• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.165-170
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• 2013

In this study, physico-chemical properties and environmental fate were investigated and ecotoxicity tests using fish, daphnia and algae were conducted for an initial ecological risk assessment of 1,2-Benzisothiazol-3-one. Due to low volatility of the test substance under environmental conditions, it is likely to distributed in soil and water environment. The compound has low adsorption in the soil, with low bioconcentration potential. Acute toxicity results showed that 96 h-$LC_{50}$ for Oryzias laties was 4.7 mg/L (measured) and 48h-$EC_{50}$ for Daphnia magna was 3.3 mg/L (measured). In a growth inhibition test with Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, 72 h-$EC_{50}$ was 0.456 mg/L (growth rate, nominal) and 0.262 mg/L (yield, nominal). Using the acute toxicity value of algae, predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) in the aquatic environment was determined to be 2.62 ${\mu}g/L$ using an factor of 100. According to globally harmonized system (GHS), the compound was categorized as aquatic acute 1 for algae, while it was categorized as aquatic acute 2 for fish and daphnia. This screening assessment suggests that the test substance may pose ecological risks in the aquatic environment.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.410-420
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• 2019

Citrus unshiu peel extracts possess a variety of beneficial effects, and studies on their anticancer activity have been reported. However, the exact mechanisms underlying this activity remain unclear. In the current study, the apoptotic effect of ethanol extract of C. unshiu peel (EECU) on human breast adenocarcinoma MDA-MB-231 cells and related mechanisms were investigated. The results showed that the survival rate of MDA-MB-231 cells treated with EECU was significantly inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptosis. EECU-induced apoptosis was associated with the activation of caspase-8 and caspase-9, which initiate extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways, respectively, and caspase-3, a representative effect caspase. EECU suppressed the expression of the inhibitor of apoptosis family of proteins, leading to an increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and proteolytic degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. EECU also enhanced the loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential and cytochrome c release from the mitochondria to the cytosol, along with truncation of Bid. In addition, EECU activated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), and compound C, an AMPK inhibitor, significantly weakened EECU-induced apoptosis and cell viability reduction. Furthermore, EECU promoted the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which acted as upstream signals for AMPK activation as pretreatment of cells, with the antioxidant N-acetyl cysteine reversing both EECU-induced AMPK activation and apoptosis. Collectively, these findings suggest that EECU inhibits MDA-MB-231 adenocarcinoma cell proliferation by activating intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathways, which was mediated through ROS/AMPK-dependent pathways.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.303-317
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• 2022

Climate change caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions can alter the natural ecosystem, including the pollination ecosystem and agricultural ecology, which are ecological interactions between potted insects and plants. Many studies have reported that populations of wild bees, including bees and wasps (BW), which are the key pollinators, have gradually declined due to climate change, leading to adverse impacts on overall biodiversity, ultimately with agribusinesses and the life cycle of flowering plants. Therefore, we could infer that the rising temperature in Korean Peninsula (South Korea) due to global warming has led to climate change and influenced the wild bee's ecosystem. In this study, we surveyed the distributional pattern of BW (Superfamily: Apoidea, Vespoidea, and Chrysidoidea) at 51 sites from 2017 (37 sites) to 2018 (14 sites) to examine the effects of climatic factors on the nationwide distribution of BW in South Korea. Previous literature has confirmed that their distribution according to forest climate zones is significantly correlated with mean and accumulative temperatures. Based on the result, we predicted the effects of future climate changes on the BW distribution that appeared throughout South Korea and the species that appeared in specific climate zones using Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The distributions of wild BW predicted by the SSP scenarios 2-4.5 and 5-8.5 according to the BIOMOD species distribution model revealed that common and endemic species will shift northward from the current habitat distribution by 2050 and 2100, respectively. Our study implies that climate change and its detrimental effect on the ecosystem is ongoing as the BW distribution in South Korea can change, causing the change in the ecosystem in the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, immediate efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are warranted. We hope the findings of this study can inspire further research on the effects of climate change on pollination services and serve as the reference for making agricultural policy and BW conservation strategy

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.158-168
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• 2023

Natural products have been used to mitigate the effects of cancer and infectious diseases, as they feature diverse bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects. Here, we chose 10 natural products that are well-known as pulmonary enhancers and investigated their bactericidal effects on Streptococcus pneumoniae. In the disk diffusion assay, the growth of S. pneumoniae was significantly regulated by G. fructus treatment regardless of extraction method used. We first adopted spraying as a novel delivery method for G. fructus. Interestingly, mice exposed to G. fructus three times a day for 2 weeks were resistant to S. pneumoniae intranasal infection (shown both through body weight loss and survival rates compared to the control group). Moreover, we confirmed that exposure to G. fructus regulated the colonization of the bacteria despite the sustained inflammation in the lung after exposure to S. pneumoniae, indicating that migrated inflammatory immune cells may involve a host defense mechanism against pulmonary infectious diseases. While a similar number of granulocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C⁺Ly6G⁺), neutrophils (CD11b⁺Ly6C^intLy6G⁺), and monocytes (CD11b⁺Ly6C^intLy6G^-) were found between groups, a significantly increased number of alveolar macrophages (CD11b⁺CD11c^hiF4/80⁺) was detected in BAL fluids of mice pre-exposed to G. fructus at 5 days after S. pneumonia infection. Taken together, our data suggest that this usage of G. fructus can induce protective immunity against bacterial infection, indicating that facial spray may be helpful in enhancing the defense mechanism against pulmonary inflammation and in evaluating the efficacy of natural products as immune enhancers against respiratory diseases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.134-152
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• 1997

Plant viruses of tobacco including tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and potato virus Y (PVY) cause severe economic losses in leaf-tobacco production. Cultural practices do not provide sufficient control against the viruses. Use of valuable resistant cultivars is most recommendable for the control of the viruses. However, conventional breeding programs are not always proper for the development of virus-resistant plants mostly owing to the frequent lack of genetic sources and introduction of their unwanted properties. Therefore, we tried to develop virus-resistant tobacco plants by transforming commercial tobacco cultivars, NC 82 and Burley 21, with coat protein (CP) or replicase (Nlb) genes of TMV and PVY necrosis strain (PVY-VN) with or without untranslated region (UTR) and with or without mutation. Each cDNA was cloned and inserted in plant expression vectors with 1 or 2 CaMV 35S promotors, and introduced into tobacco leaf tissues by Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA 4404. Plants were regenerated in kanamycin-containing MS media. Regenerated plants were tested for resistance to TMV and PVY In these studies, we could obtain a TMV-resistant transgenic line transformed with TMV CP and 6 genetic lines with PVY-VN cDNAs out of 8 CP and replicase genes. In this presentation, resistance rates, verification of gene introduction in resistant plants, stability of resistance through generations, characteristics of viral multiplication and translocation in resistant plants, and resistance responses relative to inoculum potential and to various PVY strains will be shown. Yield and quality of leaf tobacco of a promising resistant tobacco line will be presented.