• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.951-957
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• 2017

To understand the cytotoxic activity of Machilus thunbergii, which has been used as a traditional oriental medicine, the mechanism underlying the cytotoxic effect of its extract on human acute Jurkat T cells was investigated. The methanol extract of roots (3 kg) of M. thunbergii was evaporated, dissolved in, and then extracted by water. The water-extracted active substance was designated MTWE. When Jurkat T cells were treated with MTWE at concentrations of 0, 25, 50, and $100{\mu}g/ml$, the apoptotic phenomenon of cells accompanying several subsequent biochemical reactions, such as mitochondrial cytochrome c release, activation of caspase-3, and ICAD degradation, was detected in the Jurkat T cells. Moverover. the expression of Bcl-xL, which is a suppressor for mitochondrial cytochrome c release pathway, was reduced in the Jurkat T cells. As DUSP6, a growth suppressor of cancer cells, ranged from 0, 25, 50, $100{\mu}g/ml$ of MTWE, the expression level was elevated in the Jurkat T cells. The apoptotic morphological change of the nuclei was observed by DAPI staining. Although the potential involvement of the other factors and DUSP6 is currently being investigated in more detail, these findings support the notion that MTWE is able to achieve the apoptosis of Jurkat T cells, and it seems that MTWE is useful as a method of evaluating a chemotherapeutic agent or tonic materials for human acute leukemia.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2020

Purpose: Corosolic acid (CA), also known as 2α-hydroxyursolic acid, is present in numerous plants, and is reported to exhibit anti-cancer and anti-proliferative activities in various cancer cells such as osteosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and colon cancer. However, the anti-cancer activity of CA on human breast cancer cells and the underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the anticancer effects of CA in the human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. Methods: Cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, apoptosis marker protein expression, migration, invasion rate, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels were assessed by treating MDA-MB-231 cells to increasing concentrations of CA. Results: The results showed that CA significantly inhibited the cell proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. To assess the effect of CA on apoptosis, nuclei of MDA-MB-231 cells were stained with DAPI solution. Chromatin condensation, which indicates apoptosis, was observed to increase dose-dependently. In addition, western-blot analysis revealed elevated levels of the apoptosis marker proteins (Bax and cleaved caspase 3) subsequent to MDA-MB-231 exposure to CA. ROS production was also increased in the CA-induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 treated cells. Interestingly, CA exposure resulted in significantly decreased migration and invasion rates in the MDA-MB-231 cells. Data further revealed that exposure to CA markedly decreased the VEGF concentration, thereby contributing to a reduction in angiogenesis. Conclusion: Our results determined that exposure to CA induces anti-proliferation, apoptosis, and ROS production, and suppresses cell migration and invasion rate in MDA-MB-231 cells. Taken together, these results indicate the potential of CA to be applied as an effective chemotherapeutic agent for treating breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.24 no.2 s.62
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• pp.172-178
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• 2006

The dynamics of bacterial populations belonging to $\alpha\;\beta\;\gamma-subclass$ proteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium (CF) group and sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) in water column of the middle reaches of Nakdong River depending on sediment harvesting were analyzed by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) at sediment harvesting site (near the Seongju bridge) and non-sediment harvesting site (near the Gumi bridge). In addition, some physico-chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, $chi-\alpha$ and electrical conductivity were measured. Regarding the number of total cell counts, cells stained by DAPI, there were no substantial quantitative differences between both sites, but those fluctuation at sediment Harvesting site was greater. And also the ratios of CFgroup and SRB to total cell counts tend to increase at sediment harvesting site with higher $chl-\alpha$, maybe due to the resuspension of sediment into water column. But the total proportion of all determined bacterial populations to total cell counts were greater at non-sediment harvesting site, compared with those at sediment harvesting site. Since the detectibility of bacteria by FISH depends on their metabolic activity, those lower proportion at the sediment harvesting site implies that sediment harvesting may lead to malfunction of those bacteria respect to nutrient recycling and subsequently negative effects on microbial food web.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 1993

