• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.116-121
• /
• 2018

Background: Black ginseng (BG) has greatly enhanced pharmacological activities relative to white or red ginseng. However, the effect and molecular mechanism of BG on muscle growth has not yet been examined. In this study, we investigated whether BG could regulate myoblast differentiation and myotube hypertrophy. Methods: BG-treated C2C12 myoblasts were differentiated, followed by immunoblotting for myogenic regulators, immunostaining for a muscle marker, myosin heavy chain or immunoprecipitation analysis for myogenic transcription factors. Results: BG treatment of C2C12 cells resulted in the activation of Akt, thereby enhancing hetero-dimerization of MyoD and E proteins, which in turn promoted muscle-specific gene expression and myoblast differentiation. BG-treated myoblasts formed larger multinucleated myotubes with increased diameter and thickness, accompanied by enhanced Akt/mTOR/p70S6K activation. Furthermore, the BG treatment of human rhabdomyosarcoma cells restored myogenic differentiation. Conclusion: BG enhances myoblast differentiation and myotube hypertrophy by activating Akt/mTOR/p70S6k axis. Thus, our study demonstrates that BG has promising potential to treat or prevent muscle loss related to aging or other pathological conditions, such as diabetes.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.32 no.7
• /
• pp.567-577
• /
• 2022

Recently, the prevalence of ischemic diseases, such as ischemic heart disease, cerebral ischemia, and peripheral arterial disease, has been continuously increasing due to the aging population. The current standardized treatment for ischemic diseases is reperfusion therapy through pharmacotherapy and surgical approaches. Although reperfusion therapy may restore the function of damaged arteries, it is not effective at restoring the function of the surrounding tissues that have been damaged due to ischemia. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new treatment strategy that can safely and effectively treat ischemic damage and restore the function of surrounding tissues. To overcome these limitations, stem cell-based therapy to regenerate the damaged region has been studied as a promising strategy for ischemic vascular diseases. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be isolated from diverse tissues and have been shown to be promising for the treatment of ischemic disease by regenerating damaged tissues through immunomodulation, the promotion of angiogenesis, and the secretion of various relevant factors. Moreover, new approaches to enhancing MSC function, such as cell priming or enhancing transplantation efficiency using a 3D culture method, have been studied to increase stem cell therapeutic efficacy. In this review, we provide various strategies by which MSCs are used to treat ischemic diseases, and we discuss the challenges of MSC transplantation, such as the differentiation, proliferation, and engraftment of MSCs at the ischemic site.

• Korean Journal Plant Pathology
• /
• v.2 no.2
• /
• pp.69-81
• /
• 1986

Thirty two rice cultivars which have been cultivated or used as breeding materials in Korea were tested for screening rice cultivars resistant to leaf blast at adult-plant stages in the blast nursery hill plots. When compared on the basis of disease severities in individual leaves at different growth stages of rice plants under natural field infection, the 16 indica-japonica hybrids tested were highly resistant but the 16 japonica cultivars tested showed various degrees of resistance to leaf blast. With aging of rice plants, the quantitative levels of resistance to leaf blast increased in all the cultivars, although the levels of resistance to leaf blast varied according to rice genotypes. The leaf position of rice plants in which changed from susceptible to resistant reactions varied also with rice genotypes. The susceptible reactions of the rice cultivars to Pyricularia oryzae were distinctly changed to a resistant reaction on upper leaves of rice plants. The rice cultivars, in which the quantitative level of resistance to leaf blast was higher, were resistant on the lower leaves of rice plants. The cultivars Akibare, Palkeum, Jinheung, Olchal, Dobong and Ginga which drastically decreased blast infection at late growth stage were evaluated as adult-plant-resistant to leaf blast in the field. The adult-plant-resistant cultivars became resistant to leaf blast, both qualitatively and quantitatively, as rice plants matured.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
• /
• v.15 no.3 s.28
• /
• pp.137-145
• /
• 1976

