• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.273-278
• /
• 2011

In this study, the effects of a methanol (MeOH) extract of Carduus crispus L. (Asteraceae) on adipogenesis was investigated in 3T3-L1 cells. To differentiate preadipocytes to adipocytes, confluent 3T3-L1 preadipocytes were treated with a hormone mixture, which included isobutylmethylxanthine, dexamethasone, and insulin (MDI). The methanol extract of C. crispus significantly decreased fat accumulation by inhibiting adipogenic signal transcriptional factors in MDI-induced 3T3-L1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. In MTT assays and on PI-staining, methanol extract of C. crispus inhibited the proliferation of 3T3-L1 cells during mitotic clonal expansion (MCE). The anti-adipogenic effect of the Carduus extract seemed to be associated with the upregulation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways within the first 2 days after MDI treatment. These results suggest that methanol extract of C. crispus might be beneficial for the treatment of obesity.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.41 no.5
• /
• pp.565-570
• /
• 1997

High levels of extracellular phospholipase $A_2$ (Plase $A_2$) associated with inflammatory process in man and animal models have been extensively reported elsew here. Thus, a logical approach to the treatment of inflammatory diseases should involve the inhibitors of Plase $A_2$. To develop new Plase $A_2$ inhibitors from natural products, two hundred crude drugs were screened using group II PLA$A_2$ inhibitory activity. Among them, methanol extract of 5 medicinal plants such as, Raphani Semen, Moutan cortex radicis, Arecae semen, Caryophylli Cortex and Betulae Cortex inhibited more than 90% of PLase $A_2$ activity at a concentration 2.5${\mu}g/ml$. Then, 10 methanol extracts sample were transferred into organic solvents, PLase $A_2$ inhibitory effects were found mainly in CHCl3 and EtoAc fractions.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.115-122
• /
• 2020

Background: In aged skin, degradation of collagen fibers, which occupy the majority of the extracellular matrix in the dermis, and changes of aquaporin 3 (AQP3) and skin constituents, such as hyaluronic acid and ceramide, cause wrinkles and decrease skin moisturization to contribute to dryness and lower elasticity skin. Red ginseng (RG) is used as a cosmetic and food material and is known to protect from UVB-induced cell death, increase skin hydration, prevent wrinkles, and have an antioxidative effect. But, in general, RG used as a material is the soluble liquid portion in the solvent, and the part that is not soluble in the solvent is discarded. Thus, we made the whole RG into microgranulation and dispersed in water to produce gel form for using entire RG, and it was named red ginseng NaturalGEL (RG NGEL). Methods: RG NGEL was investigated for matrix metalloproteinases inhibitory activity, induction of Type I collagen, AQP3, hyaluronan synthetase 2, serine palmitoyl transferase, ceramide synthase 3, and filaggrin expression and compared with RG water extract. Results: RG NGEL reduced the levels of UV-induced matrix metalloproteinases and increased Type I collagen in human fibroblast cells and upregulated AQP3, hyaluronan synthetase 2, serine palmitoyl transferase, ceramide synthase 3, and filaggrin expressions in human keratinocytes compared with RG water extract. Conclusion: RG NGEL has the potential as an effective reagent for antiaging cosmetics to improve wrinkle formation and skin hydration.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.20 no.11
• /
• pp.1603-1610
• /
• 2010

Fucoidans are sulfated fucosylated polymers from the cell wall of brown algae. We assessed the effects of Fucus evanescens fucoidan on ultraviolet-B (UVB)-induced expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) protein, mRNA, and promoter, and the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in vitro using an immortalized human keratinocyte cell line. Pretreatment with 10 and $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ fucoidan significantly inhibited UVB-induced MMP-1 protein, mRNA and promoter activity, compared to UVB irradiation alone. Extracellular signal regulated kinase activation was markedly inhibited by treatment with fucoidan, though c-JUN N-terminal kinase activity and p38 activation were only marginally affected by fucoidan. F. evanescens fucoidan may be a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of skin photoaging.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.71-81
• /
• 2007

Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae and 4 Vibrio spp.(V. anguillarum, V. splendidus, V. harveyi and V. ordalii) were isolated from the diseased olive flounders, Paralichthys olivaceus. The isolates were tested on the pathogenicity in vitro. The properties of extracellular products(ECPs) were investigated with enzymatic activities, hemolytic activities toward the sheep and olive flounder erythrocytes, and cytotoxicity activities on the cell-line. And potential signal transduction pathways of the bacterial internalization were detected by using signal transduction inhibitors. P. damselae was high in phospholipase activity, hemolytic activity to olive flounder erythrocytes and cytotoxicity activity. And P. damselae had diversified internalizing pathways as compared to isolated vibrios. Therefore, these activities may be related with pathogenicity of P. damselae.

