• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2002

Green tea has been recognized as a favorite beverage for centuries in Easter and Westers cultures. Recently, anti-tumor effects of green tea constituents have received increasing attention. However, the mechanism of catechin-mediated cytotoxicity against tumor cells remains to be elusive. To elucidate the mechanical insights of anti-tumor effects, (-)epigallocatechin-gallate(EGCG) of catechin was applied to human lung cancer A549 cells. (-)EGCG induced the death of A549 cells, which was revealed as apoptosis in DNA fragmentation assay. (-)EGCG induced the activation of caspase family cysteine proteases including capase-3, -8 and -9 proteases in A549 cells. Furthermore, (-)EGCG increased the phosphotransferase activity of c-Jun N-terminal kinase 1JNK 1), which further induced tole transcriptional activation of activating protein-1(AP-1) in A549 cells. We suggest that (-)EGCG-induced apotosis of A549 cells is mediated by signaling pathway involving caspase family cysteine protease, JNK1 and transcription factor, AP-1.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6463-6475
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• 2014

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase plays an important role in regulating cell growth and cell cycle progression in response to cellular signals. It is a key regulator of cell proliferation and many upstream activators and downstream effectors of mTOR are known to be deregulated in various types of cancers. Since the mTOR signalling pathway is commonly activated in human cancers, many researchers are actively developing inhibitors that target key components in the pathway and some of these drugs are already on the market. Numerous preclinical investigations have also suggested that some herbs and natural phytochemicals, such as curcumin, resveratrol, timosaponin III, gallic acid, diosgenin, pomegranate, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCC), genistein and 3,3'-diindolylmethane inhibit the mTOR pathway either directly or indirectly. Some of these natural compounds are also in the clinical trial stage. In this review, the potential anti-cancer and chemopreventive activities and the current status of clinical trials of these phytochemicals are discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1806-1813
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• 2018

A new sesquiterpene lactone dimer [1], together with five known compounds (2-6), was isolated from the flowers of Inula britannica. The structures of these compounds were established by extensive spectroscopic studies and chemical evidence. The inhibitory activities of these isolated compounds (1-6) against human neutrophil elastase (HNE) were also evaluated in vitro; compounds 1 and 6 exhibited significant inhibitory effects against HNE activity, with $IC_{50}$ values of 8.2 and $10.4{\mu}m$, respectively, comparable to that of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG; $IC_{50}=10.9{\mu}M$). In addition, compounds 3 and 5 exhibited moderate HNE inhibitory effects, with $IC_{50}$ values of 21.9 and $42.5{\mu}M$, respectively. In contrast, compounds 2 and 4 exhibited no such activity ($IC_{50}$ > $100{\mu}M$). The mechanism by which 1 and 3 inhibited HNE was noncompetitive inhibition, with inhibition constant ($K_i$) values of 8.0 and $22.8{\mu}M$, respectively.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.175-180
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• 2005

Green tea, which has high polyphenols amount, is thought to have hypocholesterolemic effects. The present study was performed to further examine the hypocholesterolemic action of green tea, especially (-) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) for its effect on diet-induced hypercholesterolemia in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=15) were fed a green tea-free diet (control), $1.0\%$ green tea catechin (catechin) or $0.5\%$ green tea catechin EGCG for seven weeks. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by adding $1\%$ cholesterol and $0.5\%$ cholic acid to all diets. There was no difference in food intake and body weight gain among the groups. The green tea EGCG treatment led to a significant improvement in plasma levels of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL)/LDL ratio (p<0.05). There was no significant effect on the plasma HDL-cholesterol level. The catechin treatment led to a 4.19-fold increase in the LDL-receptor mRNA level compared to the control, but the EGCG treatment did not affect the hepatic LDL-receptor mRNA level. Our results suggest that when blood cholesterol level is down-regulated by green tea EGCG, the LDL receptor gene-independent pathway may dominate the hypocholesterolemic action of EGCG.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.502-506
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• 2005

Three EGCG analogues were synthesized by the acceptor reaction of a glucansucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides B-1299CB with EGCG and sucrose. The transfer products was purified using Sephadex LG-20 column chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). EGCG-G1 and EGCG-G2 were novel compounds for the first time reported in this paper. EGCG glycosides showed similar or slower antioxidative effects according to their structures $(EGCG{\geq}EGCG-G1>EGCG-G1'>EGCG-G2)$. However, the water solubilities of the EGCG-G1, EGCG-G1' and EGCG-G2 were 52, 76 and 140 times higher than that of EGCG. Furthermore, they showed more browning resistance against UV irradiation than EGCG.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.281-285
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• 2013

