• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.38 no.7
• /
• pp.643-650
• /
• 2015

The use of conditioned medium from mesenchymal stem cells may be a feasible approach for regeneration of bone defects through secretion of various components of mesenchymal stem cells such as cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. Mesenchymal stem cells secrete and accumulate multiple factors in conditioned medium under specific physiological conditions. In this study, we investigated whether the conditioned medium collected under hypoxic condition could effectively influence bone regeneration through enhanced migration and adhesion of endogenous mesenchymal stem cells. Cell migration and adhesion abilities were increased through overexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 in hypoxic conditioned medium treated group. Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 was upregulated by microRNA-221 in mesenchymal stem cells because microRNAs are key regulators of various biological functions via gene expression. To investigate the effects in vivo, evaluation of bone regeneration by computed tomography and histological assays revealed that osteogenesis was enhanced in the hypoxic conditioned medium group relative to the other groups. These results suggest that behavioral changes of endogenous mesenchymal stem cells through microRNA-221 targeted-intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression under hypoxic conditions may be a potential treatment for patients with bone defects.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.35 no.4
• /
• pp.293-300
• /
• 2009

In this study, we investigated the antioxidative activity and inhibitory effects on elastase and tyrosinase of Persicaria hydropiper L. extracts. The free radical (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, DPPH) scavenging activities ($FSC_{50}$) of ethyl acetate fractions of Persicaria hydropiper L. was $5.23\;{\mu}g/mL$. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities ($OSC_{50}$) of some Persicaria hydropiper L. extracts on ROS generated in $Fe^{3+}$-EDTA/$H_2O_2$ system were investigated using the luminol - dependent chemiluminescence assay. The ROS scavenging activities ($OSC_{50}$) of ethyl acetate fractions of Persicaria hydropiper L. was $0.40\;{\mu}g/mL$. The protective effects of extract / fractions of Persicaria hydropiper L. on the rose-bengal sensitized photohemolysis of human erythrocytes were investigated. The Persicaria hydropiper L. extracts suppressed photohemolysis in a concentration dependent manner ($1\;{\sim}\;10\;{\mu}g/mL$). Inhibitory effects ($IC_{50}$) on tyrosinase of aglycone fraction of Persicaria hydropiper L. extracts was $8.90\;{\mu}g/mL$. Inhibitory effects ($IC_{50}$) on elastase of aglycone fraction of Persicaria hydropiper L. extracts was $2.37\;{\mu}g/mL$. These results indicate that extract / fractions of Persicaria hydropiper L. can function as antioxidants in biological systems, particularly skin exposed to UV radiation by anti-oxidative activity and protect cellular membranes against ROS. Persicaria hydropiper L. extract / fractions could be used as a new cosmeceutical for whitening and anti-wrinkle products.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.252-260
• /
• 2007

As it is needed to assay possible feasibility of extrapolation between in vivo and in vitro systems and to develop a new in vitro method for toxicity testing, we investigated global gene expression from both animal and cell line treated with thioacetamide (TAA) and compared between in vivo and in vitro genomic profiles. For in vivo study, mice were orally treated with TAA and sacrificed at 6 and 24 h. For in vitro study, TAA was administered to a mouse hepatic cell line, BNL CL.2 and sampling was carried out at 6 and 24 h. Hepatotoxicity was assessed by analyzing hepatic enzymes and histopathological examination (in vivo) or lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay and morphological examination (in vitro). Global gene expression was assessed using microarray. In high dose TAA-treated group, there was centrilobular necrosis (in vivo) and cellular toxicity with an elevation of LDH (in vitro) at 24 h. Statistical analysis of global gene expression identified that there were similar numbers of altered genes found between in vivo and in vitro at each time points. Pathway analysis identified several common pathways existed between in vivo and in vitro system such as glutathione metabolism, bile acid biosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, butanoate metabolism for hepatotoxicty caused by TAA. Our results suggest it may be feasible to develop toxicogenomics biomarkers by comparing in vivo and in vitro genomic profiles specific to TAA for application to prediction of liver toxicity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Plant Biotechnology Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.71-80
• /
• 2005