• Animal cells and systems
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.299-304
• /
• 2000

In the present paper, the immunostimulatory effects of the extracellular products (ECP) from Mycobacterium spp. and various adjuvants on the non-specific immune responses of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis nilotica, were examined. Nile tilapia were immunized by injecting ECP of Mycobacterium spp. (strain TB40, TB267 or the type strain Mycobacterium marinum) into their swim bladders. A variety of adjuvants like as Freund s complete adjuvant (FCA), Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA) and Titremax were similarly injected into additional groups of tilapia. The number of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT)-positive cells observed in the swim bladder of the immunized fish was signigicantly increased by the fourth day post-immunization. By day 8, the numbers of NBT-positive cells were fewer in fish immunized with ECP from mycobacteria strains TB40 or TB267 than those immunized with ECP from M. marinum or fish injected with FCA or FIA. The level of Iysozyme activity detected in the serum of fish 40 alter immunization with ECP from various Mycobacterium spp. was also significantly higher than that found in the serum of the control fish. Head kidney macrophages showed enhanced reduction of NBT when cultured in vitro with 1 $\mu$ g/ml of ECP. Concentrations greater than this (10 or 100 $\mu$g/ml) were found to suppress the reduction of NBT by the macrophages. ECP from Mycobacterium spp. and the various adjuvants used in the study all appear to be good activators of the non-specific immune responses of Nile tilapia.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.457-464
• /
• 2008

An extracellular enzyme (RMEBE) possessing ${\alpha}-(1{\rightarrow}4)-(1{\rightarrow}6)$-transferring activity was purified to homogeneity from Rhodothermus marin us by combination of ammonium sulfate precipitation, Q-Sepharose ion-exchange, and Superdex-200 gel filtration chromatographies, and preparative native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme had an optimum pH of 6.0 and was highly thermostable with a maximal activity at $80^{\circ}C$. Its half-life was determined to be 73.7 and 16.7 min at 80 and $85^{\circ}C$, respectively. The enzyme was also halophilic and highly halotolerant up to about 2M NaCl, with a maximal activity at 0.5M. The substrate specificity of RMEBE suggested that it possesses partial characteristics of both glucan branching enzyme and neopullulanase. RMEBE clearly produced branched glucans from amylose, with partial ${\alpha}-(1{\rightarrow}4)$-hydrolysis of amylose and starch. At the same time, it hydrolyzed pullulan partly to panose, and exhibited ${\alpha}-(1{\rightarrow}4)-(1{\rightarrow}6)$-transferase activity for small maltooligosaccharides, producing disproportionated ${\alpha}-(1{\rightarrow}6)$-branched maltooligosaccharides. The enzyme preferred maltopentaose and maltohexaose to smaller maltooligosaccharides for production of longer branched products. Thus, the results suggest that RMEBE might be applied for production of branched oligosaccharides from small maltodextrins at high temperature or even at high salinity.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.44 no.10
• /
• pp.736-745
• /
• 2021

Although various marine ingredients have been exploited for the development of cosmetic products, no previous study has examined the potential of seaweed extracellular vesicles (EV) in such applications. Our results revealed that EV from Codium fragile and Sargassum fusiforme effectively decreased α-MSH-mediated melanin synthesis in MNT-1 human melanoma cells, associated with downregulation of MITF (microphthalmia-associated transcription factor), tyrosinase and TRP1 (tyrosinase-related proteins 1). The most effective inhibitory concentrations of EV were 250 ㎍/ml for S. fusiforme and 25 ㎍/ml for C. fragile, without affecting the viability of MNT-1 cells. Both EV reduced melanin synthesis in the epidermal basal layer of a three-dimensional model of human epidermis. Moreover, the application of the prototype cream containing C. fragile EV (final 5 ㎍/ml) yielded 1.31% improvement in skin brightness in a clinical trial. Together, these results suggest that EV from C. fragile and S. fusiforme reduce melanin synthesis and may be potential therapeutic and/or supplementary whitening agents.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.63-69
• /
• 2021

Microalgae are primary producers of aquatic ecosystems, securing biodiversity and health of the ecosystem and contributing to reducing the impact of climate change through carbon dioxide fixation. Also, they are useful biomass that can be used as biological resources for producing valuable industrial products. However, harvesting process, which is the separation of microalgal biomass from mixed liquor, is an important bottleneck in use of valorization of microalgae as a bioresource accounting for 20 to 30% of the total production cost. This study investigates the applicability of sewage sludge-derived extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) as bioflucculant for harvesting microalgae. We compared the flocculation characteristics of microalgae using EPSs extracted from sewage sludge by three methods. The flocculation efficiency of microalgae is closely related to the carbohydrate and protein concentrations of EPS. Heat-extracted EPS contains the highest carbohydrate and protein concentrations and can be a best-suited bioflocculant for microalgae recovery with 87.2% flocculation efficiency. Injection of bioflocculant improved the flocculation efficiency of all three different algal strains, Chlorella Vulgaris, Chlamydomonas Asymmetrica, Scenedesmus sp., however the improvement was more significant when it was used for flocculation of Chlamydomonas Asymmetrica with flagella.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.60 no.5
• /
• pp.309-315
• /
• 2022

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and recurrent illness of the gastrointestinal tract. Treatment of IBD traditionally involves the use of aminosalicylic acid and steroids, while these drugs has been associated with untoward effects and refractoriness. The absence of effective treatment regimen against IBD has led to the exploration of new targets. Parasites are promising as an alternative therapy for IBD. Recent studies have highlighted the use of parasite-derived substances, such as excretory secretory products, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and exosomes, for the treatment of IBD. In this report, we examined whether EVs secreted by Giardia lamblia could prevent colitis in a mouse model. G. lamblia EVs (GlEVs) were prepared from in vitro cultures of Giardia trophozoites. Clinical signs, microscopic colon tissue inflammation, and cytokine expression levels were detected to assess the effect of GlEV treatment on dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced experimental murine colitis. The administration of GlEVs prior to DSS challenge reduced the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 1 beta, and interferon gamma. Our results indicate that GlEV can exert preventive effects and possess therapeutic properties against DSS-induced colitis.