• Applied Microscopy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.133-138
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• 2010

Mountain ginseng is a perennial crop rarely found in the deep mountains of Korea. The medicinal effect of the mountain ginseng is well known as a panacea in traditional Chinese medicine for a long time. But scientific studies to elucidate the medicinal effect of the mountain ginseng have never been made on account of lack of sample. Recently an improved method of adventitious root culture system through the use of bioreactor has been developed in Panax ginseng that seems to be a reliable way of commercialization of root derived secondary metabolites. This experiment was conducted to evaluated chemotherapeutic effect against human cervical cancer cells by cisplatin (CDDP) and extract of tissue cultured mountain ginseng (ETCMG). CDDP and ETCMG-induced apoptotic cell death in human cervical cancer cell line, HeLa was confirmed by the analysis of cell growth, morphological changes, DNA fragmentation, flow cytometry showed that ETCMG is an inducer of apoptosis and synergizes with CDDP. These results suggest that ETCMG present evidence of anticancer effect and could have a possibly natural therapeutic potential in cervical cancer patients.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2016

It has been generally accepted that obesity and overweight are associated with metabolic diseases and cancer incidence. In fact, obesity increased risks of cancers i.e. breast, liver, pancreatic and prostate. Celastrol is a pentacyclic triterpenoid isolated from Thunder god vine, was used as a Chinese traditional medicine for treatment of inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, lupus erythematosus and Alzheimer's disease. Also, celastrol has various biological properties of chemo-preventive, neuro-protective, and anti-oxidant effects. Recent studies demonstrated that celastrol has anti-proliferation effects in different type of obesity-related cancers and suppresses tumor progression and metastasis. Anticancer effects of celastrol include regulation of $NF-{\kappa}B$, heat shock protein, JNK, VEGF, CXCR4, Akt/mTOR, MMP-9 and so on. For these reasons, celastrol has shown to be a promising anti-tumor agent. In this review, we will address the anticancer activities and multiple mechanisms of celastrol in obesity-related cancers.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.278-288
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• 2014

Background: Panax ginseng Meyer is a traditional medicinal plant famous for its strong therapeutic effects and serves as an important herbal medicine. To understand and manipulate genes involved in secondary metabolic pathways including ginsenosides, transcriptome profiling of P. ginseng is essential. Methods: RNA-seq analysis of adventitious roots of two P. ginseng cultivars, Chunpoong (CP) and Cheongsun (CS), was performed using the Illumina HiSeq platform. After transcripts were assembled, expression profiling was performed. Results: Assemblies were generated from ~85 million and ~77 million high-quality reads from CP and CS cultivars, respectively. A total of 35,527 and 27,716 transcripts were obtained from the CP and CS assemblies, respectively. Annotation of the transcriptomes showed that approximately 90% of the transcripts had significant matches in public databases.We identified several candidate genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis. In addition, a large number of transcripts (17%) with different gene ontology designations were uniquely detected in adventitious roots compared to normal ginseng roots. Conclusion: This study will provide a comprehensive insight into the transcriptome of ginseng adventitious roots, and a way for successful transcriptome analysis and profiling of resource plants with less genomic information. The transcriptome profiling data generated in this study are available in our newly created adventitious root transcriptome database (http://im-crop.snu.ac.kr/transdb/index.php) for public use.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2012

Somok, the heart wood of Caesalpinia sappan is used in traditional Chinese medicine. This study was performed to investigate the effect of growth and culture conditions of brazilin from C. sappan against S. mutans ATCC 25175. The bacteria were cultured in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth, and then incubated under 5% $CO_2$ at $37^{\circ}C$ for 18-24 hours. The effect of brazilin against S. mutans was confirmed under the changes of the culture conditions, such as growth curve and the change of pH, protein, and total carbohydrate. The growth of S. mutans in control medium was the highest at 24 hr, while brazilin-added medium (0.3 mg/ml) showed maximum growth at 32 hr. The pH values of the control medium was 5.25 at 16 hr, but the media supplemented with brazilin (0.3 mg/ml) was 7.0 at 16 hr. The amounts of total carbohydrate of the control medium was 11 mg/ml at 8 hr, but the brazilin-added media (0.3 mg/ml) was 18 mg/ml at 8 hr. In the protein change of the culture medium, the control culture broth and the brazilin supplemented-cultures was 2.4 mg/ml and 2.54 mg/ml at 24 hr, respectively. Polysaccharide contents of the control medium and test media were 3 mg/ml and 2 mg/ml at 8 hr, respectively. Thus, the application of C. sappan can be considered a useful and practical material for the prevention of dental caries.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.14-14
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• 2018

