• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.227-233
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• 2016

This study was designed to analyze the chemical compositions of 'Setoka' branch essential oils (SEBO) and to test their biological activities. 'Setoka' is a Citrus species widely cultivated in Jeju Island. At the present, 'Setoka' branches produced by thinning process were mostly discarded as a waste. Therefore, utilization of this branch waste has received much attention. 'Setoka' branch essential oils (SBEO) were prepared by treatment of its ethanol extracts with jojoba oil. SBEO were chemically analyzed using gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and following components were identified; ethyl linoleate (64.14%), ethyl palmitate (16.50%), neophytadiene (11.06%) and beta-citronellol (5.09%). The anti-inflammatory activity in the SBEO was examined using RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells stimulated with LPS. As a result, the SBEO inhibited nitric oxide (NO) productions with a dose-dependent manner. In addition, SBEO showed good anti-microbial activities against drug-susceptible and -resistant skin pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Propionibacterium acnes, which are acne-causing bacteria. Based on these results, we suggest that SBEO has the possibility for use as an anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agent in cosmetic applications.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.289-295
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• 2017

A. koreanum was investigated to identify the constituents possessing whitening effects. As anti-melanogenesis activities were screened for the ethanol extract and solvent fractions, n-hexane (Hex) and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fractions showed the most potent activities. Three constituents were isolated from the n-Hex fraction of A. koreanum; kaurenoic acid (1), $16{\alpha}$-hydro-17-isovaleroyloxy-ent-kauran-19-oicacid (2), $16{\alpha}$-hydroxy-17-isovaleroyl-oxy-ent-kauran-19-oic acid (3). The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated based on the spectroscopic data including $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR spectra, as well as comparison of the data to the literature values. Whitening effects were studied for the isolated compounds. Upon the anti-melanogenesis test using ${\alpha}-MSH$ stimulated B16F10 melanoma cells, the compounds 1, 2 and 3 inhibited the cellular melanogenesis and intracellular tyrosinase activities effectively. Based on these results, A. koreanum stems extract could be potentially applicable as whitening ingredients in cosmetic formulations.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.364-374
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• 2011

Lactobacillus brevis DK25 isolated from Dongchimi was identified by physiological and biochemical tests and 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Bacteriocin of L. brevis DK25 exhibits inhibitory activity against Enterococcus faecalis and Listeria monocytogenes when using agar well diffusion method. Maximal production of bacteriocin was reached in the beginning of the stationary phase, and inhibitory activity declined after the late stationary phase. This result suggested that bacteriocin was produced in a growth-associated manner. Complete inactivation of bacteriocin activity was observed after treatment with protease, but the activity was stable between pH 4-9 and heat resistant (30 min at $100^{\circ}C$). Bacteriocin showed a concentration-dependent antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes KCTC 3569. Moreover, the application experiment showed that combination of bacteriocin (320 AU/ml) with potassium benzoate (0.05%) could significantly reduce the counts of L. monocytogenes KCTC 3569 in mayonnaise during storage at 4 or $25^{\circ}C$ for 10 days. Thus, bacteriocin from L. brevis DK25 may be used for hurdle technology by combination with potassium benzoate in order to increase pathogenic bacteria inactivation in food processing and food safety control.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.8
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• pp.729-735
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• 2021

Type 2 diabetes occurs when there is an abnormality in the tissue's ability to absorb glucose. Glucose uptake and metabolism by insulin are the basic mechanisms that maintain blood sugar. Glucose uptake goes through various signaling steps initiated by the binding of insulin to receptors on the cell surface. In line with the foregoing, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 2,7-phloroglucinol-6,6-bieckol (PHB), an active compound isolated from Ecklonia cava, on glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Notably, PHB increased glucose uptake in a dose-dependent manner owing to the enhanced glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) expression in the plasma membrane of 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These effects of PHB were attributed to the phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 and protein kinase B (PKB or AKT), as well as to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) activation in the insulin signaling pathway. PHB also stimulated 5' AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and activation. The phosphorylation and activation of the PI3K/AKT and AMPK pathways by PHB were identified using wortmannin (a PI3K inhibitor) and compound C (an AMPK inhibitor). In this study, we showed that PHB can increase glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by promoting GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane via the PI3K and AMPK pathways. The results indicate that PHB may help improve insulin sensitivity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 2022

