• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1235-1243
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• 2015

Hwangheuk-san (HHS) is a Korean multi-herb formula comprising four medicinal herbs. HHS, which was recorded in “Dongeuibogam,” has been used to treat patients with inflammation syndromes and digestive tract cancer for hundreds of years. However, little is known about its anti-tumor efficacy. The present study investigated the pro-apoptotic effect and mode of action of HHS against AGS human gastric carcinoma cells. HHS inhibited the cell growth of AGS cells in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies, chromatin condensation, and an accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 phase. HHS-induced apoptotic cell death was associated with the up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax protein expression, down-regulation of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 protein, and the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol. The treatment of AGS cells with HHS significantly elevated the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Additionally, apoptosis-inducing concentrations of HHS induced the activation of both caspase-9 and -8, initiator caspases of the mitochondrial-mediated intrinsic and death receptor-mediated extrinsic pathways, respectively, and caspase-3, accompanied by proteolytic degradation of poly (ADP-ribose)-polymerase. However, ROS scavenger and pan-caspases inhibitor significantly blocked HHS-induced growth inhibition and apoptosis. Taken together, these findings suggest that HHS induces apoptosis through ROS- and caspase-dependent mechanisms and that HHS may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human gastric cancer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1679-1685
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• 2008

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a naturally occurring compound found in dairy and beef products. It has been shown to suppress cancer cells and to induce apoptosis. Practically, there is emerging evidence that CLA can inhibit chemically induced carcinogenesis in various tissues. However, the molecular mechanisms of CLA on human MCF-7 breast cancer cells have not been clearly explained yet. In this report, we investigated the anti-cancer activity of CLA in MCF-7 cells. It was found that CLA could inhibit the growth of the MCF-7 cells and induce apoptosis, through modulating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). AMPK acts as a cellular fuel gauge and responds to decreased cellular energy status by inhibiting ATP-consuming pathways and increasing ATP-synthesis. CLA treatment with variable concentrations and different time of same-dose CLA on MCF-7 cells resulted in a strong activation of AMPK and an inhibition of COX-2 expression. It supports that CLA induces apoptosis in CLA-treated MCF 7 cells. Therefore, the effects of CLA induced COX-2 expression via activating AMPK can provide new possibility into the understanding the molecular mechanisms of anti-cancer component.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.442-450
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• 2009

Piperine is an alkaloid-amine found in pepper and has been reported to have anticarcinogenic properties. To explore the possibility that piperine has cancer chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects in colon cancer, we examined whether piperine inhibits the growth of HT-29 human colon cancer cells and investigated the mechanisms for this effect. Cells were cultured with various concentrations ($0{\sim}40{\mu}M$) of piperine. Piperine decreased the cell viability and induced apoptosis of HT-29 cells. Western blot analysis of total cell lysates revealed that piperine decreases the protein levels of Bcl-2, Mcl-1, and intact Bid but increases Bik levels. Piperine increased the percentage of cells with depolarized mitochondrial membrane, and the release of cytochrome c into cytoplasm. Piperine induced the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase and caspases 8, 9, 7, and 3 and increased the Fas levels. In addition, piperine significantly decreased the protein levels of survivin. The present results indicate that piperine inhibits the growth of HT-29 colon cancer cells by the induction of apoptosis, which may be mediated by its ability to change the Bcl-2 family proteins, increase the activation of caspases, and decrease survivin levels. Overall, our findings suggest that piperine has cancer chemotherapeutic effects in colon cancer.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.31 no.1 s.49
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• pp.121-125
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• 2005

Most of the cells, specially in the skin, free radicals and reactive oxygen species induced aging, accompanying with diseases. The pinaceae family is very familiar plant with Korean spirit. However, those plants were not estimated for natural products in manufactural process. We employed 4 different plants, Pinus koraienis S et Z. Pinus banksiana LAMBERT. Pinus rigida MILL. Pinus densiflora S. et Z. in pinceae family. The ethanol extracts were prepared for three different parts of plant, wood, bark and leaf, respectively. In this study, we carried out free radical and superoxide radical scavenging assay to investigate the anti-oxidative activity The bark and leaf part of plants showed similar anti-oxidant effect. L-ascorbic acid and $\alpha$-tocopherol at $10{\mu}g/mL$. Also we tried to investigate inhibitory effects of elastase activity in in vitro experiments on pinaceae plant extract as a matters for functional cosmetics. Among those plants, the bark of Pinus rigida MILL. and Pinus densiflora S. et Z. showed inhibitory effect. The cell viability was evaluated with MTT assay. The potential relationship was shown between the cell viability and anti-oxidant effect because the anti-oxidant effects were positively correlated wvith the cell growth in MTT assay. As the results in our experiments, we expect the potential activities of pinaceae as a material of functional cosmetics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 2012