Effects of low temperature ($8^{\circ}C$) on the hydraulic conductivity of young roots of a chilling-sensitive (cucumber; Cucumis sativus L.) and a chilling-resistant (figleaf gourd; Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche) crop have been measured at the levels of whole root systems (root hydraulic conductivity, $Lp_r$) and of individual cortical cells (cell hydraulic conductivity, Lp). In figleaf gourd, there was a reduction only in hydrostatic $Lp_r$ but not in osmotic $Lp_r$ suggesting that the activity of water channels was not much affected by low root temperature (LRT)treatment in this species. Changes in cell Lp in response to chilling and recovery were similar asroot level, although they were more intense at the root level. Roots of figleaf gourd recovered better from LRT treatment than those of cucumber. In figleaf gourd, recovery (both at the root and cell level) often resulted in Lp and $Lp_r$ values which were even bigger than the original, i.e. there was an overshoot in hydraulic conductivity. These effects were larger forosmotic (representing the cell-to-cell passage of water) than for hydrostatic $Lp_r$. After a short term (1 d) exposure to $8\;^{\circ}C$ followed by 1 d at $20\;^{\circ}C$, hydrostatic $Lp_r$ of cucumber nearly recovered and that of figleaf gourd still remained higher due to the overshoot. On the contrary, osmotic $Lp_r$ and cell Lp in both species remained high by a factor of 3 as compared to the control, possibly due to an increased activity of water channels. After pre-conditioning of roots at LRT, increased hydraulic conductivitywas completely inhibited by $HgCl_2$ at both the root and cell levels. Different from figleaf gourd, recovery from chilling was not complete in cucumber after longer exposure to LRT. It is concluded that at LRT, both changes in the activity of aquaporins and alterations of root anatomy determine the water uptake in both species. To better understand the aquaporin function in plants under various stress conditions, we examined the transgenic Arabidopsisand tobacco plants that constitutively overexpress ArabidopsisPIP1;4 or PIP2;5 under various abiotic stress conditions. No significant differences in growth rates were found between the transgenic and wild-type plants under favorable growth conditions. By contrast, overexpression of PIP1;4 or PIP2;5 had a negative effect on seed germination and seedling growth under drought stress, whereas it had a positive effect under cold stress and no effect under salt stress. Measurement of water transport by cell pressure probe revealed that these observed phenotypes under different stress conditions were closely correlated with the ability of water transport by each aquaporin in the transgenic plants. Together, our results demonstrate that PIP-type aquaporins play roles in seed germination, seedling growth, and stress response of Arabidopsis and tobacco plants under various stress conditions, and emphasize the importance of a single aquaporin-mediated water transport in these cellular processes.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.4 no.5
• /
• pp.351-355
• /
• 2010

Our previous proteomic study demonstrated that oxidative stress and antioxidant delphinidin regulated the cellular level of $p27^{kip1}$ (referred to as p27) as well as some heat shock proteins in human colon cancer HT 29 cells. Current study was conducted to validate and confirm the regulation of these proteins using both in vitro and in vivo systems. The level of p27 was decreased by hydrogen peroxide in a dose-dependent manner in human colon carcinoma HCT 116 (p53-positive) cells while it was increased upon exposure to hydrogen peroxide in HT 29 (p53-negative) cells. However, high concentration of hydrogen peroxide (100 ${\mu}M)$ downregulated p27 in both cell lines, but delphindin, one of antioxidative anthocyanins, enhanced the level of p27 suppressed by 100 ${\mu}M$ hydrogen peroxide. ICR mice were injected with varying concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, delphinidin and both. Western blot analysis for the mouse large intestinal tissue showed that the expression of p27 was upregulated by 25 mg/kg BW hydrogen peroxide. To investigate the association of p27 regulation with hypoxia-inducible factor 1-beta (HIF-$1{\beta}$), the level of p27 was analyzed in wild-type mouse hepatoma hepa1c1c7 and Aryl Hydrocarbon Nuclear Translocator (arnt, HIF-$1{\beta}$)-defective mutant BPRc1 cells in the absence and presence of hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin. While the level of p27 was responsive to hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin, it remained unchanged in BPRc1, suggesting that the regulation of p27 requires functional HIF-$1{\beta}$. We also found that hydrogen peroxide and delphinidin affected PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway which is one of upstream regulators of HIFs. In conclusion, hydrogen peroxide and antioxidant delphinidin seem to regulate intracellular level of p27 through regulating HIF-1 level which is, in turn, governed by its upstream regulators comprising of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. The results should also encourage further study for the potential of p27 as a biomarker for intracellular oxidative or antioxidant status.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.595-606
• /
• 2018

