Yeonju Song - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Yeonju Song

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 2017

In the following we describe how our project was shaped by policy (in particular recent efforts t... more In the following we describe how our project was shaped by policy (in particular recent efforts to legislate olive oil quality in the State of California) and our various other stakeholder's practices. We submit this report to satisfy the iGEM competition's Gold Medal requirements. Since beyond-the-bench issues are common and critical to the practical implementation of nearly all iGEM biosensor projects-which often make up a significant portion of projects at iGEM-we hope that formally publishing our own analysis of the policy and practices issues we encountered will provide future teams with a perspective of how one team studied this issue and used what it learned to shape their project.

Experimental Eye Research, 2020

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Translational Vision Science & Technology, 2020

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are important components of the corneal stroma, and their spatiotempora... more Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are important components of the corneal stroma, and their spatiotemporal arrangement regulates the organization of collagen fibrils and maintains corneal transparency. This study was undertaken to determine the consequences of hyaluronidase (HAse) injected into the corneal stroma on stromal stiffness and ultrastructure. Methods: Equal volumes of HAse or balanced salt solution (vehicle) were injected intrastromally into the corneas of New Zealand white rabbits. Ophthalmic examination and multimodal imaging techniques, including Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM), were performed at multiple time points to evaluate the impact of HAse treatment in vivo. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to measure corneal stiffness and collagen's interfibrillar spacing, respectively. Results: Central corneal thickness progressively decreased after HAse injection, reaching its lowest value at day 7, and then returned to normal by day 42. The HAse did not impact the corneal endothelium but transiently altered keratocyte morphology at days 1 and 7, as measured by IVCM. HAse-injected corneas became stiffer by day 1 postinjection, were stiffest at day 7, and returned to preinjection values by day 90. Changes in stromal stiffness correlated with decreased interfibrillar spacing as measured by TEM. Conclusions: Degradation of GAGs by HAse decreases the corneal thickness and increases stromal stiffness through increased packing of the collagen fibrils in a timedependent manner. Translational Relevance: Intrastromal HAse injection appears relatively safe in the normal cornea, but its impact on corneal biomechanics and structure under pathologic conditions requires further study.

Journal of Controlled Release, 2022

Recent clinical successes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy have led the booming ... more Recent clinical successes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy have led the booming of developments in cancer immunotherapy utilizing ex vivo engineered immune cells such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. However, a number of issues need to be resolved for this novel therapy to become widely applicable to cancer patients as current CAR-T cell therapies are only successful in treating some blood cancers, and economically not feasible for many patients. In this review, we describe various nanomaterial-based approaches developed to overcome current limitations in ex vivo engineered T/NK cells, along with key biological principles underlying each approach. First, nanomaterials developed to improve ex vivo expansion of T/NK cells and the basic principles of T/NK cell activation for designing nanomaterials are summarized. Second, nanomaterial-based gene delivery methods to generate genetically engineered T/NK cells are discussed with an emphasis on challenges in improving transfection efficacy. Third, nanomaterials loaded to T/NK cells to enhance their anti-tumor functions and to overcome tumor microenvironment are described with key biological characteristics of T/NK cells, which are essential for nanomaterial loading and drug release from the nanomaterials. In particular, we comment on similarities and differences of methods developed for T cells and NK cells based on the biological characteristics of each cell type.

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 2017

In the following we describe how our project was shaped by policy (in particular recent efforts t... more In the following we describe how our project was shaped by policy (in particular recent efforts to legislate olive oil quality in the State of California) and our various other stakeholder's practices. We submit this report to satisfy the iGEM competition's Gold Medal requirements. Since beyond-the-bench issues are common and critical to the practical implementation of nearly all iGEM biosensor projects-which often make up a significant portion of projects at iGEM-we hope that formally publishing our own analysis of the policy and practices issues we encountered will provide future teams with a perspective of how one team studied this issue and used what it learned to shape their project.

Experimental Eye Research, 2020

This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the ad... more This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

Translational Vision Science & Technology, 2020

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are important components of the corneal stroma, and their spatiotempora... more Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are important components of the corneal stroma, and their spatiotemporal arrangement regulates the organization of collagen fibrils and maintains corneal transparency. This study was undertaken to determine the consequences of hyaluronidase (HAse) injected into the corneal stroma on stromal stiffness and ultrastructure. Methods: Equal volumes of HAse or balanced salt solution (vehicle) were injected intrastromally into the corneas of New Zealand white rabbits. Ophthalmic examination and multimodal imaging techniques, including Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM), were performed at multiple time points to evaluate the impact of HAse treatment in vivo. Atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to measure corneal stiffness and collagen's interfibrillar spacing, respectively. Results: Central corneal thickness progressively decreased after HAse injection, reaching its lowest value at day 7, and then returned to normal by day 42. The HAse did not impact the corneal endothelium but transiently altered keratocyte morphology at days 1 and 7, as measured by IVCM. HAse-injected corneas became stiffer by day 1 postinjection, were stiffest at day 7, and returned to preinjection values by day 90. Changes in stromal stiffness correlated with decreased interfibrillar spacing as measured by TEM. Conclusions: Degradation of GAGs by HAse decreases the corneal thickness and increases stromal stiffness through increased packing of the collagen fibrils in a timedependent manner. Translational Relevance: Intrastromal HAse injection appears relatively safe in the normal cornea, but its impact on corneal biomechanics and structure under pathologic conditions requires further study.

Journal of Controlled Release, 2022

Recent clinical successes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy have led the booming ... more Recent clinical successes of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy have led the booming of developments in cancer immunotherapy utilizing ex vivo engineered immune cells such as T cells and natural killer (NK) cells. However, a number of issues need to be resolved for this novel therapy to become widely applicable to cancer patients as current CAR-T cell therapies are only successful in treating some blood cancers, and economically not feasible for many patients. In this review, we describe various nanomaterial-based approaches developed to overcome current limitations in ex vivo engineered T/NK cells, along with key biological principles underlying each approach. First, nanomaterials developed to improve ex vivo expansion of T/NK cells and the basic principles of T/NK cell activation for designing nanomaterials are summarized. Second, nanomaterial-based gene delivery methods to generate genetically engineered T/NK cells are discussed with an emphasis on challenges in improving transfection efficacy. Third, nanomaterials loaded to T/NK cells to enhance their anti-tumor functions and to overcome tumor microenvironment are described with key biological characteristics of T/NK cells, which are essential for nanomaterial loading and drug release from the nanomaterials. In particular, we comment on similarities and differences of methods developed for T cells and NK cells based on the biological characteristics of each cell type.