Post-harvest trunk injection of oxytetracycline-HCl(OTC) was attempted for the control of jujube witches'-broom. Diseased jujube(Zizyphus jujuba) trees with 9 to 16cm trunk diameters were treated with OTC ranged from 2g to 6g according to the size of trunk diameter. OTC dissolved in 0.51 or 1.01 of water was transfused into diseased trees by gravity flow injection during September and October. All these OTC concentrations prevented symptom development for two growing seasons and restored previously severely diseased trees to normal conditions. There was no differences in control effect between 0.51 and 1.01 OTC solutions. With these high OTC concentrations, no phytotoxicity was observed in the new leaves of the following year. Mycoplasma -like organism (MLO)-specific fluorescence was absent in the phloem of recovered tissue when examined by fluorescence microscopy using DAPI(4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole.2HCl) staining, indicating the disappearance of MLO by the action of OTC.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2018

Millettia erythrocalyx, a species of plant in the Fabaceae family, is widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, such as the Indies, China, and Thailand. The antiviral activity of flavonoids from M. erythrocalyx has been reported; however, the antioxidative and anticancer activities of M. erythrocalyx remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidative and anticancer effects of ethanol extract of M. erythrocalyx (EEME) and the molecular mechanism of its anticancer activity in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. EEME exhibited significant antioxidative effects, with a concentration at 50% inhibition ($IC_{50}$) value of $2.74{\mu}g/ml$, as measured by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay; moreover, it inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner in HepG2 cells. Cell cycle analyses showed that EEME induced HepG2 cell accumulation in the subG1 phase in a dose-dependent manner. EEME also induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells, with increases in apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies, as detected by Annexin V and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, respectively. Treatment with EEME resulted in increased expression of First apoptosis signal (Fas), a death receptor, and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), a proapoptotic protein, and the activation of caspase-3, 8, and 9, resulting in the cleavage of poly (Adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Collectively, these results suggest that EEME may exert an anticancer effect in HepG2 cells by inducing apoptosis via both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.8 s.88
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• pp.1027-1033
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• 2007

Although paclitaxel induces apoptosis of cancer cells, its exact mechanism of action is not yet known. The present study has been performed to determine whether influence of paclitaxel in HeLa $S_{3}$ uterine cancer cells. Three assays were employed in this study: cell cytotoxicity, morphological assessments of apoptotic cells (DAPI staining assay), and western blot analysis. The results indicated that paclitaxel has cytotoxic effects in HeLa $S_{3}$ cells. Especially, the $IC_{50}$ value of paclitaxel was about 1 ${\mu}M$. And morphological changes (fragmentation) of cells were observed by paclitaxel in HeLa $S_{3}$ cells. The flow cytometric analysis of paclitaxel-treated cells indicated a block of G2/M phase. The results that pacli-taxel regulates the cell cycle, especially Sub-$G_{1}$ phase. Paclitaxel induces apoptosis of HeLa $S_{3}$ cells via PARP-dependent fashion, and this apoptosis is related to disappearance of Bcl-2 proteins.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.398-402
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• 2011

Cruciferous vegetables including diindolylmethane (DIM) have been shown to have anticancer activity. Especially, DIM-pPhBr and DIM-pPhF used in this study was reported to have more effective and less toxic effects than DIM. However, there is no report presenting their anti-tumorigenic activity in oral cancer. In the present study, we examined the effects of DIM-pPhBr and DIM-pPhF on the cell proliferation and apoptosis in KB human oral cancer cells. DIM-pPhBr and DIM-pPhF decreased cell proliferation and induced apoptosis evidenced by western blot analysis, DAPI staining and sub-$G_1$ population. This provides the first evidence that DIM-pPhBr and DIM-pPhF originating from Cruciferous vegetables induce apoptotic cell death in human oral cancer cells to inhibit cancer cell proliferation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.231-237
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• 2014