Objective: The Fusarium mycotoxins of deoxynivalenol (DON) and zerolenone (ZEN) cause health hazards for both humans and farm animals. Therefore, the main intention of this study was to reveal DON and ZEN effects on the mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other immune related genes in the liver of piglets. Methods: In the present study, 15 six-week-old piglets were randomly assigned to the following three different dietary treatments for 4 weeks: control diet, diet containing 8 mg DON/kg feed, and diet containing 0.8 mg ZEN/kg feed. After 4 weeks, liver samples were collected and sequenced using RNA-Seq to investigate the effects of the mycotoxins on genes and gene networks associated with the immune systems of the piglets. Results: Our analysis identified a total of 249 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which included 99 upregulated and 150 downregulated genes in both the DON and ZEN dietary treatment groups. After biological pathway analysis, the DEGs were determined to be significantly enriched in gene ontology terms associated with many biological pathways, including immune response and cellular and metabolic processes. Consistent with inflammatory stimulation due to the mycotoxin-contaminated diet, the following Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathways, which were related to disease and immune responses, were found to be enriched in the DEGs: allograft rejection pathway, cell adhesion molecules, graft-versus-host disease, autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), type I diabetes mellitus, human T-cell leukemia lymphoma virus infection, and viral carcinogenesis. Genome-wide expression analysis revealed that DON and ZEN treatments downregulated the expression of the majority of the DEGs that were associated with inflammatory cytokines (interleukin 10 receptor, beta, chemokine [C-X-C motif] ligand 9), proliferation (insulin-like growth factor 1, major facilitator superfamily domain containing 2A, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2, lipase G, and salt inducible kinase 1), and other immune response networks (paired immunoglobulin-like type 2 receptor beta, Src-like-adaptor-1 [SLA1], SLA3, SLA5, SLA7, claudin 4, nicotinamide N-methyltransferase, thyrotropin-releasing hormone degrading enzyme, ubiquitin D, histone $H_2B$ type 1, and serum amyloid A). Conclusion: In summary, our results demonstrated that high concentrations DON and ZEN disrupt immune-related processes in the liver.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.99-109
• /
• 2001

Authors investigated neuronal changes of local cellular metabolism in the cerebral lesions of Parkinsonian symptomatic side between before and after stereotactic neurosurgery by follow-up 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) (n = 15) and age-matched normal controls (n = 15) underwen MRS examinations using a stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) pulse sequence that provided 2${\times}$2${\times}$2 ㎤ (8ml) volume of interest in the regions of substantia nigra, thalamus, and lentiform nucleus. Spectral parameters were 20 ms TE, 2000 ms TR, 128 averages,2500 Hz spectral width, and 2048 data points. Raw data were processed by the SAGE data analysis package (GE Medical Systems). Peak areas of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), choline-containing compounds (Cho), inositols (Ins), and the sum (Glx) of glutamate and GABA were calculated by means of fitting the spectrum to a summation of Lorentzian curves using Marquardt algorithm. After blindly processed, we evaluated neuronal alterations of observable metabolite ratios between before and after stereotactic neurosurgery using Pearson product-moment analysis (SPSS, Ver. 6.0). A significant reduction of NAA/Cho ratio was observed in the cerebral lesion in substantia nigra of PD patient related to the symptomatic side after neurosurgery (P : 0.03). In thalamus, NAA/Cho ratio was also significantly decreased in the cerebral lesion including the electrode-surgical region (P : 0.03). A significant reduction of NAA/Cho ratio in lentiform nucleus was not oberved, but tended toward significant reduction after neurosurgery (P = 0.08). In particular, remarkable lactate signal was noted from the surgical thalamic lesions of 6 among 8 patients and internal segments of globus pallidus of 6 among 7 patients, respectively. Significant metabolic alterations of NAA/Cho ratio might reflect functional changes of neuropathological processes in the lesion of substantia nigra, thalamus, and lentiform nucleus, and could be a valuable finding fur evaluation of Parkinson's disease after neurosurgery. Increase of lactate signals, being remarkable in surgical lesions, could be consistent with a common consequence of neurosurgical necrosis. Thus, IH MRS could be a useful modality to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic implications fur Parkinsons disease after functional neurosurgery.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2007.05a
• /
• pp.120-122
• /
• 2007

