• Natural Product Sciences
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.266-272
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• 2012

Hyperglycemia or high glucose (HG), is the hallmark of diabetes, known to induce oxidative stress, release of chemokines, and cytokines, which confer endothelial cell damage. On the other hand, microbial transformation of organic materials often leads to certain changes in their product structures which could enhance their biological activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the beneficial effects of fermented Gastrodia elata (FGE) in HG induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) dysfunction. GE, fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has an extensive history of safe use, exhibited higher phenolic compounds content than those of Gastrodia elata (GE). The HG-induced production of nitric oxide (NO) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) were significantly attenuated by FGE pretreatment to the cells, in a concentration dependent manner. In addition, FGE showed marked activity in free radical scavenging. These results suggest that FGE possesses beneficial effects in protecting against the oxidative stress, and inflammatory conditions in endothelial cells, caused by HG.

• 식물병연구
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.101-106
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• 2014

감귤 궤양병은 Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xcc)에 의해 발생하는 감귤에서 매우 중요한 병 중에 하나이다. 비록 한국에서 대부분 재배되는 감귤인 온주밀감은 감귤 궤양병에 대해 중도저항성이긴 하지만 지난 10년전 이래로 자주 발생되었다. 감귤에서 다른 병과 마찬가지로 감귤 궤양병도 포장에서 주로 화학농약에 의해 방제되고 있다. 농약의 부작용으로 인해 최근 다른 방제 수단이 요구되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 Xcc에 직접적인 항균 활성이 있는 식물근권세균 TRH423-3, MRL408-3, THJ609-3, TRH415-2을 선발하였다. 선발된 식물근권세균을 감귤 잎에 전 처리하였더니 감귤 궤양병균을 접종한 후 병 발생이 억제되었다. 유사하게, 포장 실험에서도 선발된 식물근권세균을 여러 차례 살포한 감귤나무에서 무처리한 나무에 비해 병이 적게 진전 되었다. 따라서 선발된 식물근권세균이 친환경 감귤농가에서 대체 수단으로 가치가 있다고 생각된다.

• 해양환경안전학회:학술대회논문집
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• 해양환경안전학회 2007년도 추계학술발표회
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• pp.43-49
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• 2007

Al, Ag, Au, Cu, Cd, Co, Fe, Ni, Ph, Zn 등과 밀접한 금속은 일반적인 원소이며, 지속적인 오염물질에 속한다. 금속은 생명체의 생리활동에 필수원소인 경우도 있으나 경우도 있으나 그 중의 일부는 정해진 한계값을 초과할 때에는 독성을 가진다. 자연수 중의 미량금속 측정은 정확도와 정밀도에 있어서 큰 오차를 가지고 있음이 장기간 인식되어 왔다. 미국과 유럽에서는 1975 년 이후 미량금속의 해수 중 농도가 과거에 인지된 농도보다 $1/10{\sim}1/1,000$ 정도 낮아졌으며, 수직 분포는 알려진 생물, 물리, 지화학적인 과정들과 일치하고 있음이 밝혀졌다. 이와 같은 결과는 대부분 미량원소에 대한 분석방법과 기기의 발전에 기인하며, 시료 채취, 보관 및 분석 과정에 발생할 수 있는 오염을 제거해야 하는 세심한 주의 요구되어 진다.

• 한국물환경학회지
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• 제22권6호
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• pp.1123-1129
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• 2006

대부분의 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 은 최우선 오염물질로 간주되어지고 있는 매우 유독한 물질이다. Pyrene은 PAHs들 중에서도 그 유독성은 가히 심각하다. 그리고 Pyrene과 다른 PAHs화합물들은 물에 잘 용해가 되지 않는 소수성 성질을 가지고 있어 화학적 또는 생물학적 분해가 용이하지 않다. 이러한 성질을 극복하기 위하여 본 연구에서는 Pyrene을 대표 물질로 하여 2 단계 오존처리를 하였다. 첫 단계에서 Pyrene을 무극성인 핵산 용매에 대량 (2000 mg/L) 으로 녹여 오존처리를 하였다. 이때 Pyrene은 극성 분자들, 즉 알콜과 알데하이드 그리고 에시드 기능기를 가지는 물질들로 변화되었으며 이 변화된 물질들을 다시 극성 용매, 물에 녹여 두 번째 오존처리를 하였다. 두 번째 오존 처리된 Pyrene의 부산물들과 중간생성물들은 생물학적 처리로 가능한지 연구되어지기 위해 $BOD_5$와 COD 그리고 E-coli toxicity tests가 이루어졌다. 그 결과 오존 처리된 Pyrene은 유독하지도 않았고 Pyrene의 부산물들과 중간생성물들은 생물학적 처리가 용이하여졌다. Gas chromatograph (GC) 분석을 통해 Pyrene의 부산물들과 중간생성물들을 밝혀내었다. 이 연구를 토대로 소수성 성질을 가지는 많은 방향족 물질들을 처리하기가 매우 용이해졌다.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.30-33
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• 2013

