• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.155-162
• /
• 2008

Objectives : This study was evaluated to elucidate the inhibitory potential of Bodusan (BDS) and its components, Strychnos ignatii semen (SIS) and Glycyrrhizae Radix (GR), on human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMC) migration and production of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 by $TNF-{\alpha}$ treatment. Methods : Cytotoxic activity of BDS and its components on HASMC was using 5-(3-caroboxymeth- oxyphenyl)-2H-tetra-zolium inner salt (MTS) assay. Effect of BDS, SIS and GR on $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ HASMC migration underside of matrigel filter was stained with hematoxylin-eosin. And total number of cells that migrated to the underside of the filter was counted. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activity was evaluated by gelatin zymography assay. Results : The matrigel migration assay showed that BDS effectively inhibited the $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ migration of HASMC. Moreover, BDS significantly inhibited MMP-9 activity. Our present study demonstrates that BDS and its components inhibits $TNF-{\alpha}-induced$ HASMC migration and MMP-9 activity. The inhibitory effect of BDS extract is more potent than that of its component herb extracts. Conclusions : These results provide evidence that BDS has multiple effects in the inhibition of HASMC migration and may offer a therapeutic approach to block HASMC migration.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.35-50
• /
• 2019

Objectives: Orostachys japonicas (O. japonicus) has been known for its anti-tumor effect. In the present study, it was investigated whether O. japonicus EtOH extracts could induce apoptosis and autophagy which are part of the main mechanism related to anti-tumor effect in THP-1 cells. Methods: Cells were treated with various concentrations of O. japonicus EtOH extracts ($0-300{\mu}g/ml$) for 24, 48, and 72h. Cell viability was evaluated by MTS/PMS assay and apoptosis rate was examined by flow cytometry and ELISA assay. The mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes (Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Survivin, Bax) and autophagy-related gene (mTOR) was evaluated using real-time PCR. The protein expression of Caspase-3, Akt, LC3 II, Beclin-1, Atg5, $NF-{\kappa}B$, p38, ERK was evaluated using western blot analysis. Results: O. japonicus EtOH extracts inhibited cell proliferation and apoptosis rate was increased in both flow cytometry and ELISA assay. Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Survivin (anti-apoptosis factors) mRNA expressions were decreased and Bax (pro-apoptosis factor) mRNA level was increased. mTOR mRNA expressions was decreased and LC3 II protein expressions was increased. Activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ was decreased and phosphorylation of p38 was increased. Conclusion: O. japonicus is regarded to inhibit cell proliferation, to induce apoptosis and to regulate autophagy-related genes in THP-1 cells via $NF-{\kappa}B$ and p38 MAPK signaling pathway. This suggests O. japonicus could be an effective herb in treating acute myeloid leukemia.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.99-107
• /
• 2019

Objectives : Cudrania tricuspidata (C. tricuspidata) is well-known traditional herbal remedy and its root, leaf and fruit were used for treatment of inflammation, tumor and painkilling. However, effect of C. tricuspidata fruit on tight junction is still unknown. The aim of this research was to determine the effect of C. tricuspidata fruit extract on human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. Methods : The antioxidant effects of water extract of C. tricuspidata (WECT) and ethanol extract of C. tricuspidata (EECT) were analyzed by using an ABTS assay. To confirm the cytotoxicity of WECT and EECT, MTS assay was performed. The mRNA expression levels of tight junction related genes were analyzed using quantitative RT-PCR analysis. Furthermore, dispase assay was used to investigate the alteration of cell-cell adhesion strength of EECT treated HaCaT cells. Results : WECT and EECT showed strong antioxidant activity. No obvious cytotoxicity was observed in both WECT and EECT until $2.0mg/m{\ell}$ concentration. The mRNA expression level of Claudin 6 were significantly increased by EECT treatment, whereas the WECT did not affect the expression of Claudin 6. Furthermore, EECT treatment enhances cell-cell adhesion strength. Conclusions : In this study, we investigated the physiological activities of the extracts of Cudrania tricuspidata fruit extracts on human keratinocytes by two different extraction methods. EECT might have an anti-aging activity on the skin by reducing oxidative stress. Moreover, it may be a useful ingredient in atopic dermatitis and skin-moisturizing, given its effects of altering Claudin 6 gene expression and enhancing cell-cell adhesion strength.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
• /
• v.15 no.11
• /
• pp.513-522
• /
• 2017