All living organisms use numerous signal-transduction pathways to sense and respond to their environments and thereby survive and proliferate in a range of biological niches. Molecular dissection of these signalling networks has increased our understanding of these communication processes and provides a platform for therapeutic intervention when these pathways malfunction in disease states, including infection. Owing to the expanding availability of sequenced genomes, a wealth of genetic and molecular tools and the conservation of signalling networks, members of the fungal kingdom serve as excellent model systems for more complex, multicellular organisms. Here, we employed Cryptococcus neoformans as a model system to understand how fungal-signalling circuits operate at the molecular level to sense and respond to a plethora of environmental stresses, including osmoticshock, UV, high temperature, oxidative stress and toxic drugs/metabolites. The stress-activated p38/Hog1 MAPK pathway is structurally conserved in many organisms as diverse as yeast and mammals, but its regulation is uniquely specialized in a majority of clinical Cryptococcus neoformans serotype A and D strains to control differentiation and virulence factor regulation. C. neoformans Hog1 MAPK is controlled by Pbs2 MAPK kinase (MAPKK). The Pbs2-Hog1 MAPK cascade is controlled by the fungal "two-component" system that is composed of a response regulator, Ssk1, and multiple sensor kinases, including two-component.like (Tco) 1 and Tco2. Tco1 and Tco2 play shared and distinct roles in stress responses and drug sensitivity through the Hog1 MAPK system. Furthermore, each sensor kinase mediates unique cellular functions for virulence and morphological differentiation. We also identified and characterized the Ssk2 MAPKKK upstream of the MAPKK Pbs2 and the MAPK Hog1 in C. neoformans. The SSK2 gene was identified as a potential component responsible for differential Hog1 regulation between the serotype D sibling f1 strains B3501 and B3502 through comparative analysis of their meiotic map with the meiotic segregation of Hog1-dependent sensitivity to the fungicide fludioxonil. Ssk2 is the only polymorphic component in the Hog1 MAPK module, including two coding sequence changes between the SSK2 alleles in B3501 and B3502 strains. To further support this finding, the SSK2 allele exchange completely swapped Hog1-related phenotypes between B3501 and B3502 strains. In the serotype A strain H99, disruption of the SSK2 gene dramatically enhanced capsule biosynthesis and mating efficiency, similar to pbs2 and hog1 mutations. Furthermore, ssk2, pbs2, and hog1 mutants are all hypersensitive to a variety of stresses and completely resistant to fludioxonil. Taken together, these findings indicate that Ssk2 is the critical interface protein connecting the two-component system and the Pbs2-Hog1 pathway in C. neoformans.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.5B
• /
• pp.456-477
• /
• 2006

Due to advances in wireless communication technology and increasing demand for various types of wireless access, cellular, WLAN, and portable internet(such as WiBro and IEEE 802.16) systems are likely to be integrated into a unified wireless access system. This expectation premises the availability of multi-mode handsets and cooperative interworking of heterogenous wireless access networks allied by roaming contracts. Under such environments, a user may lie in the situation where more than one wireless accesses are available at his/her location, and he/she will want to choose the 'best' access among them. In this paper, we define the 'best' access(es) as the access(es) that charges minimum cost while fulfilling the required QoS of wireless access, and address the problem of choosing the optimal set of accesses theoretically by introducing a graph representation of service environment. Two optimal selection algorithms are proposed, which individually consider cases where single or multiple wireless access can be supported by multi-mode handsets.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.99-119
• /
• 2006

Endothelin (ET) is a 21 amino acid peptide with multifunctional effects on the vasculature as well as a variety of other cell types such as respiratory, gastrointestinal, urogenital, endocrine, central nervous systems, and others. Endothelin has emerged as a modulator by autocrine and paracrine actions for many cellular activities, including vasoconstriction, cell proliferation, hormone production, neurotransmitter and/or neuromodulator. The endothelin family consists of three closely related peptides, ET-1, ET-2, and ET-3 derived from separate genes, such as chromosome 6, 1, and 20, respectively. ET-1 is the predominant isoform produced in the cardiovascular system and about which most is known. Endothelin receptors are seven-transmembrane GTP-binding protein-coupled receptors, which are classified into endothelin-A (ETA) and endothelin-B (ETB) receptors. Interestingly, recent evidence is accumulating to suggest that ET -1 may contribute to a variety of pain states such as allodynia and hyperalgesia in animals and humans. Therefore, in this review the biological characteristics and contraction-related mechanism of endothelin-1 in mammalian cells will be summarized. Especially, we focus on multifunctional roles for ET-1 in noxious stimulation-induced pain for the study of pain specialized physical therapy.