• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.13-22
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• 2011

Objectives : This Study was performed to evaluate the effects of Scutellariae Radix(SR) water-extract on the tissue and neuronal apoptosis of the spinal cord injury(SCI). Methods: SCI was induced by mechanical contusion following laminectomy of 10th thoracic vertebra in Sprague-Dawley rats. SR was orally given once a day for 7 days after SCI. Neuronal apoptosis was examined with terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTPnick-end labeling(TUNEL) assay. Bax (Bcl-2-asociated X protein), Bcl-2(B-cell blastoma 2), c-Fos(FBJ osteosarcoma oncogene) expressions were examined using immuno-histochemistry. Individual TUNEL and immuno-labeled cells expressing Bax, Bcl-2 and c-Fos were counted on the same level in peri-damaged region and in ventral horn. Results: 1. SR significantly reduced number of TUNEL labeled apoptotic cells induced by the spinal cord contusion injury. 2. SR significantly reduced Bax positive cells expression on the motor neuron in the ventral horn induced by the spinal cord contusion injury. 3. SR strengthened Bcl-2 expression on the motor neuron in the ventral horn induced by the spinal cord contusion injury. 4. SR reduced c-Fos expression on the motor neuron in the ventral horn induced by the spinal cord contusion injury. Conclusions : These results suggest that SR plays an inhibitory role against neuronal apoptosis and has significant effects for locomotor disfunction induced by SCI.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.103-115
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• 2009

In vertebrates, the face is mainly formed with neural crest derived neural crest cells by the inherent programs and the interactive environmental factors. Extracellular signaling-regulated kinase (Erk) is one of such programs to regulate the various cellular functions. And retinoic acid (RA) also plays an important role as a regulator in differentiation process at various stages of vertebrate embryogenesis. We wanted to know that the segregation as well as the patterning of maxillary and mandibular structure is greatly influenced by the maxillomandibular cleft (MMC) and the failure of this development may result in the maxillomandibular fusion (syngnathia) or other patterning related disorder. It has been well documented that the epithelium at this cleft region has significant expression of Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) 8, and it is essential for the patterning of the first arch derived structures. By the morphological, skeletal, cell proliferation and apoptotic, and hybridization analysis, we checked the effects of Erk inhibition and/or RA activation onto MMC and could observe that Erk and RA signaling is individually and synergically involved in the facial patterning in terms of FGF signaling pathway via Barx-l. So RA and Erk signaling work together for the MMC patterning and the segregation of maxilla-mandible by controlling the Fgf-related signaling pathways. And the abnormality in MMC brought by aberrant Fgf signaling may result in the disturbances of maxillary-mandibular segregation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.189-196
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• 2017

Background: The effects of radiation on tissues vary depending on the radiation type. In this study, a minipig model was used to compare the effects of ${\beta}$-rays from $^{166}Ho$ and ${\gamma}$-rays from $^{60}Co$ on the skin. Materials and Methods: In this study, the detrimental effects of ${\beta}$- and ${\gamma}$-irradiation on the skin were assessed in minipigs. The histopathological changes in the skin from 1 to 12 weeks after exposure to 50 Gy of either ${\beta}$- (using $^{166}Ho$ patches) or ${\gamma}$- (using $^{60}Co$) irradiation were assessed. Results and Discussion: The skin irradiated by ${\beta}$-rays was shown to exhibit more severe skin injury than that irradiated by ${\gamma}$-rays at 1-3 weeks post-exposure; however, while the skin lesions caused by ${\beta}$-rays recovered after 8 weeks, the ${\gamma}$-irradiated skin lesions were not repaired after this time. The observed histopathological changes corresponded with gross appearance scores. Seven days post-irradiation, apoptotic cells in the basal layer were detected more frequently in ${\beta}$-irradiated skin than in ${\gamma}$-irradiated skin. The basal cell density and skin thickness gradually decreased until 4 weeks after ${\gamma}$- and ${\beta}$- irradiation. In ${\beta}$-irradiated skin lesions, and the density and thickness increased sharply back to control levels by 6-9 weeks. However, this was not the case in ${\gamma}$-irradiated skin lesions. In ${\gamma}$-irradiated skin, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) was shown to be expressed in the epidermis, endothelial cells of vessels, and fibroblasts, while ${\beta}$-irradiated lesions exhibited COX-2 expression that was mostly limited to the epidermis. Conclusion: In this study, ${\beta}$-rays were shown to induce more severe skin injury than ${\gamma}$-rays; however, the ${\beta}$-rays-induced injury was largely repaired over time, while the ${\gamma}$-rays-induced injury was not repaired and instead progressed to necrosis. These findings reveal the differential effects of ${\gamma}$- and ${\beta}$-irradiation on skin and demonstrate the use of minipigs as a beneficial experimental model for studying irradiation-induced skin damage.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.258-266
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• 2020