This study was designed to investigate the nervous sedative effects of green tea. The sedative effect was evaluated by examination of Monoamine oxidases (MAOs) inhibitory activity in vitro in the brain and liver of rat fed on green tea cultivated and harvested from the different regions and periods. It showed that methanol extracts of green tea inhibited significantly the brain MAO-A activity. Especially late harvested green tea extracts showed potential inhibitory activity. The liver MAO-B activity was also inhibited by all of the green tea extracts with strong intensity. This study confirmed that major compounds of green tea such as catechin, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and L-theanine, which were well known for the main bioactive components in the tea plants, were not associated with the MAO inhibitory activities of green tea. These results suggested that a MAO inhibition activity comes from other minor tea components we have to search in the future.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.130-135
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• 2007

Entrapment of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) into ethosome was carried out for improving its stability against decomposition. Solubility of EGCG was increased by the addition of ethanol into water, which enable ethosome to entrap appropriate amount of EGCG. It was observed that the EGCG solution concentration and constituent lipid composition had a considerable effect on the particle size and entrapment efficiency of ethosomes. The formation of liquid crystalline phase in ethosome was investigated by polarized optical microscopy. By comparing the stability of EGCG in solution and in ethosome exposed to UV or high temperature, we evaluated the EGCG stabilization effect through its entrapment in ethosome. Incorporation of tocopherol into ethosome retarded the decomposition of EGCG under UV.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.75-79
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• 2002

Tea catechins, the most important compounds in tea polyphenols, can efficiently scavenge superoxide anion free-radical ($O_2$.), hydroxyl radical. (.OH) The mechanism of scavenging active oxygen free radicals was investigated by ESR spin trapping technique and Chemiluminescence. Results showed that various tea catechins constitute an antioxidant cycle in accordance with the decreasing order of the first reductive potential, and produce the effect of cooperative strength each other. Esterificated catechins could scavenge active oxygen free radicals more effectively than the non-esterificated ones. When.OH and $O_2$.- were scavenged by (-)-epigallocatechin gallate [(-)- EGCG], the stoichiometric factors were 6, and the rate constants of scavenging reaction reached $7.71{\times}10^6$ and $3.52{\times}10^{11}$ L $mmol^{-1}s^{-1}$, respectively. In the mean time, tea catechins could scavenge superoxide anion fiee radical ($O_2$-.) and hydroxyl radical (.OH) in a dose dependent manner. But at higher concentration or pH value, tea catechins can induce the prooxidant.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.798-802
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• 2005

Crude extracts of thirty seaweeds collected in Korea were obtained using 50% ethanol, and total phenolic contents and antioxidant activities were compared. Two brown algae, Ecklonia cava (E. cava) and Sargassum siliquastrum (S. siliquastrum), showing high antioxidant activity based on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and superoxide anion radical scavenging activity were further investigated for their inhibitory effects on tyrosinase activity. The E. cava extract had the highest total phenolic content among the seaweeds extracts. Total phenolic contents were strongly correlated with antioxidant activity in the thirty seaweed extracts ($R^2\;=\;0.9169$). The E. cava and S. siliquastrum extracts exhibited higher inhibition to tyrosinase activity than butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.274-280
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• 2017

In a search for novel treatments for diabetic complications from natural resources, we found that the ethyl acetate-soluble fraction from the 80% ethanol extract of the leaves of Homonoia riparia has a considerable inhibitory effect on advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation. Bioassay-guided isolation of this fraction resulted in identification of 15 phenolic compounds (1 - 15). These compounds were evaluated in vitro for inhibitory activity against the formation of AGE. The majority of tested compounds, excluding ethyl gallate (15), markedly inhibited AGE formation, with $IC_{50}$ values of $2.2-89.9{\mu}M$, compared with that of the positive control, aminoguanidine ($IC_{50}=962.3{\mu}M$). In addition, the effects of active isolates on the dilation of hyaloid-retinal vessels induced by high glucose (HG) in larval zebrafish was investigated; (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (6), corilagin (7), and desmanthine-2 (11) significantly decreased HG-induced dilation of hyaloid-retinal vessels compared with the HG-treated control group.