• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.85-91
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• 2005

Much of the interest on the chemopreventive properties of herbs and plants has been raised, whereas little is regarding to anti-tumor effect of farming and aquatic products. In the present study, the anti-tumor effect of hot-water extract of a seaweed, BLC (Sargassum fulvellum) and BLC/HEN egg was investigated using MCF-7 cells in vitro and in vivo systems. We found that the BLC extract and BLC/HEN egg inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, which might be mediated through up-regulation of p53. Furthermore, this test compound can directly induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, which might be mediated through up-regulation of a pro-apoptotic Bax protein and down-regulation of a anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, not by immune system. Nude mice bearing established breast tumors (with exogenous estradiol) were treated with BLC extract and BLC/HEN egg. Treatment BLC extract and BLC/HEN egg caused a 42% and 71% inhibition of tumor growth, respectively. Both agents caused a significant inhibition of volume and weight growth of estrogen independent human breast tumors established from MCF-7 cells. Our results suggested that BLC extract and BLC/HEN egg have the efficacious effect of human breast cancer not only in vitro but also in vivo.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.733-737
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• 2018

Cucurbitacin-I, a natural triterpenoid derived from Cucurbitaceae family plants, exhibits a number of potentially useful pharmacological and biological activities. Indeed, the previous study demonstrated that cucurbitacin-I reduced the proliferation of colon cancer cells by enhancing apoptosis and causing cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. CD44, a type I transmembrane protein with the function of adhering to cells, mediates between the extracellular matrix and other cells through hyaluronic acid. Recent studies have demonstrated that an overexpression of the CD44 membrane receptor results in tumor initiation and growth, specific behaviors of cancer stem cells, the development of drug resistance, and metastasis. The aim was to examine the effect of cucurbitacin-I on CD44 expression human ovarian cancer cells because the effect of cucurbitacin-I on CD44 expression has not been reported. The expressions of CD44 mRNA and protein were detected using a quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and a Western blot analysis, respectively. Treatment with cucurbitacin-I inhibited the expression of CD44 mRNA and protein. A subsequent analysis revealed that cucurbitacin-I blocked the phosphorylation of activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor kappa-B ($NF-{\kappa}B$), which are key regulators of CD44 expression. Taken together, the data demonstrate that cucurbitacin-I regulates the AP-1 and $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling pathways, leading to decreased CD44 expression.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 1992

Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba commonly found in moist soil and fresh water, enters the body via the nasal mucosa and migrates along the olfactory nerve to t he brain, where it causes acute amoebic meningoencephalitis. In the present study 7 clones secreting monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) against N. fowleri were produced and the effector function of them was investigated. Their isotopes were IgGl (Nf 1, Nf 154), 19G3 (Nf 137) and 19A (Nf 1, Nf 2, Nf 256, Nf 279). Five McAbs (McAb Nf 2, Nf 279, Nf 27, Nf 154, Nf 137) were specific for N. fowleri by ELISA and recognized the antigenic determinants located on the trophoBoite surface by IFAT and immunoperoxidase stain. These aye McAbs had capacity to agglutinate N. fowleri trophozoites and inhibited the growth of the amoeba in culture medium. McAb Nf 2 inhibited proliferation of trophozoites in vitro significantly. Also the cytotoxicity of JV. fowleri against CHO cell was reduced in the presence of McAb Nf 2 and McAb Nf 154. From these results McAb Nf 2 was confirmed to weaken the virulence of the amoeba among 7 screened McAbs.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2022

Glioblastoma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor and has an extremely poor prognosis. Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) contribute to tumor initiation, recurrence, and resistance to therapy, and are thus a key therapeutic target. The peel of Citrus unshiu Markovich has been used in traditional medicine in East Asia to treat various diseases. In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity and molecular mechanism of the chloroform extract of this natural product (CECU) in U87MG GSCs. The results show that CECU inhibited the proliferation, tumorsphere formation, and migration of U87MG GSCs by causing cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and apoptosis. In addition, CECU downregulated key cancer stemness regulators, including CD133, Oct4, Nanog, integrin α6, ALDH1A1, and STAT3 signaling in U87MG GSCs. Furthermore, CECU significantly suppressed in vivo tumor growth of U87MG GSCs in a chorioallantoic membrane model. Therefore, CECU can be utilized as a natural medicine for the prevention and treatment of glioblastoma.