Background: Oxidative stress-induced cardiomyocytes apoptosis is a key pathological process in ischemic heart disease. Glutathione reductase (GR) reduces glutathione disulfide to glutathione (GSH) to alleviate oxidative stress. Ginsenoside Rb1 (GRb1) prevents the apoptosis of cardiomyocytes; however, the role of GR in this process is unclear. Therefore, the effects of GRb1 on GR were investigated in this study. Methods: The antiapoptotic effects of GRb1 were evaluated in H9C2 cells by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, annexin V/propidium iodide staining, and Western blotting. The antioxidative effects were measured by a reactive oxygen species assay, and GSH levels and GR activity were examined in the presence and absence of the GR inhibitor 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the binding of GRb1 to GR. The direct influence of GRb1 on GR was confirmed by recombinant human GR protein. Results: GRb1 pretreatment caused dose-dependent inhibition of tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced cell apoptosis, at a level comparable to that of the positive control N-acetyl-L-cysteine. The binding energy between GRb1 and GR was positive (-6.426 kcal/mol), and the binding was stable. GRb1 significantl reduced reactive oxygen species production and increased GSH level and GR activity without altering GR protein expression in H9C2 cells. Moreover, GRb1 enhanced the recombinant human GR protein activity in vitro, with a half-maximal effective concentration of ≈2.317 μM. Conversely, 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea co-treatment significantly abolished the GRb1's apoptotic and antioxidative effects of GRb1 in H9C2 cells. Conclusion: GRb1 is a potential natural GR agonist that protects against oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of H9C2 cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.1145-1151
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• 2012

Aspirin and its deacetylated form, sodium salicylate (NaSal), have been shown to exert chemopreventive activities against many human cancers including those of the colon, lung, and breast. Previously, we showed that combined treatment of NaSal and genistein synergistically induced apoptosis in A549 lung cancer cells, indicating that these two natural chemicals could be used in combination for cancer therapy. In this study, we examined effects of NaSal/genistein combined treatment on other cancer cells and in three-dimensional multicellular tumor spheroid (MTS) and in an in vitro solid tumor model. We found that the combined treatment induces apoptosis in the HCT116 cells and the A549 cells, but not in the MCF-7 cells. Interestingly, the MCF-7 cells responded to the NaSal/genistein combined treatment by undergoing cell death when they were cultivated as MTS. The combined treatment induced apoptosis at an earlier stage in the MCF-7 MTS culture. However, when the MCF-7 MTS was cultivated for a longer period, it induced necrosis rather than apoptosis. We further found that the apoptotic pattern observed in MCF-7 MTS was incomplete: the chromatins were condensed and fragmented, but the nuclear membrane was still intact. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the NaSal/genistein combined treatment induces incomplete apoptosis and necrosis in the MCF-7 MTS culture system.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.12
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• pp.1509-1515
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• 2013

The term lipotoxicity has been used to describe how excess lipid accumulation leads to cellular dysfunction and death in non-adipose tissues, including skeletal muscle. While lipotoxicity has been found in cultured skeletal muscle cells with high-fat feeding, the consequences of lipotoxicity in vivo are still unknown, particularly in Type-I muscle, which is metabolically affected by lipotoxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a high-fat diet on changes in the morphology and apoptotic protein expression of Type-I muscle loss in rats. The rats were fed either a high-fat diet or a normal diet for six weeks, and then lipid accumulation, inflammation response, and nucleus infiltration were measured, and PARP protein expression was cleaved by Oil Red O staining, H & E staining, and Western blot, respectively. Lipid accumulation, inflammation response, nucleus infiltration, and cleaved PARP protein expression were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the high-fat diet group than they were in the normal diet group. The weight of Type-I muscle tended to be lower in the high-fat diet group compared to the normal diet group, but the difference was not statistically significant. These results indicate that a high-fat diet triggers cell death in Type-I muscle via lipotoxicity, which suggests that a high-fat diet may be associated with sarcopenia.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.567-576
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• 2017

The $Na^+/H^+$ exchanger is responsible for maintaining the acidic tumor microenvironment through its promotion of the reabsorption of extracellular $Na^+$ and the extrusion of intracellular $H^+$. The resultant increase in the extracellular acidity contributes to the chemoresistance of malignant tumors. In this study, the chemosensitizing effects of cariporide, a potent $Na^+/H^+-exchange$ inhibitor, were evaluated in human malignant mesothelioma H-2452 cells preadapted with lactic acid. A higher basal level of phosphorylated (p)-AKT protein was found in the acid-tolerable H-2452AcT cells compared with their parental acid-sensitive H-2452 cells. When introduced in H-2452AcT cells with a concentration that shows only a slight toxicity in H-2452 cells, cariporide exhibited growth-suppressive and apoptosis-promoting activities, as demonstrated by an increase in the cells with pyknotic and fragmented nuclei, annexin V-PE(+) staining, a $sub-G_0/G_1$ peak, and a $G_2/M$ phase-transition delay in the cell cycle. Preceding these changes, a cariporide-induced p-AKT down-regulation, a p53 up-regulation, an ROS accumulation, and the depolarization of the mitochondrial-membrane potential were observed. A pretreatment with the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor LY294002 markedly augmented the DNA damage caused by the cariporide, as indicated by a much greater extent of comet tails and a tail moment with increased levels of the p-histone H2A.X, $p-ATM^{Ser1981}$, $p-ATR^{Ser428}$, $p-CHK1^{Ser345}$, and $p-CHK2^{Thr68}$, as well as a series of pro-apoptotic events. The data suggest that an inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signaling is necessary to enhance the cytotoxicity toward the acidtolerable H-2452AcT cells, and it underlines the significance of proton-pump targeting as a potential therapeutic strategy to overcome the acidic-microenvironment-associated chemotherapeutic resistance.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.888-894
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• 1998

