• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• 제50권4호
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• pp.187-195
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• 2007

The cord blood serves as a vehicle for the transportation of oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. In the past, the human cord blood has generally been discarded after birth. However, numerous studies have described the regenerative ability of the cord blood cells in various incurable diseases. The umbilical cord blood (UCB)-derived stem cells are obtained through non-invasive methods that are not harmful to both the mother and the fetus. Furthermore, the cord blood stem cells are more immature than the adult stem cells and expand readily in vitro. The mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the capacity to differentiate in vitro into various mesodermal (bone, cartilage, tendon, muscle, and adipose), endodermal (hepatocyte), and ectodermal (neurons) tissues. This review describes the immunological properties of the human UCB-MSCs to assess their potential usefulness in the allogeneic transplantation for the regenerative medicine.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.55-61
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• 2014

Panax ginseng is a medicinal herb that is used worldwide. Its medicinal effects are primarily attributable to ginsenosides located in the root, leaf, seed, and flower. The flower buds of Panax ginseng (FBPG) are rich in various bioactive ginsenosides, which exert immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of 18 ginsenosides isolated from steamed FBPG on the transcriptional activity of NF-${\kappa}B$ and the expression of tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$)-stimulated target genes in liver-derived cell lines. Noticeably, the ginsenosides $Rk_3$ and $Rs_4$ exerted the strongest activity, inhibiting NF-${\kappa}B$ in a dose-dependent manner. SF and $Rg_6$ also showed moderately inhibitory effects. Furthermore, these four compounds inhibited the TNF-${\alpha}$-induced expression of IL8, CXCL1, iNOS, and ICAM1 genes. Consequently, ginsenosides purified from steamed FBPG have therapeutic potential in TNF-${\alpha}$-mediated diseases such as chronic hepatic inflammation.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제52권2호
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• pp.151-162
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• 2014

The technique of stem cells or hepatocytes transplantation has recently improved in order to bridge the time before whole-organ liver transplantation. In the present study, unfractionated bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) were harvested from the tibial and femoral marrow compartments of male mice, which were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with and without hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and then transplanted into Schistosoma mansoni- infected female mice on their 8th week post-infection. Mice were sacrificed monthly until the third month of bone marrow transplantation, serum was collected, and albumin concentration, ALT, AST, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities were assayed. On the other hand, immunohistopathological and immunohistochemical changes of granuloma size and number, collagen content, and cells expressing OV-6 were detected for identification of liver fibrosis. BMSCs were shown to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells. Serum ALT, AST, and ALP were markedly reduced in the group of mice treated with BMSCs than in the untreated control group. Also, granuloma showed a marked decrease in size and number as compared to the BMSCs untreated group. Collagen content showed marked decrease after the third month of treatment with BMSCs. On the other hand, the expression of OV-6 increased detecting the presence of newly formed hepatocytes after BMSCs treatment. BMSCs with or without HGF infusion significantly enhanced hepatic regeneration in S. mansoni-induced fibrotic liver model and have pathologic and immunohistopathologic therapeutic effects. Also, this new therapeutic trend could generate new hepatocytes to improve the overall liver functions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권11호
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• pp.6341-6345
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• 2013

To clarify the role of stem cells in hepatocarcinogenesis, glypican-3 (GPC-3) and E-cadherin expression was investigated in embryonic cell lineages. Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) and hepatocyte like cells (HCs), representing 0, 22 and 40 days of differentiation, respectively, were treated in vitro with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) at four doses (0, 1, 5 and 15 mM; G1, G2, G3 and G4, respectively) for 24 h and GPC-3 and E-cadherin expression was examined by relative quantitative real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry. GPC-3 mRNA expression was significantly different for G4 at day 0 (p<0.001) and for G4 at day 22 (p<0.01) compared with the control (G1). E-cadherin mRNA expression was significantly different for G3 and G4 at day 0 (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively), for G2 and G4 (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively) at day 22 and for G2 and G4 (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively) at day 40 compared with G1. Immunofluorescence staining for GPC-3 showed a membranous and/or granular expression in cytoplasm of ESCs and HPCs and granular and/or diffuse expression in cytoplasm of HCs, which were also stained by E-cadherin. DEN treatment increased GPC-3 expression in ESCs, HPCs and HCs, with increase of E-cadherin expression. Taken together, the expression of GPC-3 was altered by DEN treatment. However, its expression pattern was different at the stage of embryo stem cells and its derived hepatic lineage cells. This suggests that GPC-3 expression may be modulated in the progeny of stem cells during their differentiation toward hepatocytes, associated with E-cadherin expression.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.227-235
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• 2024