• The Journal of Korean Society of Virology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 1998

Vaccinia virus is the prototype orthopoxvirus that has been used as a vaccine strain for small pox. This virus has been used to express a variety of cellular and viral genes in mammalian cells at high levels. Interleukin-4 (IL-4) has been found to stimulate the proliferation of T cells and enhance the cytolytic activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. To test the immunotherapeutic potential of IL-4 delivered in vivo by poxvirus, a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the murine IL-4 gene (RVVmIL-4) was constructed. A high level of IL-4 production was confirmed by infecting HeLa cells and measuring IL-4 in cell culture supernatant by ELISA. As a tumor model, two cell lines were used; the murine T leukemic line P388 and the murine breast cancer line TS/A. CDF1 mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with $1\;{\times}\;10^5$ cells of P388. Mice were injected at the same site with $5\;{\times}\;10^5\;PFU$ of recombinant vaccinia virus; first, 3 days after the injection of tumor cells and thereafter once every week for 3 weeks. Intraperitoneal injections of RVVmIL-4 significantly prolonged the survival time of mice inoculated with tumor cells. All mice injected with RVVmIL-4 remained alive for 30 days after the postinoculation of tumor cells, while 100% and 70% of the animals injected with saline or wild type vaccinia virus died, respectively. In another tumor model using TS/A, tumor was established by subcutaneously inoculating $2{\times}10^5$ tumor cells to BALB/c mice. After tumor formation was confirmed on day 4 in all mice, $5\;{\times}\;10^6\;PFU$ of RVVmIL-4 was inoculated subcutaneously three times, once every week for 3 weeks. The TS/A tumor was eradicated in two of the nine mice. Seven of the nine mice treated with RVVmIL-4 developed a tumor, but tumor growth was significantly delayed compared to those treated with saline or wild type vaccinia virus. These results indicate that recombinant vaccinia viruses may be used as a convenient tool for delivering immunomodulator genes to a variety of tumors.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.344-349
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• 2008

Normal somatic cells proliferate for a limited number of doublings in culture and then enter an irreversible growth-arrest state called replicative senescence. Replicative senescence has been believed a reason for the limited cellular turnover and deterioration of tissue function in aged animals. However, there is no experimental evidence supporting this assumption. Furthermore, cells from aged person have been poorly characterized with an exception of the cases of T cells. In this study, we examined cell biological changes occurring in replicative senescence of fibroblast strains originated from a new-born (NHF-NB) and a 87 year old man (NHF-87). NHF-87 (and the cells from a 75-year old) proliferated to smaller population doublings and with longer doubling times than NHF-NB did. At early passages, NHF-87 exhibited a low senescence-associated ${\beta}-Gal$ (SA ${\beta}-Gal$) activity and lipofuscin level, typical markers for cellular senescence. Furthermore, they maintained low levels of lysosome and reactive oxygen species (ROS). All of these levels increased dramatically in the late passage NHF-87 quite similarly as those in the late passaged NHF-NB did. These results indicate that most cells originated from the aged maintain a phenotype of the cells originated from new-born donors and undergo replicative senescence with the same kinetics as that of the cells from new-born. It is also indicated that not SA ${\beta}-gal$ activity but cell proliferation rate may be qualified as a biomarker for cells aged in vivo.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.30 no.6 s.83
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• pp.713-721
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• 2000

Bone cells produce multiple growth factors and cytokines that have effects on bone metabolism and can be incorporated into the bone matrix. The present study was designed to extend these observations by examining the interactions between transforming growth factor-$\beta$(TGF-$\beta$) or interleukin-$1\beta$(rhIL-$1\beta$) and bone cells in a rat long bone culture model. IL-$1\beta$ regulates several activities of the osteoblast cells derived from rat long bone explants in vitro. IL-$1\beta$ stimulated cellular proliferation as well as the synthesis of prostaglandin $E_2$ and Plasminogen activator activity in the cultured cells in a dose-dependent manner. TGF-$\beta$ is present in the bone matrix and potentially released during bone resorption. TGF-$\beta$ reduced basal bone resorption and inhibited vitamin $D_3[1,25(OH)_2D_3]$-induced bone resorption in rat long bone cells. These results support the role of IL-$1\beta$ in the pathological modulation of bone cell metabolism, with regard to implication in the Pathogenesis of osteoporosis by IL-$1\beta$, and that TGF-$\beta$ positively inhibits the bone resorption.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.241-252
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• 2011