In order to investigate the radioprotective effect of Si-Wu-Tang (Korean name: Sa-Mul-Tang), a kind of traditional Oriental medicine as a blood-building decoction (Oriental medical concept: Bu-Xie), and Si-Jun-Zi-Tang (Korean name: Sa-Gun-Ja-Tang), one of the widely used Oriental herbal medicines as an energy tonic (Chinese medical concept: Bu-Qi). the jejunal crypt survival, endogenous spleen colony formation, and apoptosis in jejunal crypt cells were observed in irradiated mice. Jejunal crypts were protected by Si-Wu-Tang pretreated both per os (2 mg/mL of drinking water for 7 days, p<0.05) and intraperitoneally (1 mg/head, single injection at 24 hours before irradiation). Si-Wu-Tang adminstration before irradiation(1 mg/head, single injection at 24 hours before irradiation) resulted in an increase of the formation of endogenous spleen colony (p<0.005). The frequency of radiation-induced apoptosis in intestinal crypt cells was also reduced by pretreatment of Si-Wu-Tang (p<0.01). However, the radioprotective effect of Si-Jun-Zi-Tang was not as significant as that of Si-Wu-Tang. These results suggest that Si-Wu-Tang may be a useful radioprotective food, especially since it is a relatively nontoxic natural product.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.954-959
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• 2021

Apoptosis is an important mechanism that regulates cellular populations to maintain homeostasis, and the caspases, a family of cysteine proteases, are key mediators of the apoptosis pathway. Caspase-8 is an initiator caspase of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway, which is initiated by extracellular stimuli. Caspase-8 have two conserved domains, N-terminal tandem death effector domains (DED) and C-terminal two catalytic domain, which are important for this extrinsic apoptosis pathway. In extrinsic apoptosis pathway, death receptors which members of TNF superfamily are activated by binding of death receptor specific ligands from cell outside. After the activated death receptors recruit adaptor protein Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD), death domains (DD) of death receptor and FADD bind to each other and FADD combined with death receptor recruits procaspase-8, a precursor form of caspase-8. The DED of FADD and procaspase-8 bind to one another and FADD-bound procaspase-8 is activated by cleavage of the prodomain. This death receptor-FADD-caspase-8 complex called death inducing signaling complex (DISC). Cellular FLICE-inhibitory proteins (c-FLIPs) regulate caspase-8 activation by acting both anti- and pro-apoptotically, and caspase-8 activation initiates the activation of executioner caspases such as caspase-3. Finally activated executioner caspases complete the apoptosis by acting critically DNA degradation, nuclear condensation, plasma membrane blebbing, and the proteolysis of certain caspase substrates.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.400-409
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• 2021

Sanguinarine, a natural benzophenanthridine alkaloid, has been considered a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer because it can induce apoptosis in human cancer cells; however, the underlying mechanisms of action still remain unclear. Tumor suppressor p53 deletion or mutation is an important reason for the resistance of colorectal cancer cells to anticancer agents. Therefore, in the present study, the role of p53 during apoptosis induced by sanguinarine was investigated in p53wild type (WT, p53+/+) and p53null (p53+/+) HCT116 colon carcinoma cells. Sanguinarine significantly caused greater reductions in cell viability in HCT116 (p53+/+) cells than in HCT116 (p53-/-) cells. Consistently, sanguinarine promoted more DNA damage and apoptosis in HCT116 (p53+/+) cells than in HCT116 (p53-/-) cells while increasing the expression of p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21^WAF1/CIP1. Sanguinarine increased the activity of caspase-8 and caspase-9, which are involved in the initiation of extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis pathways, respectively, and it activated caspase-3, a typical effect caspase, in HCT116 (p53+/+) cells. Sanguinarine also increased the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, while destroying the integrity of mitochondria in HCT116 (p53+/+) cells, but not in HCT116 (p53-/-) cells. Overall, the results indicate that sanguinarine induced p53-dependent apoptosis through ROS-mediated activation of extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways in HCT116 colorectal cancer cells.