• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.60-78
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• 2009

Purpose: These experiments were undertaken to evaluate the effect of administration of Evodiae Fructus on ovarian functions and differential gene expressions related caspase-3, MAPK and MPG in female mice. Methods: We administered the Evodiae Fructus to 6-week-old female ICR mice for 4, 8, or 12 days. With different concentration of Evodiae Fructus, the female mice were injected PMSG and hCG for ovarian hyperstimulation. The mice divided into 3 groups for each experiment. We chose the caspase-3 for cell apoptosis, MAPK and MPG genes for cell viability and DNA repair. Results: In case of 4, 8, 12 day of Evodiae Fructus, we were examined the mean number of total ovulated oocytes and the number of morphologically normal oocytes. We were also examined the embryonic developmental competence in vitro. In addition we were also examined the differential expression of cell viability related genes, caspase-3, MAPK and MPG according to concentration and duration of Evodiae Fructus administration. MPG gene expressions for cell viability and DNA repaie were increased in dose dependent manner than that of control group in 4-day administration group. Conclusion: It is suggested that the medication of Evodiae Fructus has beneficial effect on reproductive functions of female mice via promotion of cell proliferation.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.33 no.3 s.98
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• pp.169-183
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• 2003

Tooth movement by orthodontic force effects great tissue changes within the periodontium, especially by shifting the blood flow in the pressure side and resulting in a hypoxic state of low oxygen tension. The aim of this study is to elucidate the possible mechanism of apoptosis in response to hypoxia in MC3T3El osteoblasts, the main cells in bone remodeling during orthodontic tooth movement. MC3T3El osteoblasts under hypoxic conditions ($2\%$ orygen) resulted in apoptosis in a time-dependent manner as estimated by DNA fragmentation assay and nuclear morphology stained with fluorescent dye, Hoechst 33258. Pretreatment with Z-VAD-FMK, a pancaspase inhibitor, or Z-DEVD-CHO, a specific caspase-3 inhibitor, completely suppressed the DNA ladder in response to hypoxia. An increase in caspase-3-like protease (DEVDase) activity was observed during apoptosis, but no caspase-1 activity (YVADase) was detected. To confirm what caspases are involved in apoptosis, Western blot analysis was performed using anti-caspase-3 or -6 antibodies. The 10-kDa protein, corresponding to the active products of caspase-3, and the 10-kDa protein of the active protein of caspase-6 were generated in hypoxia-challenged cells in which the processing of the full length form of caspase-3 and -6 was evident. While a time course similar to this caspase-3 and -6 activation was evident, hypoxic stress caused the cleavage of lamin A, which was typical of caspase-6 activity. In addition, the stress elicited the release of cytochrome c into the cytosol during apoptosis. Furthermore, we observed that pre-treatment with SB203580, a selective p38 mitogen activated protein kinase inhibitor, attenuated the hypoxia-induced apoptosis. The addition of SB203S80 suppressed caspase-3 and -6-like protease activity by hypoxia up to $50\%$. In contrast, PD98059 had no effect on the hypoxia-induced apoptosis. To confirm the involvement of MAP kinase, JNK/SAPK, ERK, or p38 kinase assay was performed. Although p38 MAPK was activated in response to hypoxic treatment, the other MAPK -JNK/SAPK or ERK- was either only modestly activated or not at all. These results suggest that p38 MAPK is involved in hypoxia-induced apoptosis in MC3T3El osteoblasts.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.66-74
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• 2023

Triglyceride (TG) accumulation can cause monocytic death and suppress innate immunity. However, the signaling pathways involved in this phenomenon are not fully understood. This study aimed to examine whether inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is involved in the TG-induced death of THP-1 monocytes. Results showed that iNOS was upregulated in TG-treated THP-1 monocytes, and iNOS inhibition blocked TG-induced monocytic death. In addition, TG-induced poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage and caspase-3 and -7 activation were suppressed by iNOS inhibition. Furthermore, the expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) and survivin, which inhibit caspase-3 and -7, was reduced in TG-treated THP-1 monocytes, but iNOS inhibition recovered the TG-induced downregulation of XIAP and survivin expression. Considering that TG-induced monocytic death is triggered by caspase2 and -8, we investigated whether caspase-2 and -8 are linked to the TG-induced expression of iNOS in THP-1 monocytes. When the activities of caspase-2 and -8 were inhibited by specific inhibitors, the TG-induced upregulation of iNOS and downregulation of XIAP and survivin were restored in THP-1 monocytes. These results suggest that TG-induced monocytic death is mediated by the caspase-2/caspase-8/iNOS/XIAP and survivin/executioner caspase/PARP pathways.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.234-241
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• 2005