The study was carried out to evaluate the anticancer effects in Korean soybean paste(doenjang) added with sun-dried salt(S-D), roasted salt(R-D), bamboo salt roasted once(B1-D) or bamboo salt roasted nine times(B9-D). In MTT assay, S-D, R-D, B1-D and B9-D exhibited a significant inhibitory activity(64-87% and 68-92%) against the proliferation of AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells by adding 0.05% and 0.1% of methanol extract. Among Balb/c mice injected with sarcoma-180 cells, the bodies, livers, spleens, kidneys and heart weight of the mice administered with 4 kinds of doenjang extracts were heavier than the non-administered ones of the group. However, no difference was found between the control and doenjang administered groups. Four kinds of doenjang inhibited significantly the tumor growth, especially R-D and B1-D showing an inhibition of tumor cell growth up to 97% by the administration of 1.0 mg/kg methanol extracts of doenjang. The activity of natural killer(NK) cells was relatively high in mice administered with four kinds of doenjang. Particularly, mice administered with R-D methanol extract showed a stronger activity of 88.2%. The activity of glutathione S-transferase(GST) in mice administered with four kinds of doenjang was higher than that of the non-administered group. In particular, the GST activity was the strongest in the group with B1-D. As these results indicate the various kinds of salt have different effects on the anticancer activity of doenjang.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.10
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• pp.1422-1429
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• 2016

Kombucha is a slightly sour beverage fermented by symbiotic micro-organisms, including bacteria and yeasts. In this study, we examined the biological activities of citrus Kombucha (CK) produced by addition of citrus extract to original Kombucha (K). After fermentation for 10 days, radical scavenging activity examined by ABTS and DPPH assays increased by approximately 20% compared to that of K. Moreover, content of total phenolic compounds significantly increased by 60% compared to that of K. Cell proliferation assays utilizing MTT showed that CK treatment significantly inhibited growth of bladder cancer cells, T-24 and 5637, in a dose-dependent manner with $IC_{50}$ values of 4 and 7 mg/mL, respectively. Annexin V staining showed that CK treatment led to apoptosis of cells in a dose-dependent manner. T-24 cells were more sensitive to CK treatment than 5637 cells, as 8 mg/mL of CK resulted in 97% apoptosis of T-24 cells. Western blotting showed that CK treatment led to up-regulation of apoptotic proteins, including caspases-3, -8, -9, and PARP, in bladder cells not in K-treated cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CK may be developed as a functional beverage.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.27-35
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• 2004

Recalcitrant 4-t-Octylphenol used as a surfactant was subjected to the biodegradation with wood rot fungi, Basidioradulum molare and Schizopora paradoxa. Two fungi were grown in the culture medium containing various concentrations of 4-t-Octylphenol in order to investigate their resistance against 4-t-octylphenol Schizopora paradoxa was reached to the full growth within 14 incubation days in the concentration of more than 200 ppm of 4-t-Octylphenol, while Basidioradulum molare showed the inhibitory mycelium growth as the concentration was increased Schizopora paradoxa and Basidioradulum molare biodegraded 95% and 36% of initial concentration of 4-t-Octylphenol at first incubation day, respectively. However, the biodegradation capability reached to more than 95% after 3 incubation days. During the biodegradation of 4-t-Octylphenol, the activity of manganese dependent peroxidase was induced by the addition of 4-t-Octylphenol in the culture medium of Schizopora paradoxa, but that of laccase was maximal before the addition. The reduction of estrogenecity was assayed by MCF-7 cell proliferation test and measurement of pS2 mRNA expression. The level of pS2 mRNA was decreased down to the level of baseline at first incubation day. Also, estrogenecity of 4-t-Ocrylphenol completely disappeared after treatment with supernatant by Schizopora paradoxa and Basidioradulum molare from first incubation day of culture down to the levels of vehicle.