We tried to analyze the inflammation reactions by treatment of AG, AS and AA in murine RAW 264.7 cells. To investigate the effect of AG, AS and AA on cell viability of RAW 264.7 cells, AG, AS and AA were treated for 24 h and MTS assay was performed. Cell viabilities were increased in $1,600{\mu}g/ml$ concentration by AS, AA and AG treatments, respectively. The mRNA expression levels of $IL-1{\beta}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and iNOS were increased by AG and AA treatment at a concentration of $200{\mu}g/ml$ in RAW 264.7 cells without Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment. The mRNA expression levels of $IL-1{\beta}$, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and iNOS were increased by AG and AA 6 h treatment at a concentration of $200{\mu}g/ml$ with LPS treatment. In this study, we observed that AG, AS and AA show various activities on inflammation reaction depend on their treatment time. In the future, studies should be conducted to investigate the effects of AG, AS and AA on the various inflammatory responses of macrophages.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.135-141
• /
• 2008

Immunomodulating effect of Salicornia herbacea extract on the mouse splenocytes was investigated. Crude S. herbacea polysaccharide extract (CSP) and other kinds of fine S. herbacea polysaccharides (SPI and SPII) were prepared from S. herbacea by hot water extraction and further ultrafiltration and gel filtration chromatography. In vitro experiment, the mouse splenocytes and separated T cells were treated with CSP, SPI or SPII (0.5, 1, 2, 4 mg/ml). In vivo experiment, three different S. herbacea extracts were orally administrated everyday for one week. For the basic data, body weight and physiological parameters such as organ weight and spleen index were observed. The proliferation of the cells was used as an index for immunemodulating activity and the effect of proliferation was evaluated using MTS assay. The CSP, SPI and SPII directly induced the proliferation of splenocytes and separated T cells in a dose-dependent manner. In results, the proliferation was more increased in the SPI and SPII treated cells than in the CSP treated cells. The best proliferation was shown in the splenocytes cultured with SPI at the concentration of 4 mg/ml for 24 hr. The proliferation of splenocytes and separated T-cells was higher (3.2 and 3.5 times, respectively) than the control. Moreover, when the mouse splenocytes were treated with mitogen, the efficient proliferation was shown in the splenocytes cultured with SPI. In conclusion, polysaccharides from S. herbacea showed a substantial immunomodulating activity in the mouse immune cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.39 no.8
• /
• pp.1097-1101
• /
• 2010

The aim of the present study is to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of a vegetable soup (VS). The present study was designed to determine the effect of the vegetable soup on pro-inflammatory factors such as NO, iNOS and TNF-$\alpha$ in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. The cell toxicity was determined by MTS assay. To evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of vegetable soup, amount of NO was measured using the NO detection kit and the iNOS expression was measured by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Also, proinflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA kit. The results showed that the vegetable soup reduced NO, iNOS and TNF-$\alpha$ production without cytotoxicity. Our results suggest that the vegetable soup may have an anti-inflammatory property through suppressing inflammatory mediator productions and appears to be useful to develop the functional food realted to anti-inflammation.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.27 no.11
• /
• pp.1269-1275
• /
• 2017

Tenebrio molitor samples were investigated as novel biomaterials and sources of food in several recent studies. However, the insects' effects on hair growth were not sufficiently researched. To develop novel and natural materials for preventing alopecia and promoting hair growth, this study investigated the antioxidant activities and hair-growth promotion effects of TMEs. To determine the antioxidant activities, the TMEs' DPPH radical- and nitrite-scavenging activities were examined. To determine hair-growth promotion effects, proliferations of human dermal papilla cells (DPCs) and the murine fibroblast cell line NIH3T3 were evaluated by using an MTS assay. In addition, estimations were made for cell viabilities against cell death induced by dihydrotesterone (DHT) in DPCs and inhibitory effects against potassium channel blocking induced by tolbutamide (TBM) in NIH3T3 cells. The DPPH radical scavenging activity was 81.17%, and the nitrite scavenging activity was 43.69%; the activities were similar to the activities of blueberry extracts. Moreover, the TMEs promoted the proliferation of human DPCs and NIH3T3 cells, which were concentrated dependently. The TMEs prevented not only DHT-induced DPC cytotoxicity but also TBM's action as a potassium channel blocker in NIH3T3 cells. The results suggested that TME could be used as a functional therapeutic alopecia reagent, to prevent hair loss and to promote hair growth.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.31 no.8
• /
• pp.1103-1109
• /
• 2018