To examine the new practical utilization of mucilages in Opuntia humifusa, the Korean pear cactus, the polysaccharides were isolated from O. humifusa, and immuno-stimulating activities were assayed. The main polysaccharide, CNC-E, was prepared by a commercial enzyme treatment, water extraction, and ethanol precipitation. The molecular mass of CNC-E was estimated to be about 700 kDa, and it consisted mainly of arabinose, galactose and xylose in addition to two minor sugars such as rhamnose and fucose. On the other hand, CNC-E showed considerably high splenocyte proliferation activity in a dose-dependent manner. Peritoneal macrophages stimulated with CNC-E produced cytokines such as IL-6, IL-12, IL-10, and TNF-${\alpha}$. The intravenous administration of CNC-E significantly augmented the cytotoxicity of natural killer (NK) cells against Yac-1 tumor cells. Especially, NK cells obtained from the mice treated with $100{\mu}g$ of CNC-E showed threefold higher cytolytic activity than those of untreated mice. CNC-E also showed potent anti-complementary activity in a dose-dependent fashion. Identification of C3 activation products by the crossed immunoelectrophoresis using anti-human C3 and the anti-complementary activity of CNC-E in a $Ca^{2+}$-free condition suggested complement activations by CNC-E that occur via both alternative and classical pathways. These results indicate that Korean pear cactus contains selected polysaccharides that provide immuno-stimulating activities beneficial to human health.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.770-776
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant and anti-cancer activities of squash leaf extract (SLE) in vitro. The total polyphenol and flavonoid levels of SLE were 263.4 mg gallic acid equivalent/100 g and 73.6 mg quercetin equivalent/100 g, respectively. The radical-scavenging activity of SLE at the concentration of 300 ${\mu}g/mL$ was 69.4%. SLE significantly inhibited human cancer cell growth (by 60.6-87.9% in HCT116 colon cancer cells and by 73.4-86.4% in H1299 lung cancer cells at the concentrations of 37.5, 75, and 150 ${\mu}g/mL$) and attachment (by 28.4% in HCT116 and by 16.8% in H1299 at the concentration of 150 ${\mu}g/mL$). SLE also altered nucleus morphology and increased nuclear staining intensity (by 42.8-58.2% in HCT116 and by 25.5-32.9% in H1299 at the concentrations of 37.5 and 75 ${\mu}g/mL$), indicating its apoptosis-inducing activity. These results demonstrate the antioxidant and anti-cancer activities of SLE in vitro.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.62-68
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• 2020

Cisplatin (CDDP) is a chemotherapy agent used for patients with ovarian cancers. CDDP activates multiple signaling pathways, which causes various cellular reactions according to the type of cancer cells. Therefore, it is difficult to clearly conclude its signaling pathways. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of the signal protein of Akt/ERK1/2 and MAPK by CDDP-induced apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells (SKOV3). As a result, the number of apoptosis increased according to the TUNEL assay, and flow cytometric analysis confirmed that the percentage of sub-G1 early apoptosis was 8.73% higher than the control. The PARP and caspase-3 activity that appeared in the process of apoptosis was increased and the Bcl-2 expression was decreased. It was verified that the Akt and ERK1/2 activity was decreased, and p38 and JNK activity increased in a time dependent fashion. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that cisplatin inhibits the proliferation of ovarian cancer cells by inhibiting Akt activity and induces apoptosis by modulating the MAPK signaling pathway. However, a decrease in the ERK1/2 activity by CDDP was the opposite result to the result shown from the HeLa cells. For this reason, further research on signaling pathways is necessary. These results are expected to be useful for ovarian cancer treatment strategies targeting the MAPK pathway.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.278-282
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• 1995

The effect of Schizandrae fructus extract on the physiological properties of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was investigated. S. cerevisiae was inoculated into glucose broth, added with Schizandrae fructus extract, 0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5 and 1%(w/v), respectively. And a 96 hours incubation was followed to investigate the changes in the growth, alcohol production, alcohol dehydrogenase and pyruvate decarboxylase activities of S. cerevisiae. The growth of S. cerevisiae was more pronounced in the broth containing 0.1 and 0.OlfS Schizandrae fructus extract than in the control. The growth was, however, inhibited in the broth containing 0.5 and 1% of the extract. The content of alcohol produced by S. cerevisiae also showed very similiar results with those of the yeast growth by addition of Schizandrae fructus extract. Alcohol dehydrogenase activities of S. cerevisiae cultured in broth treated with the extract of 0.1% and 0.01% increased by 25% and 18% than those in control group. Pyruvate decarboxylase activities in 0.1% and 0.01% treatments increased to 1.32 and 1.26 times. The activities in 0.5% and 1% treatments, however, decreased by 30% and 44%.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.926-932
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• 2013

