• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.26-34
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• 2009

Porcine embryonic stem (ES) cells have a great potential as tools for transgenic animal production and studies of regulation of differentiation genes. Although several studies showed successful derivation of porcine ES-like cells, these cells were not maintained long-term in culture. Therefore, this study was conducted to establish porcine pluripotent ES-like cells using in vivo fertilized embryos and to maintain these cells in long term culture. Porcine ES-like cells from in vivo embryos obtained by immunosurgery or whole explant culture were successfully cultured for over 56 passages. Morphology of porcine ES-like cells was flat-shaped with a monolayer type colony. These cells stained for alkaline phosphatase throughout the culture. Furthermore, porcine ES-like cells reacted with antibodies against Oct-4, SSEA-1, SSEA-4, Tra-1-60, and Tra-1-81, which are typical markers of undifferentiated stem cells. To characterize the ability of porcine ES-like cells to differentiate into three germ layers, embryoid body formation was induced. After plating of these cells, porcine ES-like cells were spontaneously differentiated into various cell types of all three germ layers. In addition, porcine ES-like cells were successfully derived from IVF blastocysts in media containing human recombinant basic fibroblast growth factor.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.227-235
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• 2024

Hepatocyte damage caused by medications or herbal products is one of the important problem when these compounds are chronically administrated. Thus, improving hepatocyte survival during treatment offers a wide range of opportunities. Valproic acid (VPA), a branched short-chain fatty acid derived from naturally occurring valeric acid, is commonly used to treat epilepsy and seizures. Although VPA exerts numerous effects in cancer, HIV therapy, and neurodegenerative disease, its effects on the liver and its mechanism of action have not been fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrated that VPA caused moderate liver cell toxicity and apoptosis. Interestingly, VPA treatment increased transcription levels of PPAR alpha (PPAR-α) and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in murine (Hepa1c1c7) hepatoma cells in a time and concentration dependent manner. VPA-induced FGF21 expression was significantly weaker under PPAR-α silencing condition than in cells transfected with non-targeting control siRNA. Subsequent experiments showed that cell viability was significantly lowered when the FGF21 signaling pathway was blocked by FGF receptor antagonist. Finally, we further determined that AMPK phosphorylation was not responsible for VPA-induced FGF21 expression and PPAR-a increments. These results indicate that increases of FGF21 expression alleviate VPA-induced hepatic toxicity, thereby making FGF21 a potential biomarker for predicting liver damage during VPA treatments.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.393-408
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• 2005

Statement of problem. In the process of bone formation, titanium (Ti) surface roughness is an important factor modulating osteoblastic function. Purpose. This study was carried out to determine the effect of different Ti surface on biologic responses of a human osteoblast-like cell line (MG63). Materials and methods. MG63 cells were cultured on S (smooth), SLA (sandblasted largegrit & acid etching), HA (hydroxyapatite) Ti. The morphology and attachment of the cells were examined by SEM. The cDNAs prepared from total RNAs of MG63 were hybridized to a human cDNA microarray (1,152 elements). Results. The appearances of the surfaces observed with SEM were different in the three types of dental substrates. The surface of SLA and HA were shown to be rougher than S. MG63 cells cultured on SLA and HA were cell-matrix interaction. In the expression of genes involved in osseointegration, upregulated genes were bone morphogenetic protein, Villin, Integrin, Insulin-like growth factors in different surfaces. Downregulated genes were fibroblast growth factor receptor 4, Bcl 2-related protein, collagen, CD4 in different surfaces. Conclusion. The attachment and expression of key osteogenic regulatory genes were enhanced by surface roughness of the dental materials.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.799-804
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• 2009