약물이나 허브 제품으로 인한 간세포 손상은 이러한 화합물을 만성적으로 투여할 때 일어날 수 있는 중요한 문제 중 하나이다. 따라서 여러 가지의 치료 과정 중 간세포 생존율을 향상시키는 것은, 약물 적용에 있어 광범위한 기회를 제공할 수 있다. Valproic acid (VPA)는 자연적으로 발생하는 발레르산에서 파생된 분지형 단사슬 지방산으로 뇌전증과 발작을 치료하는 데 일반적으로 사용된다. 뿐만 아니라 VPA는 암, HIV 치료, 신경 퇴행성 질환에 수많은 효과를 발휘하지만, 간에 대한 VPA의 잠재적인 영향과 그 작용 메커니즘은 완전히 설명되지 않았다. 여기서, 우리는 VPA의 처리가 쥐 간세포(Hepa1c1c7)에서 PPAR 알파(PPAR-α)와 섬유아세포 성장 인자 21(FGF21)의 전사 수준을 증가시킨다는 것을 입증했다. VPA에 의해 유도된 FGF21 발현은 PPAR-α 결손 조건에서 상당히 억제되었다. 후속 실험에서 FGF21 신호 경로가 FGF 수용체 억제제에 의해 차단되었을 때, 간세포 생존력이 크게 억제되었음을 보여주었다. 마지막으로, 우리는 AMPK 인산화가 VPA에 의해 유도된 PPAR-α 증가에 작용하지 않는다는 것을 추가로 확인했다. 이러한 결과는 FGF21 발현의 증가가 VPA에 의해 유도된 간 독성을 완화시킬 수 있다는 것을 제시하며, 이와 같은 결과는 FGF21의 증감 여부가 VPA 치료 중 나타날 수 있는 간 손상을 예측하는 잠재적인 바이오마커로 사용될 수 있음을 제시한다.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.133-139
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• 2018

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is becoming common chronic liver disease because of the increasing global prevalence of obesity and consequently Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the mechanism for progression of NAFLD to NASH and then cirrhosis is not completely understood, yet. The triggering of these hepatic diseases is thought from hepatocyte injury caused by over-accumulated lipid toxicity. Injured hepatocytes release damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which can stimulate the Kupffer cells (KCs), liver-resident macrophages, to release pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and recruit monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). The increased activation of KCs and recruitment of MDMs accelerate the progression of NAFLD to NASH and cirrhosis. Therefore, characterization for activation of hepatic macrophages, both KCs and MDMs, is a baseline to figure out the progression of hepatic diseases. The purpose of this review is to discuss the current understanding of mechanisms of NAFLD and NASH, mainly focusing on characterization and function of hepatic macrophages and suggests the regulators of hepatic macrophages as the therapeutic target in hepatic diseases.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제65권1호
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• pp.16-31
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• 2023

Cultured meat is a potential sustainable food generated by the in vitro myogenesis of muscle satellite (stem) cells (MSCs). The self-renewal and differentiation properties of MSCs are of primary interest for cultured meat production. MSC proliferation and differentiation are influenced by a variety of growth factors such as insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1 and IGF-2), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), fibroblast growth factors (FGF-2 and FGF-21), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and by hormones like insulin, testosterone, glucocorticoids, and thyroid hormones. In this review, we investigated the roles of growth factors and hormones during cultured meat production because these factors provide signals for MSC growth and structural stability. The aim of this article is to provide the important idea about different growth factors such as FGF (enhance the cell proliferation and differentiation), IGF-1 (increase the number of myoblasts), PDGF (myoblast proliferation), TGF-β1 (muscle repair) and hormones such as insulin (cell survival and growth), testosterone (muscle fiber size), dexamethasone (myoblast proliferation and differentiation), and thyroid hormones (amount and diameter of muscle fibers and determine the usual pattern of fiber distributions) as media components during myogenesis for cultured meat production.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제24권2호
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• pp.249-257
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• 2010

