Lee Soo Jae, Lee Byung-Cheon, Nam Chang Hoon, Lee Won-Chul, Jhang Seong-Uk, Park Hyung Soon, Soh Kwang-Sup
Educational Industrial Complex Bldg., Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2008 Dec;1(2):97-109. doi: 10.1016/S2005-2901(09)60029-7.
Research on the Bonghan system has recently prompted great interest in the theory proposed by Bong Han Kimin in the early 1960s. In order to study the biochemical characteristics of the Bonghan system, we analyzed Bonghan ducts (BHD) on the surface of rabbit intestines and characterized the liquid in the BHD at the level of the proteome. Proteomic analysis was performed using nano LC-ESI MS/MS. Using a solution digestion technique, we identified 70 different proteins in the liquid of the BHD. We used gel-based digestion to analyze the BHD itself and our results showed the presence of 207 proteins. We used these proteins to analyze gene ontology (GO) to yield insights into biological processes, molecular functions and cellular compartmentalization. Remarkably, GO clustering showed high concentrations of proteins involved in metabolism. These proteins are not usually found in blood, lymph or blood vessels, and thus can be useful for characterizing BHD. It is worth studying their association with stem cells, especially mesenchymal stem cells, cancer cells and myeloid cells.