Glutamine and serum are essential for cell survival and proliferation in vitro, yet the signaling pathways that sense glutamine and serum levels in endothelial cells remain uninvestigated. In this study, we examined the effects of glutamine deprivation and serum starvation on the fate of endothelial cells using a human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) model. Our data indicated that glutamine deprivation and serum starvation trigger a progressive reduction in cell viability through apoptosis induction in HUVECs as determined by DAPI staining and flow cytometry analysis. Although the apoptotic effects were more predominant in the glutamine deprivation condition, both apoptotic actions were associated with an increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 (or Bcl-xL) ratio, down-regulation of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family proteins, activation of caspase activities, and concomitant degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerases. Moreover, down-regulation of the expression of Bid or up-regulation of truncated Bid (tBid) were observed in cells grown under the same conditions, indicating that glutamine deprivation and serum starvation induce the apoptosis of HUVECs through a signaling cascade involving death-receptor-mediated extrinsic pathways, as well as mitochondria-mediated intrinsic caspase pathways. However, apoptosis was not induced in cells grown in glutamine- and serum-free media when compared with cells exposed to glutamine deprivation or serum starvation alone. Taken together, our data indicate that glutamine deprivation and serum starvation suppress cell viability without apoptosis induction in HUVECs.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.23-23
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• 2018

본 연구는 참우드풀과 우드풀의 중간형으로 알려진 좀우드풀(Woodsia intermedia Tagawa)의 전엽체 증식 및 포자체 형성을 위한 기내 외 번식조건을 구명하고자 수행되었다. 실험재료는 포자를 발아시켜 획득한 전엽체를 8주 간격으로 계대배양하면서 확보하였다. 전엽체 증식에 적합한 배양조건을 탐색하고자, 전엽체 300mg을 다진 후 배지종류(Knop, 1/4, 1/2 및 1MS)와 배지구성물질(sucrose와 활성탄)의 농도를 달리하여 8주간 배양하였다. 배양실은 온도 $25{\pm}1.0^{\circ}C$와 광도 $30{\pm}1.0{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$(16/8h)로 조절되었다. 연구결과, Knop배지에서 생체중이 2.4g으로 전엽체의 증식이 가장 왕성하였다. 한편 MS계열 배지는 농도에 관계없이 매우 저조한 증식을 보였다. Sucrose는 0.5%를 첨가한 배지에서 생체중의 증가량이 가장 컸으며, 활성탄은 첨가농도에 관계없이 유사한 증식수준을 나타냈다. 포자체 형성에 적합한 토양조건을 확인하고자, 인공토양(원예상토, 피트모스, 펄라이트 및 마사토)의 비율을 달리하여 5종류의 혼합토양을 조성하였다. 혼합토양을 사각분($7.5{\times}7.5{\times}7.5cm$)에 충진하고, 준비된 전엽체 1g을 10초간 분쇄한 다음 토양표면에 분주하여 11주간 재배하였다. 재배환경은 온도 $25{\pm}1.0^{\circ}C$, 광도 $43{\pm}2.0{\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$(16/8h) 및 습도 $72{\pm}2.0%$로 조절되었다. 연구결과, 모든 처리구에서 포자체의 형성이 확인되었으며, 특히 원예상토와 마사토를 2:1(v:v)로 혼합한 토양에서 포트당 421.0개의 많은 포자체가 형성되었다. 다음으로 원예상토와 펄라이트를 2:1(v:v)로 혼용한 토양, 원예상토, 피트모스, 마사토를 1:1:1(v:v:v)로 혼합한 토양, 원예상토 단용, 원예상토, 피트모스, 펄라이트를 1:1:1(v:v:v)로 혼합한 토양 순으로 각 228.0, 203.3, 126.8, 91.5개 형성되었다. 따라서 좀우드풀의 포자체를 대량으로 생산하기 위해서는 원예상토와 마사토를 2:1(v:v)로 혼용한 토양에 전엽체를 분주하여 재배하는 방법이 효과적일 것으로 판단된다.