This research showed that delphinidin, an anthocyanin present in blueberry, induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells as well as mediated anti-cancer effects in vivo. As a result, growth of cancer cells as assessed by MTT assay decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. Chromatin condensation by DAPI staining significantly increased in a concentration-dependent manner, indicating apoptosis. The level of p53-protein increased while those of anti-apoptotic molecules (Bcl-2, p-$GSK3{\beta}$) decreased in the western blot. Tumor size decreased in cells treated with 10 mg/kg of delphinidin compared with the control group in vivo. Cell apoptosis assessed by TUNEL assay significantly increased, and tumor inhibitory effect was confirmed. Therefore, delphinidin can be developed for cancer preventive medicine due to its growth inhibitory effects and induction of apoptosis in human breast cancer cells.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.123-124
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• 2001

Purpose. Free radicals are implicated in the pathophysiology of aging, ischemic injury and neurodegenerative disorders. To deform]no whether Hominis Placenta extract prevents $H_2O_2$-induced apoptosis, we have performed morphological and biochemical analyses for the detection of apoptotic phenomena in the pineal tumor cell line $PGT-{\beta}$ We have also peformed cytochemical and immunocytochemical analyses for the detection of changes in nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity and estimated the expression . of apoptotic genes using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) Methods. $PGT-{\beta}\;cells$ were pretreated with Hominis Placenta extracts $(0,\;10^{-2}\;{\mu}g/ml)$ for 2 hours and then exposed to $H_2O_2\;(0,\;50\;{\mu}M)$ for 3 hours. Appearance of apoptotic characteristics were monitored using 4, 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) staining assay, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-digoxigenin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay and flow cytometric analysis. NOS activity was measured by NADPH-diaphorase cytochemistry. Expression of inducible NOS (iNOS) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF k B) was assessed via immunocytochemistry. The expression of apoptotic genes was examined by RT-PCR. Results. After 3 flours of exposure to $H_2O_2$, it was shown that $PGT-{\beta}\;cells$ treated with $H_2O_2(50\;{\mu}M)$ exhibit classical apoptotic features and increases in NOS activity and caspase-3 expression. Treatment with Hominis Placenta extract resulted in a reduced occurrence of apoptotic features. DAPI staining, TUNEL and flow cytometric assays revealed decreases in the occurrence of nuclear fragmentation and in the sub-Gl fraction in the $PGT-{\beta}\;cells$ treated with Hominis Placenta extract. Cells treated with Hominis Placenta extract also showed lower activity of NADPH-diaphorase and immunoreactivities of both iNOS and NF k B than those of $H_2O_2$-treated cells which were not treated with Hominis Placenta extract. By RT-PCR, it was shown that the level of caspase-3 mRNA was derreased In the cells treated with Hominis Placenta . extract. Conclusions. This study shows that Hominis Placenta extract prevents $H_2O_2$-induced apoptosis in $PGT-{\beta}\;cells$; inhibitions of iNOS and caspnse-3 are possible mechanisms of the protection against apoptosis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.545-552
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• 2017

Julbernardia globiflora, a tropical African tree widespread in Miombo woodland, has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of depression and stomach problems. However, the antioxidative and anticancer activities of J. globiflora remain unclear. The objective of this study is to evaluate the antioxidative and anticancer effects of methanol extract of J. globiflora (MEJG) and the molecular mechanism of its anticancer activity in human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. MEJG exhibited significant antioxidative effect with an $IC_{50}$ (concentration at 50% inhibition) value of $1.23{\mu}g/ml$ measuring by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner in HT29 cells. We found that MEJG induced apoptosis of HT29 cells with the increase of apoptotic cells and apoptotic bodies using Annexin V staining and 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, respectively. The MEJG treatment showed the increase of Fas, a death receptor, and Bax, a pro-apoptotic protein, and the decrease of Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein, resulting in the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria into the cytosol and activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9. The apoptotic effects of MEJG were confirmed by cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Collectively, these results suggest that MEJG may exert the anticancer effect in HT29 cells by inducing apoptosis via both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways.