• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1027-1032
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• 2016

Antigen is substance causing disease derived from pathogen. Living organism has the immune system in terms of defense mechanism against antigen. Antigen is processed through several pathways such as phagocytosis, antibody action, complement activation, and cytotoxins by NK or cytotoxic T lymphocyte via MHC molecule. Lymph node (LN) is comprised of the complicated 3 dimensional network and several stromal cells. Fibroblastic reticular cells (FRC) are distributed in T zone for interaction with T cells. FRC produces the extra cellular matrix (ECM) into LN for ECM reorganization against pathogen infections and secretes homing chemokines. However, it has not so much been known about the involvement of the antigen process of FRC. The present report is for the function of FRC on antigen process. For this, FRC was positioned with several infected situations such as co-culture with macrophage, T cell, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and TNFα stimulation. When co-culture between FRC with macrophage and T cells was performed, morphological change of FRC was observed and empty space between FRCs was made by morphological change. The matrix metallo-proteinase (MMP) activity was up-regulated by Y27632 and T cells onto FRC. Furthermore, inflammatory cytokine, TNFα regulated the expression of adhesion molecules and MHC I antigen transporter in FRC by gene chip assay. NO production was elevated by FRC monolayer co-cultured with macrophage stimulated by LPS. GFP antigen was up-taken by macrophage co-cultured with FRC. Collectively, it suggests that FRC assists of the facilitation of antigen process and LN stroma is implicated into antigen process pathway.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.456-461
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• 2012

The leaves of $Stevia$ $rebaudiana$ are well-known in Japan, Korea, and China as a natural sweetener. Medicinal uses of this plant originated in Paraguay and Brazil in the form of aqueous decoctions of the leaves used as a contraceptive agent and for the treatment of hyperglycemia. In the present study, the antioxidant, anti-hypertension, and anti-inflammatory activities of $S.$ $rebaudiana$ extracts are investigated for their use in food. The biologically-active compound was isolated and purified from $S.$ $rebaudiana$. The isolated compound was identified as austroinulin ($C_{20}H_{34}O_3$; molecular weight 322) by mass, IR spectrophotometry, 1D, and 2D-NMR. Austroinulin was characterized as a diterpenoid possessing a 3-methylpenta-2,4-dienyl at C-9. When subjected to an inflammatory mediator inhibitory assay from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages, the austroinulin inhibited the enhanced production of nitric oxide (NO) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression (10 ${\mu}g$/mL＝67.9 and 45.1%, respectively). This was significant and dose-dependent. The results suggest that austroinulin from $S.$ $rebaudiana$ inhibited the NO and iNOS in RAW 264.7 cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.981-987
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• 2014

Foeniculum vulgare has long been prescribed in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of the fruits of F. vulgare on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells under non-cytotoxic ($100{\mu}g/ml$) conditions. The 80% methanol extract was subsequently partitioned successively with hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol, and the fractions so obtained were also examined for their anti-inflammatory effects. Among them, the hexane, methylene chloride, and ethyl acetate fractions inhibited nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in LPS stimulated macrophages. The methylene chloride and ethyl acetate fractions also suppressed the productions of interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$ and IL-6 by down-regulating their mRNA levels in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, the ethyl acetate fraction strongly suppressed tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-${\alpha}$ at the protein and mRNA levels in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. These observations suggest that the anti-inflammatory actions of F. vulgare are due to inhibitions of the productions of NO, PGE2, and pro-inflammatory cytokines.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1438-1447
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• 2018

We investigated the anti-inflammatory activities of various organic solvent extracts with and without Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation of Aralia continentalis Kitagawa which has hypotensive effects in addition to excitatory effects on the central nervous system. It has been used to treat arthritis, colds, neuralgia, rheumatism, and itchy skin. Our extracts were tested for their anti-inflammatory potential on NO production and the expression of inflammatory factors in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. Extracts with and without L. plantarum fermentation were prepared using water, ethanol, hexane, ethyl acetate, and butanol. The RAW264.7 cells were tested for toxicity and the anti-inflammatory activity of each extract was determined at a concentration with no toxicity to the cells. The extracts used in this study significantly inhibited both the production of NO and the mRNA expression of COX-2 and iNOS, the major inflammatory factors. The production of inflammation-related cytokines $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, and $TNF-{\alpha}$ was also significantly reduced. These results suggest that the extracts involving fermentation by L. plantarum can inhibit cytokines by controlling the expression of inflammatory cytokine genes. It is considered that the water, ethanol, and butanol extracts after fermentation with L. plantarum could be useful as functional natural materials with anti-inflammatory effects.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.1466-1475
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• 2021

Compound K (20-O-β-(_D-glucopyranosyl)-20(S)-protopanaxadiol) is an active ingredient of ginsenosides. Compound K has been known to produce from biotransformation by β-glucosidase action of human intestinal microbes after oral admistration of ginseng. We have investigated the cytotoxicity of compound K obtained from bio-converted ginseng extract. As a result, compound K showed no significant cytotoxicity in the concentration of 0.001 to 1 ㎍/mL and inhibited the production of TNF-α, MCP-1, IL-6 and NO in RAW 264.7 cells induced by LPS inflamation. In the same concentration, HaCaT cells induced by inflammation with TNF-α and IFN-γ decreased IL-8 production due to compound K treatment. In the brine shrimp lethality assay, the LC₅₀ of compound K was 0.37 mg/mL indicating some toxicity, but the bioconverted product containing 35% compound K showed relatively low toxicity with an LC₅₀ of 0.87 mg/mL. These results suggest that the compound K enriched extract is a potential functional material for acne relief cosmetic products.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1321-1330
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• 2023

This study attempts to address the problem of 3D pose estimation for multiple human objects through a single image generated during the character development process that can be used in augmented reality. In the existing top-down method, all objects in the image are first detected, and then each is reconstructed independently. The problem is that inconsistent results may occur due to overlap or depth order mismatch between the reconstructed objects. The goal of this study is to solve these problems and develop a single network that provides consistent 3D reconstruction of all humans in a scene. Integrating a human body model based on the SMPL parametric system into a top-down framework became an important choice. Through this, two types of collision loss based on distance field and loss that considers depth order were introduced. The first loss prevents overlap between reconstructed people, and the second loss adjusts the depth ordering of people to render occlusion inference and annotated instance segmentation consistently. This method allows depth information to be provided to the network without explicit 3D annotation of the image. Experimental results show that this study's methodology performs better than existing methods on standard 3D pose benchmarks, and the proposed losses enable more consistent reconstruction from natural images.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.846-860
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• 1998

Background: Endotoxin (LPS : lipopolysaccharide), a potent activator of immune system, can induce acute and chronic inflammation through the production of cytokines by a variety of cells, such as monocytes, endothelial cells, lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils and fibroblasts. LPS stimulate the mononucelar cells by two different pathway, the CD14 dependent and independent way, of which the former has been well documented, but not the latter. LPS binds to the LPS-binding protein (LBP), in serum, to make the LPS-LBP complex which interacts with CD14 molecules on the mononuclear cell surface in peripheral blood or is transported to the tissues. In case of high concentration of LPS, LPS can stimulate directly the macrophages without LBP. We investigated to detect the generation of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ and fibrogenic cytokine, TGF-$\beta$, by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) after LPS stimulation under serum-free conditions, which lacks LBPs. Methods : PBMC were obtained by centrifugation on Ficoll Hypaque solution of peripheral venous bloods from healthy normal subjects, then stimulated in the presence of LPS (0.1 ${\mu}g/mL$ to 100 ${\mu}g/mL$ ). The activities of IL-1, IL-6, TNF, and TGF-$\beta$ were measured by bioassaies using cytokines - dependent proliferating or inhibiting cell lines. The cellular sources producing the cytokines was investigated by immunohistochemical stains and in situ hybridization. Results : PBMC started to produce IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ in 1 hr, 4 hrs and 8hrs, respectively, after LPS stimulation. The production of IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ continuously increased 96 hrs after stimulation of LPS. The amount of production was 19.8 ng/ml of IL-6 by $10^5$ PBMC, 4.1 ng/mL of TNF by $10^6$ PBMC and 34.4 pg/mL of TGF-$\beta$ by $2{\times}10^6$ PBMC. The immunoreactivity to IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ were detected on monocytes in LPS-stimulated PBMC. Some of lymphocytes showed positive immunoreactivity to TGF-$\beta$. Double immunohistochemical stain showed that IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ expression was not associated with CD14 postivity on monocytes. IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$mRNA expression were same as observed in immunoreactivity for each cytokines. Conclusion: When monocytes are stimulated with LPS under serum-free conditions, IL-6 and TNF-$\alpha$ are secreted in early stage of inflammation. In contrast, the secretion of TGF-$\beta$ arise in the late stages and that is maintained after 96 hrs. The main cells releasing IL-1$\beta$, IL-6, TNF-$\alpha$ and TGF-$\beta$ are monocytes, but also lymphocytes can secret TGF-$\beta$.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 2002

5-Hydroxytryptamine(5-HT; serotonin) system has been implicated in the modulation of male sexual behaviors and the secretion of reproductive hormones. In human males, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors(SSRIs) are known to improve the major male sexual dysfunction, premature ejaculation, through the central nervous system-mediated pathways. As numerous hormone and local factors, 5-HT may have peripheral role in the regulation of male sexual function. The expression of 5-HT receptor subtypes in the target tissue, however, has not been explored yet. The present study was undertaken to test whether the 5-HT receptor subtypes are expressed in the reproductive tissues of male rat, especially in ejaculatory machinery such as seminal vesicle and vas deferens. To do this, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Southern blot analysis were employed. The transcripts for the 1A, 1B and 2C subtypes of 5-HT receptor were amplified in all the tested tissues. The present study demonstrated the expression of 5-HT receptor in the rat ejaculatory machinery, suggesting that 5-HT may play a pivotal role in the male sexual function via not only central pathway but also peripheral route. Further study on the receptor subtype-specific effect and their harmonized mode of action will be needed to establish the understanding of ejaculation mechanism and drug design.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.123-129
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• 2013

This study investigated the rate of setup variance by the rotating unbalance of gantry in image-guided radiation therapy. The equipments used linear accelerator(Elekta Synergy TM, UK) and a three-dimensional volume imaging mode(3D Volume View) in cone beam computed tomography(CBCT) system. 2D images obtained by rotating $360^{\circ}$and $180^{\circ}$ were reconstructed to 3D image. Catpan503 phantom and homogeneous phantom were used to measure the setup errors. Ball-bearing phantom was used to check the rotation axis of the CBCT. The volume image from CBCT using Catphan503 phantom and homogeneous phantom were analyzed and compared to images from conventional CT in the six dimensional view(X, Y, Z, Roll, Pitch, and Yaw). The variance ratio of setup error were difference in X 0.6 mm, Y 0.5 mm Z 0.5 mm when the gantry rotated $360^{\circ}$ in orthogonal coordinate. whereas rotated $180^{\circ}$, the error measured 0.9 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.3 mm in X, Y, Z respectively. In the rotating coordinates, the more increased the rotating unbalance, the more raised average ratio of setup errors. The resolution of CBCT images showed 2 level of difference in the table recommended. CBCT had a good agreement compared to each recommended values which is the mechanical safety, geometry accuracy and image quality. The rotating unbalance of gentry vary hardly in orthogonal coordinate. However, in rotating coordinate of gantry exceeded the ${\pm}1^{\circ}$ of recommended value. Therefore, when we do sophisticated radiation therapy six dimensional correction is needed.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.365-371
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• 2014

In the present study, we investigated the biological activities of Xylosma congesta leaf ethanol extract (XCO) using a variety of in vitro and cell culture model systems for anti-melanogenic, anti-wrinkle, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. First, XCO markedly inhibited ${\alpha}$-melanocyte stimulating hormone-stimulated melanin synthesis in B16F10 cells. Secondly, XCO marginally induced procollagen synthesis in CCD-986SK cells. Thirdly, XCO dose-dependently suppressed lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells. XCO did not affect cell viability at different concentrations used in this study, indicating that XCO-mediated inhibition of melanin, procollagen and NO synthesis is not mediated by cytotoxicity. Finally, XCO was found to exert anti-oxidant effect. Taken together, these findings demonstrate for the first time that XCO possesses anti-melanogenic, anti-wrinkle, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities, and suggest further evaluation and development of XCO as a functional supplement or cosmetic that may be useful for whitening skin, reducing wrinkles and treating inflammatory responses.