This Camptotheca acuminata Decne. (CA), belonging to Nyssaceae, is a deciduous tree. and has been used as Traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. The CA produces camptothecin a natural indole alkaloid, and reported to have anti-cancer effects. But the studies on biological activities of CA leaves are insufficient. Therefore, this study confirmed various biological activities such as antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, antiinflammatory and metabolism analysis by HPLC-MS/MS of CA leaves. The $RC_{50}$ values of DPPH radical scavenging activity of ethyl acetate fraction, n-Butanol fraction, methanol extraction, water fraction and n-Hexane fraction were $12.23{\pm}0.01$, $15.93{\pm}0.42$, $55.12{\pm}0.45$, $56.29{\pm}4.15$ and $427.29{\pm}6.13ug/mL$, respectively. The $IC_{50}$ values of ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity of ethyl acetate fraction, n-Butanol fraction, methanol extraction, n-Hexane fraction and water fraction were $24.29{\pm}0.14$, $47.86{\pm}0.45$, $54.23{\pm}1.21$ $466.76{\pm}2.21$ and $623.91{\pm}9.67ug/mL$, respectively. The nitric oxide release activity of n-Hexane fraction, methanol extraction, ethyl acetate fraction, water fraction and n-Butanol fraction were $31.49{\pm}5.74$, $29.79{\pm}0.71$, $26.89{\pm}0.71$, $8.24{\pm}5.83$ and $7.75{\pm}4.08%$ at 25 ug/mL, respectively. The anti-cancer activity of n-Hexane fraction, methanol extraction, ethyl acetate fraction, water fraction and n-Butanol fraction were $31.49{\pm}5.74$, $29.79{\pm}0.71$, $26.89{\pm}0.71$, $8.24{\pm}5.83$ and $7.75{\pm}4.08%$ at 25 ug/mL, respectively. The ethyl acetate fraction activities showed higher biological activities than other fractions. Thus, Additional studies were conducted using ethyl acetate fraction. Metabolite analysis was performed using a LCMS-8040 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. As a result, Five compounds (1-5) were identified in the ethyl acetate fraction of the CA leave. The identification of these compounds was generated by the analysis of fragmentation methods of the negative and positive ion modes. Five compounds were identified as gallic acid (1), chlorogenic acid (2), isoquercetin (3), astragalin (4) and camptothecin (5). These results suggest that the CA leave can be used for functional materials.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.727-738
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• 2012

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of a 4 week course of Cox distraction manipulation (CDM) combined with therapeutic modalities on the treatment of patients with L4-5 herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP). A total of 15 patients with L4-5 HNP (mean age, 37.76 years; age range 20-50years) participated in the study. A 4 week course of CDM combined with therapeutic modalities was delivered to the patients for 6 days per week for the first two weeks, and three times per week for two additional weeks. The entire treatment consisted of 18 visits over 4 week period. Comparisons of changes in the muscle strengthening (MS), straight leg raise (SLR), and oswestry disability index (ODI) at pre-intervention, after two weeks treatment sessions, and at discharge (after 18 treatment sessions) were analyzed. Comparisons of changes in the disc herniation index (DHI) at pre-intervention and at discharge were analyzed using the paired t-test. There were significant improvements in the outcome measures of MS Ibs, SLR test, and ODI score after 2 weeks and 4 weeks sessions of CDM combined with therapeutic modalities as compared with the pre-intervention. However, no significant different pre-test and post-test DHI. CDM combined with therapeutic modalities appears to be a safe and efficacious, noninvasive treatment modality for patients with L4-5 HNP.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.98-106
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• 2018