Galla Rhois is a nest of parasitic bug, Mellaphis chinensis Bell, in Rhus chinensis Mill. Galla Rhois has been used for the therapy of diarrhea, peptic ulcer, hemauria, etc., that showed various antiinflammatory activity, and other biological properties. We studied the effect of Galla Rhois water extract(GRWE). The cytotoxic activity of GRWE in HL-60 cells was increased in a concentration-dependent manner. GRWE was cytotoxic to HL-60 cells, with $IC_50$ of $100{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. Treatment of GRWE to HL-60 cells showed the fragmentation of DNA in a concentration manner, suggesting that these cells underwent apoptosis. In addition, the flow cytometric analysis revealed GRWE concentration-dependently increased apoptotic cells with hypodiploid DNA content and arrested G1 phase of cell cycle. These results indicate that GRWE may have a possibility of potential anticancer activities. Treatment of HL-60 cells with GRWE was induced activation of caspase-3, caspase-8 and proteolytic cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Also, caspase-3 was directly activated via caspase-8 activation. GRWE also caused the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol. GRWE-induced cytochrome c release was mediated by caspase-8-dependent cleavage of Bid and Bax translocation. These results suggest that caspase-8 mediates caspase-3 activation and cytochrome c release during GRWE-induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3289-3294
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• 2016

Naringin, a bioflavonoid found in Citrus seeds, inhibits proliferation of cancer cells. The objectives of this study were to investigate the mode and mechanism(s) of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell death induced by naringin. The cytotoxicity of naringin towards HepG2 cells proved dose-dependent, measured by MTT assay. Naringin-treated HepG2 cells underwent apoptosis also in a concentration related manner, determined by annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and propidium iodide (PI) employing flow cytometry. Mitochondrial transmembrane potential (MTP) measured using 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide ($DiOC_6$) and flow cytometer was reduced concentration-dependently, which indicated influence on the mitochondrial signaling pathway. Caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities were enhanced as evidenced by colorimetric detection of para-nitroaniline tagged with a substrate for each caspase. Thus, the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways were linked in human naringin-treated HepG2 cell apoptosis. The expression levels of pro-apoptotic Bax and Bak proteins were increased whereas that of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-xL protein was decreased, confirming the involvement of the mitochondrial pathway by immunoblotting. There was an increased expression of truncated Bid (tBid), which indicated caspase-8 proteolysis activity in Bid cleavage as its substrate in the extrinsic pathway. In conclusion, naringin induces human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell apoptosis via mitochondria-mediated activation of caspase-9 and caspase-8-mediated proteolysis of Bid. Naringin anticancer activity warrants further investigation for application in medical treatment.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.46-57
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• 2015

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the effects of Trogopterorum Faeces on the apoptostic cell death in breast cancer cells. Methods: In the experiment, the effects of Trogopterorum Faeces on proliferation rates and type of cell death were investigated using MCF-7 cells in vitro. The effects on expression levels of caspase 3 and caspase 9 were also investigated. Results: The effects on expression levels of caspase 3 and caspase 9 were also investigated. In the present results, treatment with Trogopterorum Faeces decreased proliferation rates in a dose dependent manner. $ID_{50}$ (50 % inhibitory dosage) was $177.2{\mu}g/ml$. In addition, treatment with Trogopterorum Faeces increased percentage of apoptotic cells. Finally the expression level of caspase 3 and caspase 9 were elevated by treatment with Trogopterorum Faeces respectively. Conclusions: This study suggests that Trogopterorum Faeces can trigger caspase dependent apoptosis in MCF-7 cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.815-822
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• 2012