Objective: This study aimed to screen and identify the target genes of miR-375 in pig Sertoli (ST) cells and to elucidate the effect of miR-375 on the proliferation of ST cells. Methods: In this study, bioinformatics software was used to predict and verify miR-375 target genes. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the relationship between miR-375 and its target genes in ST cells. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of rearranged L-myc fusion (RLF) and hypoxia-induced gene domain protein 1A (HIGD1A) was performed on porcine ST cells, which were transfected with a miR-375 mimics and inhibitor to verify the results. Dual luciferase reporter gene assays were performed to assess the interactions among miR-375, RLF, and HIGD1A. The effect of miR-375 on the proliferation of ST cells was analyzed by CellTiter 96 AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay (MTS). Results: Five possible target genes of miR-375, including RLF, HIGD1A, colorectal cancer associated 2, POU class 3 homeobox 1, and WW domain binding protein 1 like, were found. The results of quantitative PCR suggested that mRNA expression of RLF and HIGD1A had a negative correlation with miR-375, indicating that RLF and HIGD1A are likely the target genes of miR-375. The ELISA results revealed that RLF and HIGD1A were negatively correlated with the miR-375 protein level. The luminescence results for the miR-375 group cotransfected with wild-type RLF and HIGD1A vector were significantly lower than those of the miR-375 group co-transfected with the blank vector or mutant RLF and HIGD1A vectors. The present findings suggest that RLF and HIGD1A are target genes of miR-375 and that miR-375 inhibits ST cell proliferation according to MTS analysis. Conclusion: It was speculated that miR-375 affects cell proliferation through its target genes, which play an important role in the development of testicular tissue.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.415-423
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study is to investigate the response of human pulp cell on Portland cement mixed with $\beta$-glycerophosphate. To investigate the effect of $\beta$-glycerophosphate and/or dexamethasone on human pulp cell, ALP activity on various concentration of $\beta$-glycerophosphate and dexamethasone was measured and mineral nodule of human pulp cell was stained with Alizarin red S. MTS assay and ALP activity of human pulp cell on Portland cement mixed with various concentration of $\beta$-glycerophosphate (10 mM, 100mM, 1M) was measured and the specimens were examined under SEM. Addition of $\beta$-glycerophosphate or dexamethasone alone had no effect however, the addition of 5 mM $\beta$-glycerophosphate and 100 nM dexamethasone had the largest increasement in ALP activity. There was no toxicity in all samples and the data showed that Portland cement mixed with 10 mM $\beta$-glycerophosphate had more increase in ALP activity compared with control. In conclusion, Portland cement mixed with $\beta$-glycerophosphate has no toxicity and promotes differentiation and mineralization of pulp cell compared with additive-free Portland cement. This implicated that application of Portland cement mixed with $\beta$-glycerophosphate might form more reparative dentin and in turn it would bring direct pulp capping to success.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.514-520
• /
• 2019

This study investigated the improved lipid metabolism effect of 3T3-L1 cells induced by adipocytes using the dichloromethane (DCM) fraction in the organic solvent extract of Wassong (Orostachys japonicus). To confirm the cell cytotoxicity, each of 6 fractions of organic solvent extracts (EtOH, Hexane, DCM, EtOAc, BuOH, and H₂O) was examined using MTS assay. As a result, it was confirmed that the DCM extract was stable over the whole range of concentrations, and a DCM fraction was used to confirm the improved lipid metabolism effect. Lipid excretion was measured to confirm the change of lipid metabolism. 3T3-L1 cells induced by adipocytes were treated with DCM extract and stained with oil-red O to evaluate lipid accumulation. As a result, it was confirmed that the lipid efflux was significantly improved. In order to confirm the mechanism of lipid efflux, the mRNA expressions of ABCA1 and ABCG1, which are lipid transport proteins, were confirmed by real-time PCR. Therefore, the present study confirmed that the DCM extract from Orostachys japonicus has the effect of improving the lipid metabolism on 3T3-L1 adipocytes. In addition, the results of this study will be used as the basis for the development of functional foods using Orostachys japonicus and also for conducting research on the detailed mechanisms.