The migration and proliferation of keratinocytes are key events in re-epithelization, itself a major phase in the wound healing process. Cuscuta japonica Choisy (CJC) is used as a traditional medicine to improve liver, heart, and intestinal function, and its extracts are reported to have various biological properties such as whitening, anti-oxidancy, and an anti-acne effect. However, it is not yet known in particular whether or not CJC essential oil (CJCEO) affects skin regeneration. In the present study, we isolated CJCEO by solvent extraction and tested its effect on wound healing responses using normal human keratinocytes, namely HaCaT cells. We found that CJCEO induced proliferation as well as migration in HaCaT cells in a dose-dependent manner. Compared with a control group, CJCEO treatment at 250 ㎍/ml increased proliferation by 239.98±5.51% in HaCaT cells in a dose and migration by 124.86±6.06%. Moreover, the oil induced sprout outgrowth and, at 250 ㎍/ml, increased collagen synthesis by 148.56±15.47% in HaCaT cells. These results demonstrate that CJCEO may promote skin regeneration and wound healing by increasing the migration, proliferation, and collagen synthesis of HaCaT cells. We therefore suggest that CJCEO could be used as a cosmetic material.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.762-770
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• 2022

Hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes can be alleviated by promoting cellular glucose uptake. Betulinic acid (3β,-3-hydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid) is a pentacyclic lupane-type triterpenoid compound. Although there have been studies on the antidiabetic activity of betulinic acid, studies on cellular glucose uptake are lacking. We investigated the effects of betulinic acid on glucose uptake and its mechanism of action in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Betulinic acid significantly stimulated glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by increasing the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor substrate 1-tyrosine (IRS-1tyr) in the insulin signaling pathway, which in turn stimulated the activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and the phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt). The activation of PI3K and Akt by betulinic acid translocated glucose transporter 4 to the plasma membrane (PM-GLUT4), thereby increasing the expression of PM-GLUT4 and thus stimulating cellular glucose uptake. Betulinic acid also significantly increased the phosphorylation/activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase. The activation of PI3K and AMPK by betulinic acid was confirmed using the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin and the AMPK inhibitor compound C. The increase in glucose uptake induced by betulinic acid was significantly decreased by wortmannin and compound C in the 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These results suggest that betulinic acid stimulates glucose uptake by activating PI3K and AMPK in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2022

Glioblastoma is one of the highly aggressive central nervous system tumors and it is difficult to treat owing its anatomical location. Peptides are novel class of drugs which has the potential to cross the blood brain barrier and exerts its anti-tumor activity. Here, we discovered a novel peptide from abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) next generation sequencing (NGS) data and tested its anticancer effect on glioblastoma cell line SNU-489. The anticancer activity was measured using a cytotoxicity assay in a time and dose-dependent manner. A concentration and time dependent increase in the cytotoxicity was seen in cells treated with the novel peptide. The highest cytotoxicity rate of about 67% was observed in SNU-489 cells treated with 200 µM peptide for 48 hrs. However, the cytotoxic effect was not or less observed in a normal skin cell line HaCaT at similar concentration, thus, evident of peptide's cell specific anticancer activity. In addition, the gene expression level of necroptosis-related genes was analyzed by qRT-PCR to elucidate the anticancer mechanism of the novel peptide. RIPK3 expression was significantly increased by 9.6-fold in 200 µM of novel peptide treatment group, and MLKL expression level was significantly elevated by 2-fold in 100 µM treated group compared to the control group. Therefore, this study confirmed that the novel abalone-derived peptide has anticancer potency, and it causes cancer cell death through the necroptosis mechanism. Collectively, these results suggest that the novel peptide could be candidate anticancer agent for the treatment of glioblastoma in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2023