Kamikaekyuk-tang(KMKKT), a formula of ten Oriental herbs, was orientally designed to promote vital energy, to remove blood stasis, and to decrease inflammation for treating cancers. KMKKT and its component had potent antiandrogen and androgen receptor activities in prostate cancer and also inhibited angiogenesis induced by basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and suppressed the tumor growth in LLC-bearing mice, and liver metastasis of colon 26-L5 cancer cells, suggesting a potent cancer preventive agent. Nevertheless, there is no safety study of KMKKT before clinical trial so far. Thus, in the current study, we investigated the toxicity about ethanol-extracted KMKKT. Male and female Spraque Dawley (SD) rats were given orally by KMKKT at 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg for 4 weeks. Mortality, clinical signs and measured change of body weight, food consumption and water consumption were observed. In addition, we performed ophthalmologic, urinary, hematological, blood serum biochemical and histopathological examination. Any general toxicity was not found in KMKKT treated group. Also, there were no significant differences in the parameters such as body weight, food consumption and water consumption, a lot of urine and blood factor levels except WBC, MCHC and Ca level compared with control group. Although WBC and MCHC were elevated in female rats and Ca level was decreased in male rats, these were within normal ranges. Finally, we determined that maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was 1000 mg/kg and no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) was 500 mg/kg. Taken together, these results demonstrated that KMKKT is very safe to SD rats.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.183-194
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• 2008

A variety of stem cells has been emerging as therapeutic cells that can replace organ transplantation in human liver diseases. The present study focused on whether human eyelid adipose-derived stem cells (HAD) might differentiate into functional hepatocyte-like cells in vitro. HAD were isolated from human eyelid adipose tissue. Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2 and FGF-4 on the hepatic differentiation of HAD have been examined in vitro. Immunocytochemical analysis and PAS staining showed that HAD cultured in both DMSO and FGF-4 exhibited the most intense staining than HAD of the other experimental groups. These HAD expressed numerous hepatocyte-related genes. Immunoblotting analyses showed that HAD cultured in the presence of DMSO and FGF-4 secreted higher amount of human albumin than HAD cultured in other conditions. Urea analysis also demonstrated that these HAD produced higher amount of urea than any other groups of HAD. In conclusion, combined treatment of DMSO and FGF-4 could effectively induce the functional differentiation of HAD into hepatocyte-like cells.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.331-339
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• 2007

Background: Distraction osteogenesis(DO) is a useful method for treating cases demanding the generation of new bone. During DO, the angiogenic activity is crucial factor in the new bone formation. The aim of this study was to detect the autocrine growth activity in the cellular components of the distracted bone with observation of the co-expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and its receptors following the mandibular DO. Materials and methods: Unilateral mandibular distraction(0.5 mm twice per day for 10 days) was performed in six mongrel dogs. Two animals were killed at 7, 14, and 28 days after completion of distraction, respectively. Immediately after the animals were killed, the right mandibles were harvested en block. Immunohistochemical staining was processed for observation of the VEGF expression, and double immunofluorescent staining was also processed for detection of the co-expression of osteocalcin and VEGF's two distinct receptors(VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2). Results: At 7 and 14 days after distraction, the expressions of VEGF were significantly increased in the osteogenic cells of the distracted bone. Up to 28 days after distraction, VEGF was still expressed moderate in the osteoblastic cells of distracted bone. The co-expressions of osteocalcin/VEGFR-1 and osteocalcin/VEGFR-2 were observed in the distracted bone at 7 and 14 days after distraction. In the double immunofluorescent staining, the co-expression' s level of osteocalcin/VEGFR-1 was more than that of osteocalcin/VEGFR-2. Conclusion: Taken together, this study suggested that VEGF plays an important role in the osteogenesis, and these osteoblastic cell-derived VEGF might act as autocrine growth factor during distraction osteogenesis. In the other word, the cellular components, such as osteoblasts and immature fibroblast-like cellsor mesenchymal cells in the distracted bone, might have autocrine growth activity during distraction osteogenesis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.17 no.5 s.85
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• pp.687-693
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• 2007

Insulin-like growth factor-I(IGF-I) has significant insulin-like anabolic effects which include the stimulation of glucose and amino acid uptake, as well as protein and glycogen synthesis. IGFs exist in serum and other biological fluids as complexes bound to a family of structurally related insulin-like growth factor binding proteins(IGFBPs). Six human IGFBPs can modulate the effects of IGFs on target tissues by several mechanisms, including altering the serum's half-life and the transcapillary transport of IGFs, as well as changing the availability of IGFs to specific cell surface receptors. Human fibroblasts secrete IGFBPs that can modify IGF-I action. Previous to our study using either Northern blotting, and Western blotting have shown that fibroblasts express mRNA IGFBP-3, -4, and -5, and synthesize these proteins. In addition, fibroblast cell lysates revealed that the IGFBP-3 was most abundant. For these reasons, we undertook to gain further insight into the effects of high and low glucose incubation condition on metabolism and IGFBP-3 expression. In results of metabolites and IGFBP-3 expression in GM10 cells cultivated with various glucose concentration, the consumption of glucose and accumulation of triglyceride were increased in condition of high glucose, and total protein level was decreased. in the course of time. After 5 days incubation, levels of free amino acid in medium containing glucose of high concentration glucose were higher than in conditions of low glucose. Although the levels of IGFBP-3 protein and mRNA levels were increased in low glucose, and IGFBP-3 was not affected by any pretense. Taken together, we suggest that the study of growth factors, like IGFs, might be a possible model of diabetes militus in cell, although the results in cell models were not in accord with in vivo.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2007