Crataegii Fructus is commonly used as a improving digestion, removing retention of food, promoting blood circulation and resolving blood stasis agent in East Asia. Cadmium (Cd) is widely distributed in the environment due to its use in industry. An exposure to Cd causes dysuria, polyuria, chest pain, hepatic and renal tubular diseases. The liver is the most important target organ when considering Cd-induced toxicity because Cd primarily accumulates in the liver. This study investigated the protective effect of Crataegii Fructus water extract against cadmium ($CdCl_2$, Cd)-induced liver toxicity in H4IIE cells, a rat hepatocyte-derived cell line and in rats. Cell viability was significantly reduced in Cd-treated H4IIE cells in a time and concentration-dependent manner. However, Crataegii Fructus water extract (CFE) protected the cells from Cd-induced cytotoxicity via inhibition of PARP cleavage. To induce acute toxicity in rats, Cd (4 mg/kg body weight) was dissolved in normal saline and intravenously injected into rats. The rats then received either a vehicle or silymarin (as a positive control) or CFE (50, 100 mg/kg/day) for 3 days, and were subsequently exposed to a single injection of Cd. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were significantly increased by Cd treatment. In contrast, pretreatment with CFE reduced ALT, AST and LDH. In histopathological analysis, CFE reduced the hepatic degenerative regions and the number of degenerative hepatocytes. These are considered as direct evidences that Crataegii Fructus has favorable inhibitory effects on the Cd-intoxicated liver damages. The efficacy of Crataegii Fructus shows slight lower than that of silymarin in the present study.

• 한국식품위생안전성학회지
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• 제28권2호
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• pp.89-94
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• 2013

마늘 숙성 중 생성되는 S-allylmercaptocysteine의 콜레스테롤 생합성 억제 효과에 대하여 Hepatocytes를 이용하여 조사하였다. HepG2 cells을 Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM)에 배양하여 S-allylmercaptocysteine의 농도를 20, 40, 60, 80 및 100 mL 씩 각각 첨가하여 cell viability를 살펴본 결과 20~40 ${\mu}g/mL$에서는 높았으며, 60 ${\mu}g/mL$ 농도에서 약 50%가 유지되었다. S-allylmercaptocysteine을 5, 10, 15 및 20 ${\mu}g/mL$ 농도로 [$^{14}C$]-acetatecholesterol에서 처리하였을 경우 15 ${\mu}g/mL$ 농도에서 cholesterol 생합성이 79%로 억제되었다. Fatty acid synthase의 활성은 0.95 nmol에서 19%의 억제효과를 나타내었으나, Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH)의 활성에는 거의 영향을 미치지 않았다. S-allylmercaptocysteine의 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase의 활성은 용량 의존형으로 감소하였다. 이상의 결과로 보아 마늘 숙성 과정에서 생성되는 주요 성분인 S-allylmercaptocysteine은 간 세포에서 cholesterol의 생합성을 억제하는데 기여하는 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• 제22권2호
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• pp.16.1-16.13
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• 2021

Background: Preconditioning with inflammatory stimuli is used to improve the secretion of anti-inflammatory agents in stem cells from variant species such as mouse, human, and dog. However, there are only few studies on feline stem cells. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the immune regulatory capacity of feline adipose tissue-derived (fAT) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) pretreated with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). Methods: To assess the interaction of lymphocytes and macrophages with IFN-γ-pretreated fAT-MSCs, mouse splenocytes and RAW 264.7 cells were cultured with the conditioned media from IFN-γ-pretreated MSCs. Results: Pretreatment with IFN-γ increased the gene expression levels of cyclooxygenase-2, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, hepatocyte growth factor, and transforming growth factor-beta 1 in the MSCs. The conditioned media from IFN-γ-pretreated MSCs increased the expression levels of M2 macrophage markers and regulatory T-cell markers compared to those in the conditioned media from naive MSCs. Further, prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) inhibitor NS-398 attenuated the immunoregulatory potential of MSCs, suggesting that the increased PGE₂ levels induced by IFN-γ stimulation is a crucial factor in the immune regulatory capacity of MSCs pretreated with IFN-γ. Conclusions: IFN-γ pretreatment improves the immune regulatory profile of fAT-MSCs mainly via the secretion of PGE₂, which induces macrophage polarization and increases regulatory T-cell numbers.