In the present study, we prepared hot water extracts and the subsequent organic solvent fractions of methanol extracts of Houttuynia cordata (HC) and Lespedeza cuneata (LC), and investigated their anti-inflammatory effects on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Among the treated samples, hexane, chloroform, and ethyl-acetate fractions of HC and LC inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in a dose-dependent manner, and decreased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein expression. And, we analyzed the flavonoid contents of the ethyl-acetate fraction of HC and LC, and chose apigenin for the further experiments because apigenin was one of flavonoids commonly found in HC and LC. Apigenin dramatically inhibited NO production in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cell viability and decreased iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. In addition, apigenin suppressed the phosphorylation of p38 and Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) indicating that apigenin exerts anti-inflammatory activity via the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Subsequently, we conducted RNA-sequencing analysis to detect differentially expressed genes upon apigenin treatment. Among the down-regulated genes, four cytokine genes (interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and colony stimulating factor 2 (CSF2)) were selected for the further analysis, and the reduction of their expression by apigenin was confirmed with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Overall, our results suggest that Houttuynia cordata and Lespedeza cuneata have the anti-inflammatory effects and apigenin can be the one of key molecules responsible for their anti-inflammatory activities.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.227-234
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• 2014

The anti-inflammatory effect of Sargassum micracanthum water extract (SMWE) was investigated using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammatory response in this study. The murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 cells were used and MTT assay was performed to measure the cell proliferation ability. The secretion of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and IL-$1{\beta}$ was measured in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells by ELISA. The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and nuclear transcription factor-kappa B p65 protein was studied by immunoblotting. The Balb/c mice were used for an acute toxicity test, and imprinting control region mice were purchased to evaluate a croton oil-induced ear edema. As a result, there was no cytotoxicity in the macrophage proliferation treated with SMWE compared to the control. NO levels decreased with increasing concentration of SMWE and were inhibited over 50%. Moreover, the secretion of IL-6, TNF-${\alpha}$, and IL-$1{\beta}$ was suppressed in a dose-dependent manner, especially, IL-$1{\beta}$ inhibition activity was over 50% at 50 ${mu}g$/mL. The formation of ear edema of mice was reduced at the highest dose tested compared to that in the control. Moreover, in acute toxicity test, no moralities occurred in mice administered 5,000 mg/kg body weight of SMWE over 2 weeks observation period. These results suggested that SMWE may have significant effects on inflammatory factors and be potential anti-inflammatory therapeutic materials.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1048-1055
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• 2018

In the current study, comparisons of Oenothera Biennis seed extracts with water, ethanol, methanol, and 70% ethanol in their total polyphenolics contents, anti-oxidant, anti-neurotoxicity, anti-cancer, and immune-modulatory activities were investigated. Compared with other extracts, those concentrations of total phenolics and flavonoids were the highest in MeOH extract (31.90 mg GAE/g and 20.66 mg QE/g). The radical scavenging and reducing power activities were dose-dependently increased by treatment of O. Biennis seed water, EtOH, MeOH, and 70% EtOH extracts. Furthermore, pretreatment of water, EtOH, and MeOH extracts significantly reduced glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in HT22 hipocampal neuron cells. In the case of cancer cells, MeOH extracts showed lower $IC_{50}$ values in HepG2 ($74.21{\mu}g/ml$), A549 ($188.24{\mu}g/ml$), MCF-7 ($186.42{\mu}g/ml$), and B16 ($101.80{\mu}g/ml$) than other extracts, where those water ($101.96{\mu}g/ml$) and EtOH ($788.39{\mu}g/ml$) extracts showed the lowest $IC_{50}$ activity in HT-29 and PC-3 cells, respectively. O. Biennis seed extracts did not show any cytotoxicity in RAW 264.7 macrophages at the concentration of $1-10{\mu}g/ml$, whereas 70% EtOH extract dose-dependently enhanced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells. Overall, we evaluated that various bioactive potentials of O. Biennis seed extracts which would relate with phenolic compounds abundance, thus these can be useful to future developments as functional food ingredients and natural medicines.