2009108 u2009cm·Hz1/2/W for the SWIR band at 77u2009K and operates at temperatures as high as 220u2009K. The SWIR photodetector on the Si platform demonstrated in this study is promising for future low-cost optical sensors and Si photonics.

Quantum Coherence and Population Transfer in a Driven Cascade Three-Level Artificial Atom

We present an experimental investigation on the spectral characteristics of an artificial atom transmon qubit constituting a three-level cascade system ({Xi}-system) in the presence of a pair of external driving fields. We observe two different types of Autler-Townes (AT) splitting: type I, where the phenomenon of two-photon resonance tends to diminish as the coupling field strength increases, and type II, where this phenomenon mostly stays constant. We find that the types are determined by the cooperative effect of the decay rates and the field strengths. Theoretically analyzing the density-matrix elements in the weak-field limit where the AT effect is suppressed, we single out events of pure two-photon coherence occurring owing to constructive quantum interference.