Piceatannol (trans-3,4,3',5'-tetrahydroxystilbene), a natural stilbene, is an analogue of resveratrol. Although recent experimental data have revealed the health benefit potency of piceatannol, the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer activity have not yet been studied in detail. In the present study, the further possible mechanisms by which piceatannol exerts its pro-apoptotic action in cultured human lung cancer A549 cells were investigated. Exposure of A549 cells to piceatannol resulted in growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis. Apoptosis induction of A549 cells by piceatannol showed correlation with proteolytic activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9, and concomitant degradation of activated caspase-3 target proteins such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase, phospholipase C-${\gamma}1$, ${\beta}$-catenin, and Inhibitor caspase-activated DNase. The increase in apoptosis by piceatannol treatment was also associated with an increase of pro-apoptotic Bax expression and decrease of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression, and caused down-regulation of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family members and up-regulation of Fas and Fas legend. In addition, piceatannol treatment markedly inhibited the expression of mRNA and proteins of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase, and the levels of NO production were progressively down-regulated by piceatannol treatment in a dose-dependent fashion. The results indicate that piceatannol may have therapeutic potential against human gastric cancer cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5463-5468
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• 2014

MicroRNAs might act as oncogenes or tumor suppressors in cancer. Recent studies have shown that miR-421 is up-regulated in human gastric cancer. Here, we found that miR-421 was over-expressed in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that the caspase-3 gene was a target of miR-421. Caspase-3 was negatively regulated by miR-421 at the post-transcriptional level. Bax and Bcl-2 were also regulated by miR-421. Moreover, tumor necrosis factor receptor-I and -II, death receptors in the apoptosis pathway, were up-regulated by miR-421. The over-expression of miR-421 promoted gastric cancer cell growth and inhibited apoptosis of the BGC-823 gastric cancer cell line. These observations indicate that miR-421 acts as a tumor promoter by targeting the caspase-3 gene and preventing apoptosis of gastric cancer cells through inhibition of caspase-3 expression. These findings contribute to our understanding of the functions of miR-421 in gastric cancer.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.677-683
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• 2005

The aim of this study was to investigate the apoptotic effect and its mechanism on Radix Aconiti (RA) extract in HL-60 human leukemia cell line. RA extract induced apoptosis as confirmed by discontinuous fragmentation of DNA. To clarify the mechanisms on RA extract-induced apoptosis, we examined the caspase-3, -8 enzyme activity and protein levels including Fas, FasL in HL-60 cells. Treatment with RA extracts resulted in the increase of caspase-3 enzyme activity in a time and dose-dependent manners, which was accompanied by the cleavage of poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). This activation of caspase-3 enzyme resulted from cleavage of procaspase-8, which was followed by increases of FasL, Fas protein expression in RA extracts-treated HL-60 cells. In conclusion, RA extract induced apoptosis of HL-60 human leukemia cell line. This results suggest that the apoptotic mechanisms of RA extract on HL-60 cells involved in FasL, Fas activation, procaspase-8 cleavage, activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP. Collectively, these results suggest that RA may be a valuable agent as a anti-cancer drug.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.509-511
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• 2002

In this study, we investigated apoptotic cell death induced by photodynamic therapy using 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA-PDT) in human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60). ALA-PDT induced apoptosis in HL-60 cells as confirmed by DNA agarose gel electrophoresis and nuclear staining with Hoechst 33342. The apoptotic cell death was inhibited by addition of broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor Z-Asp-CH$_2$-DCB, indicating that the apoptotic cell death was induced in a caspase-dependent manner. Actually, western blotting analysis revealed that caspase-3 was processed as early as 1.5 h after ALA-PDT. Cytoplasmic cytochrome c released from mitochondria was detected by western blotting. However, inhibitor of caspase-9, a cysteine protease located in the downstream of cytochrome c release, was not able to reduce the apoptotic cell death. Therefore, the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway was not involved in the ALA-PDT-induced apoptosis. On the other hand, it was found that ALA-PDT-induced apoptosis was clearly inhibited by pretreatment of caspase-8 inhibitor. These data suggest that caspase-8-mediated apoptotic pathway is important in ALA-PDT-induced cell death.