Orchids have been propagated vegetatively for a long time without adequate control measures against virus diseases in Korea. As a result, it is presumed that most of the orchid varieties in Korea may have been degenerated. Nevertheless there has been little work on the virus diseases of orchids in Korea. Therefore studies were initiated to isolate an4 characterize the orchid viruses occurring in Korea. The results obtained are summerized as follows. 1. Symptoms of virus diseases on orchid varieties can be grouped 1) mosaic, 2) necrotic streak with mosaic, 3) ring necrosis, 4) chlorotkc ring and 5) necrotic spot. 2. A total of 102 orchid plants representing 4 genera were investigated on the occurrence of Cymbidium mosaic virus and tobacco mosaic virus by serological agar-gel double diffusion test. The test revealed that approximately $45\%$ of the orchids were infected with Cymbidium mosaic virus. None of the plants were found to be infected with tobacco mosaic virus. 3. Local lesions appeared on the inoculated leaves of Chenopodium amaranticolor Cassia occidentalis and Datura stramonium 7-12 days after mechanical inoculation with Cymbidium mosaic virus. 4. Physical properties of the Cymbidium mosaic virus determined by inoculation on Chenopodium amaranticolor were as follows: Thermal inactivation Point; $75-80^{\circ}C$, dilution end Point; $10^{-5}-10^{-6}\%$ aging in vitro; 8 days. 5. Three different buffers at pH 7.0 and pH 9.0 were compared for the efficiency of agar-gel double diffusion test with Cymbidium mosaic virus. Phosphate, imidazol and tris buffer at pH 7.0 gave equally satisfactory results. 6. Electron microscopic examination of the Cymbidium mosaic virus revealed rod shaped particles measuring 460-580mu.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.82-87
• /
• 1983

The aging and growth of Spisula sachalinensis from Ingu over the period from December 1981 through November 1982 were studied. The rings on the shell were used as the character for age determination. The ring where the translucent zone shifts to the opaque one was regarded as an annulus. The time of its formation was estimated by monthly variations of marginal growth rate in the shell. It was formed once a year over the period from August through September. The shell length at the formation of the annulus was estimated by taking the mean shell length corresponding to each of the annual ring. From analysis of mean shell length at the formation of the annulus, von Bertalanffy's growth equation was estimated as follows; $l_t=126.38(1-e^{-0.262(t-0.656)})\;W_t=485.85(1-e^{-0.262(t-0.656)})^3$ Back-calculated shell lengths estimated from this equation was quite consistent with actual shell lengths.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.16 no.10
• /
• pp.1605-1612
• /
• 2006

Interleukin (IL)-18, a member of the family of IL-l cytokine, is one of the principal inducers of $interferon-{\gamma}(IFN-{\gamma})$ in T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of IL-18 on the expression of chemokine IP-10 (CXCL-10) mRNA in mouse peritoneal macrophages. IL-18 had very weak direct effect or synergistic effect with IL-12 on the expression of IP-10 mRNA in C57BL/6 mouse peritoneal macrophages. However, IL-18 pretreatment was found to playa cooperative role in the expression of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced IP-10 mRNA. For the expression of LPS-induced IP-10 mRNA, the synergistic effect was detected after 16 h of IL-18 pretreatment prior to LPS stimulation. The expression level of CD14 in cells stimulated with LPS was not changed by IL-18 pretreatment, and the level of $IFN-{\gamma}$ production during IL-18 pretreatment plus LPS stimulation was barely discernible ($0.36{\pm}0.31pg/ml$). Namely, the synergistic effect of IL-18 pretreatment was not related to a change of LPS receptor, CD14 expression, and the production of $IFN-{\gamma}$ by the interaction between IL-18 and LPS. The synergistic effect of IL-18 pretreatment on the expression of LPS-induced IP-10 was related to not NF-kB but AP-1 activation, and associated with the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, one of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. These results provide useful information that may elucidate the mechanisms underlying the effect of IL-18 on the expression of IP-10 mRNA.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.163-170
• /
• 2015

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is a major component of the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria. Its effects on living organisms are different from those of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) found in Gram-negative bacteria. LTA contributes to immune regulatory effects including anti-aging. In this study, we showed that LTA isolated from Lactobacillus plantarum (pLTA) inhibited melanogenesis in B16F10 mouse melanoma cells. pLTA reduced the cellular activity of tyrosinase and the expression of tyrosinase family members in a dose-dependent manner. The expression of microphthalmia- associated transcription factor (MITF), a key factor in the synthesis of melanin, was also decreased by pLTA. Further, we showed that pLTA activated melanogenesis signaling, such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinse (PI3K)/AKT. In addition, the expression of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) and HuR, which are important RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), was reduced. pLTA likely degrades MITF via regulation of melanogenic signaling and RNA stability of melanogenic proteins, resulting in the reduction of melanin. Thus, our data suggest that pLTA has therapeutic potential for treating hyperpigmentation disorders and can also be used as a cosmetic whitening agent.

• Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.248-253
• /
• 2018

Background: Sirtuins mediate metabolic responses to nutrient availability and slow aging and accompanying decline in health. This study was designed to assess the expressions of sirtuin1 (SIRT1) and sirtuin3 (SIRT3) in the liver and hypothalamus after duodenal-jejunal bypass (DJB) surgery in rats. Methods: A total of 38 rats were randomly assigned to either sham group (n=8) or DJB group (n=30). DJB group was again divided into three groups according to the elapsed time after surgery (10 weeks, DJB10; 16 week, DJB16; 28 week, DJB28). The mRNA and protein expressions of SIRT1 and SIRT3 in the liver and hypothalamus were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry analyses. $NAD^+/NADH$ ratio was also measured. Results: We found increased mRNA and protein expression levels of SIRT1 in the liver of DJB16 and DJB28 groups compared with those of sham group. The mRNA and protein expressions of SIRT3 in the liver of DJB group increased proportionally to the elapsed time after DJB surgery. The mRNA expression levels of SIRT1 in the hypothalamus increased in DJB16 and DJB28 groups and protein expression levels of SIRT1 in the hypothalamus increased in DJB10, DBJ16, and DJB28 groups compared with sham group. We observed that mRNA and protein levels of SIRT3 in the hypothalamus of DJB group were not changed. Conclusion: This study proves that DJB increases SIRT1 and SIRT3 expressions in the liver and SIRT1 expression in the hypothalamus. These results suggest the possibility of sirtuins being involved in bypass surgery-induced metabolic changes.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.609-613
• /
• 2009

It has been reported that selenoprotein W (SelW) mRNA is highly expressed in the developing central nerve system of rats, and its expression is maintained until the early postnatal stage. We here found that SelW protein significantly increased in mouse brains of postnatal day 8 and 20 relative to embryonic day 15. This was accompanied by increased expression of SOD1 and SOD2. When the expression of SelW in primary cultured cells derived from embryonic cerebral cortex was knocked down with small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), SelW siRNA-transfected neuronal cells were more sensitive to the oxidative stress induced by treatment of $H_2O_2$ than control cells. TUNEL assays revealed that $H_2O_2$-induced apoptotic cell death occurred at a higher frequency in the siRNA-transfected cells than in the control cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that SelW plays an important role in protection of neurons from oxidative stress during neuronal development.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.39 no.7
• /
• pp.566-572
• /
• 2016

Lysosomes are cellular organelles containing diverse classes of catabolic enzymes that are implicated in diverse cellular processes including phagocytosis, autophagy, lipid transport, and aging. Lysosome-associated membrane proteins (LAMP-1 and LAMP-2) are major glycoproteins important for maintaining lysosomal integrity, pH, and catabolism. LAMP-1 and LAMP-2 are constitutively expressed in Salmonella-infected cells and are recruited to Salmonella-containing vacuoles (SCVs) as well as Salmonella- induced filaments (Sifs) that promote the survival and proliferation of the Salmonella. LAMP-3, also known as DC-LAMP/CD208, is a member of the LAMP family of proteins, but its role during Salmonella infection remains unclear. DNA microarray analysis identified LAMP-3 as one of the genes responding to LPS stimulation in THP-1 macrophage cells. Subsequent analyses reveal that LPS and Salmonella induced the expression of LAMP-3 at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Confocal Super resolution N-SIM imaging revealed that LAMP-3, like LAMP-2, shifts its localization from the cell surface to alongside Salmonella. Knockdown of LAMP-3 by specific siRNAs decreased the number of Salmonella recovered from the infected cells. Therefore, we conclude that LAMP-3 is induced by Salmonella infection and recruited to the Salmonella pathogen for intracellular proliferation.