Human umbilical cord blood(HUCB) contains a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cell precursors. Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) in HUCB are multipotent stem cells, differ from hematopoietic stem cells and can be differentiated into neural cells. We studied on transdifferentiation-promoting conditions in neural cells and cholinergic neuron induction of HUCB-derived MSCs. Neural differentiation was induced by addingdimethyl sulphoxide(DMSO) and butylated hydroxyanisole(BHA) in Dulbeco's Modified Essential Medium(DMEM) and fetal bovine serum(FBS). Differentiation of MSCs to cholinergic neurons was induced by combined treatment with basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF), retinoic acid(RA) and sonic hedgehog(Shh). MSCs treated with DMSO and BHA rapidly assumed the morphology of multipolar neurons. Both immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR analysis indicated that the expression of a number of neural markers including $\beta$-tubulin III, GFAP and MBP, was markedly elevated during this acute differentiation. The differentiation rate was about $32.3{\pm}2.9%$ for $\beta$-tubulin III-positive cells, $11.0{\pm}0.9%$ for GFAP, and $9.4{\pm}1.0%$ for Gal-C. HUCB-MSCs treated combinatorially with bFGF, RA and Shh were differentiated into cholinergic neurons. After cholinergic neuronal differentiation, the $\beta$-tubulin III-positive cell population of total cells was $31.3{\pm}3.2%$ and of differentiated neuronal population, $70.0{\pm}7.8%$ was ChAT-positive showing 3 folds higher in cholinergic population than neural induction. Conclusively, HUCB-derived MSCs can be differentiated into neural and cholinergic neurons and these findings suggest that HUCB are alternative cell source of treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.411-418
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• 2017

Background: Recently, protein from ginseng was studied and used for the treatment of several kinds of diseases. However, the effect of ginseng total protein (GTP) on proliferation and wound healing in fibroblast cells remains unclear. Methods: In this study, cell viability was analyzed using the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay. Cell cycle distribution was analyzed by flow cytometer. The levels of transforming growth factor ${\beta}1$, vascular endothelial growth factor, and collagens were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunofluorescence staining. The expressions of cyclin A, phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase (p-ERK1/2), and ERK1/2 were analyzed by Western blotting. Results: Our results showed that GTP promoted cell proliferation and increased the percentage of cells in S phase through the upregulation of cyclin A in NIH/3T3 cells. We also found that GTP induced the secretion of type I collagen, and promoted the expression of other factors that regulate the synthesis of collagen such as transforming growth factor ${\beta}1$ and vascular endothelial growth factor. In addition, the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 at Thr202/Tyr204 was also increased by GTP. Conclusion: Our studies suggest that GTP promoted proliferation and secretion of collagen in NIH/3T3 cells by activating the ERK signal pathway, which shed light on a potential function of GTP in promoting wound healing.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.171-174
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• 2012

Various small molecules can be used to control major signaling pathways to enhance stemness and inhibit differentiation in murine embryonic stem cell (mESC) culture. Small molecules inhibiting the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)/ERK pathway can preserve pluripotent cells from stimulation of differentiation. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of pluripotin (SC-1), an inhibitor of the FGF/ERK pathway, on the colony formation of outgrowing presumptive mESCs. After plating the zona pellucida-free blastocyst on the feeder layer, attached cell clumps was cultured with SC-1 until the endpoint of the experiment at passage 10. In this experiment, when the number of colonies was counted at passage 3, SC-1-treated group showed 3.4 fold more mESC colonies when compared with control group. However, after passage 4, there was no stimulating effect of SC-1 on the colony formation. In conclusion, SC-1 treatment can be used to promote mESC generation by increasing the number of early mESC colonies.