Portulaca oleracea L., a species of Portulacaceae, is ubiquitous. It is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine for removing heat, counteracting toxicity, cooling blood, and maintaining hemostasia; it is also used as antidysentery agent. This study investigated the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of water and ethanol extracts from P. oleracea. The total polyphenol content ($21.08{\pm}0.03mg\;GAE/g$) and total flavonoid content ($5.45{\pm}0.76mg\;QE/g$) of the ethanolic extracts were higher than those of the water extracts. The antioxidative activities were determined by evaluating the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activity and by the ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) assay. The ABTS radical scavenging activity of the water extract (75.53%) was higher in those of the water extract (67.03%) at concentration of $1,000{\mu}g/mL$. The DPPH radical scavenging activity and FRAP of the ethanol extract were higher than those of the water extract. We also investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of the P. oleracea extracts in LPS-stimulated Raw 264.7 cells. The production levels of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) significantly decreased with an increasing concentration of the extract. The expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis faction (TNF)-${\alpha}$, interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$, and IL-6) were significantly lower in the ethanol extract than in the LPS alone treatment group. Based on these results, ethanolic extract from P. oleracea could be an effective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.7
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• pp.468-480
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• 2021

Ubiquitin D (UBD) is highly upregulated in many cancers, and plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiological processes of cancers. However, its roles and underlying mechanisms in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) are still unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of UBD in patients with OSCC. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to measure the expression of UBD in OSCC tissues. Immunohistochemistry assay was used to detect the differential expressions of UBD in 244 OSCC patients and 32 cases of normal oral mucosae. In addition, CCK-8, colony formation, wound healing and Transwell assays were performed to evaluate the effect of UBD on the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in OSCC. Furthermore, a xenograft tumor model was established to verify the role of UBD on tumor formation in vivo. We found that UBD was upregulated in human OSCC tissues and cell lines and was associated with clinical and pathological features of patients. Moreover, the overexpression of UBD promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of OSCC cells; however, the knockdown of UBD exerted the opposite effects. In this study, our results also suggested that UBD promoted OSCC progression through NF-κB signaling. Our findings indicated that UBD played a critical role in OSCC and may serve as a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for OSCC treatment.

• Plant Breeding and Biotechnology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.404-412
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• 2018

The influenza neuraminidase (NA, E.C. 3.2.1.18), an antiviral, has been the target of high pharmaceutical companies due to its essential role in viral replication cycle. Perilla frutescens (P. frutescens) is used in traditional Chinese medicine for various diseases, such as cold due to wind-cold, headache and cough. In this context, four major polyphenolic compounds including rosmarinic acid-3-O-glucoside (1), rosmarinic acid (2), luteolin (3), and apigenin (4) isolated from P. frutescens were evaluated for their inhibitory effect on recombinant virus H1N1 neuraminidase (rvH1N1 NA). Among the test compounds, rosmarinic acid and luteolin inhibited the rvH1N1 NA with an $IC_{50}$ of 46.7 and $8.4{\mu}M$, respectively. The inhibition kinetics analyzed by the Dixon plots indicated that rosmarinic acid and luteolin were noncompetitive inhibitors and that the inhibition constant, $K_I$, was established as 43.9 and $14.3{\mu}M$, respectively. In addition, 578 genetically diverse accessions and 39 cultivars of P. frutescens were analyzed using HPLC to characterize the diversity of polyphenolic composition and concentration. The individual and total compositions exhibited significant difference (P < 0.05), especially rosmarinic acid which was detected as the predominant metabolite in all accessions (58.8%) and cultivars (62.8%). Yeupsil and Sangback cultivars exhibited the highest rosmarinic acid ($3,393.5{\mu}g/g$) and luteolin ($383.3{\mu}g/g$) content respectively. YCPL177-2 with the high concentration ($889.8{\mu}g/g$) of luteolin may be used as a genetic resource for breeding elite cultivars.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.107 no.4
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• pp.378-384
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• 2018

Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.), a member of family Rhamnaceae, is an economically important species. It has high nutritional value in fruits, and its medicinal properties have led to extensive use in traditional oriental medicine. In this study, we investigated the genetic characteristics of 270 jujube germplasms collected from the six major jujube fruit production areas in Korea including Boeun and Gyeongsan, in order to understand the current situation on cultivated varieties of domestic jujube and to obtain useful data for selection of superior germplasms and establishing their breeding plans. The results of ISSR marker analysis revealed that the Shannon's information index of the 270 germplasms was 0.107 and the genetic similarity was as high as 0.935 showing the dominance of a specific cultivar or germplasm, and almost 67% (180) of them were identified at the same genotype with 'Bokjo'. The domestic commercial jujube populations could be characterized by very low genetic diversity and thus may be vulnerable to external disturbances. In addition, it seems that most of the jujube fruits in domestic market were largely produced through parthenocarpy.