Chalcones are naturally occurring, biologically active molecules generating interest from a wide range of research applications including synthetic methodology development, biological activity investigation and studying fragmentation patterns. In this article, a series of chalcones has been synthesized and their fragmentation behavior was studied using modern ambient ionization technique Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART). DART ion source connected with an ion trap mass spectrometer was used for the fragmentation of various substituted chalcones. The chalcones were introduced to the DART source using a glass capillary without sample preparation step. All the chalcones showed prominent molecular ion peaks $[M]^{{\cdot}+}$ corresponding to the structures. Multistage mass spectral data $MS^n$ ($MS^2$ and $MS^3$) were collected for all the chalcones studied. The chalcones with substitutions at 3, 4 or 5 positions gave product ion peaks with the loss of a phenyl radical ($Ph^{\cdot}$) by radical initiated ${\alpha}$-cleavage, while substitution at 2 position of chalcone in the A-ring gave a product ion peak with the loss of substituted styryl radical (PhCH = $CH^{\cdot}$). In case of the chalcones with the substituent at 4 positions in A and B rings gave both types of fragmentation patterns. In conclusion, chalcones can be easily characterized using modern DART interface in very short time and efficiently without any cumbersome sample pretreatment.

• BMB Reports
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• 제31권1호
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• pp.64-69
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• 1998

Recent studies have suggested that integrin (CR3) participates in the signal transduction pathways of certain GPI-anchored phagocytic receptors including $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$. One consequence of this functional linkage is an inducible association between CR3 and cortical microfilaments that is triggered by $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$ binding to immobilized immune complexes (IC). That this signaling event requires the co-expression of $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$ with CR3 was documented by the use of NIH 3T3 transfectants expressing both CR3 and $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$ (clone 3-23), CR3 alone (clone 3-19), and $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$ alone (clone 3-15). Pretreatment of 3-23 cells with protein kinase inhibitors such as staurosporine and methyl 2,5-dihydroxycinnamate (MDHC) blocked IC-stimulated CR3 microfilament proximity without affecting the extent to which $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$ constrains the lateral membrane mobility of a subset of CR3 on the cell surface (as measured in fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments). These data support that CR3 and $Fc{\gamma}RIIIB$ molecules are physically and functionally associated and that ligation of FcgRIIIB triggers CR3-dependent signal transduction.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.629-635
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• 2014

Background: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a fatal hematological malignancy which is resistant to a variety of chemotherapy drugs. Myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1), a death-inhibiting protein that regulates apoptosis, has been shown to be overexpressed in numerous malignancies. In addition, it has been demonstrated that the expression level of the Mcl-1 gene increases at the time of leukemic relapse following chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to target Mcl-1 by small interference RNA (siRNA) and analyze its effects on survival and chemosensitivity of acute myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60. Materials and Methods: siRNA transfection was performed with a liposome approach. The expression levels of mRNA and protein were measured by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. Trypan blue assays were performed to evaluate tumor cell growth after siRNA transfection. The cytotoxic effects of Mcl-1 siRNA (siMcl-1) and etoposide were determined using MTT assay on their own and in combination. Apoptosis was quantified using a DNA-histone ELISA assay. Results: Transfection with siMcl-1 significantly suppressed the expression of Mcl-1 mRNA and protein in a time-dependent manner, resulting in strong growth inhibition and spontaneous apoptosis. Surprisingly, pretreatment with siMcl-1 synergistically enhanced the cytotoxic effect of etoposide. Furthermore, Mcl-1 down-regulation significantly increased apoptosis sensitivity to etoposide. No significant biological effects were observed with negative control siRNA treatment. Conclusions: Our results suggest that specific suppression of Mcl-1 by siRNA can effectively induce apoptosis and overcome chemoresistance of leukemic cells. Therefore, siMcl-1 may be a potent adjuvant in leukemia chemotherapy.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제38권5호
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• pp.416-425
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• 2015

NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a basic leucine zipper transcription factor, has recently received a great deal of attention as an important molecule that enhances antioxidative defenses and induces resistance to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In this study, we investigated the apoptosis-inducing and Nrf2- upregulating effects of quercetin on malignant mesothelioma (MM) MSTO-211H and H2452 cells. Quercetin treatment inhibited cell growth and led to upregulation of Nrf2 at both the mRNA and protein levels without altering the ubiquitination and extending the half-life of the Nrf2 protein. Following treatment with quercetin, analyses of the nuclear level of Nrf2, Nrf2 antioxidant response element-binding assay, Nrf2 promoter-luc assay, and RT-PCR toward the Nrf2-regulated gene, heme oxygenase-1, demonstrated that the induced Nrf2 is transcriptionally active. Knockdown of Nrf2 expression with siRNA enhanced cytotoxicity due to the induction of apoptosis, as evidenced by an increase in the level of proapoptotic Bax, a decrease in the level of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 with enhanced cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP proteins, the appearance of a sub-$G_0/G_1$ peak in the flow cytometric assay, and increased percentage of apoptotic propensities in the annexin V binding assay. Effective reversal of apoptosis was observed following pretreatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD. Moreover, Nrf2 knockdown exhibited increased sensitivity to the anticancer drug, cisplatin, presumably by potentiating the oxidative stress induced by cisplatin. Collectively, our data demonstrate the importance of Nrf2 in cytoprotection, survival, and drug resistance with implications for the potential significance of targeting Nrf2 as a promising strategy for overcoming resistance to chemotherapeutics in MM.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제26권5호
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• pp.464-473
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• 2018

Cripto is a small glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored signaling protein that can detach from the anchored membrane and stimulate proliferation, migration, differentiation, vascularization, and angiogenesis. In the present study, we demonstrated that Cripto positively affected proliferation and survival of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) without affecting multipotency. Cripto also increased expression of phosphorylated janus kinase 2 (p-JAK2), phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3), 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78), c-Myc, and cyclin D1. Notably, treatment with an anti-GRP78 antibody blocked these effects. In addition, pretreatment with STAT3 short interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited the increase in p-JAK2, c-Myc, cyclin D1, and BCL3 levels caused by Cripto and attenuated the pro-survival action of Cripto on MSCs. We also found that incubation with Cripto protected MSCs from apoptosis caused by hypoxia or $H_2O_2$ exposure, and the level of caspase-3 decreased by the Cripto-induced expression of B-cell lymphoma 3-encoded protein (BCL3). These effects were sensitive to down-regulation of BCL3 expression by BCL3 siRNA. Finally, we showed that Cripto enhanced expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). In summary, our results demonstrated that Cripto activated a novel biochemical cascade that potentiated MSC proliferation and survival. This cascade relied on phosphorylation of JAK2 and STAT3 and was regulated by GRP78. Our findings may facilitate clinical applications of MSCs, as these cells may benefit from positive effects of Cripto on their survival and biological properties.

• 한국약용작물학회지
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.7-13
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• 1997

시호(柴湖)(Bupleurum falcatum L.) 캘러스로부터 부정근(不定根) 형성(形成)에 미치는 생장조절물질(生長調節物質)의 영향을 조사하였다. 시호(柴胡)의 부정근(不定根) 유도(誘導)에는 2, 4-D 0.1 mg/l 가 가장 좋았으며, 부정측근(不定側根)의 형성에서도 동일하였다. 또한 생장조절물질별(生長調節物質別)로 일정시간 전처리(前處理)하여 생장조절물질(生長調節物質) 무처리(無處理) 배지(培地)에 치상하였을 때도 2, 4-D전처리(前處理)에서 캘러스 형성이 가장 좋았다. 시호의 마이크로 캘러스를 120시간 전처리하여 생장조절물질(生長謂節物質) 무처리배지(無處理培地)에 배양하는 것이 부정근(不定根) 형성(形成)이 양호하였으며, 4주 간격으로 계대배양(繼代培養)하는 것이 캘러스 형성에 가장 효과적이었다.