• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.324-330
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• 2015

In this study, the anti-diabetic activity of a cold water extract of Korean mistletoe (KME) was investigated in C57BL/6J Lep ob (ob/ob) mice. Oral administration of KME (50 or 100 mg/kg/d) significantly inhibited the level of blood glucose of ob/ob mice after 5 days from the beginning of KME treatment. And the anti-diabetic effect of KME was stabilized 10 days after oral administration, showing a substantial reduction of blood glucose levels by more than 20% as compared with control mice. The results of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) revealed that oral administration of KME gave rise to a remarkable improvement in overall glucose response. Oral administration of KME in ob/ob diabetic mice also significantly reduced blood total cholesterol (TCHO) and triglyceride (TG) levels compared with the diabetic control mice. Moreover, in an in vitro experiment using C2C12 myotubes, treatment of KME prominently increased glucose uptake. Interestingly, KME significantly increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-${\alpha}$ ($PGC-1{\alpha}$), a head regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and oxidative metabolism, and $PGC-1{\alpha}$-associated genes such as glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), estrogen-related receptor-${\alpha}$ ($ERR-{\alpha}$), nuclear respiratory factor-1 (NRF-1), and mitochondrial transcription factor A (TmfA) in C2C12 cells. These results suggest that KME has potential as a novel therapeutic agent for diabetes, and its anti-diabetic activity may be related to the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.509-518
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of heat shock treatments on the phytochemicals including antioxidants and anticancer materials in kale (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala) sprouts. In study I, kale sprouts grown under the growing system for four days were soaked at 40, 50, or $60^{\circ}C$ distilled water for 10, 30, or 60 seconds, and in study II, kale sprouts were soaked at $50^{\circ}C$ distilled water for 10, 20, 30, 45, or 60 seconds. After the heat shock treatments, the sprouts were transferred into normal growing conditions and recovered there for two days. Fresh and dry weights, electrolyte leakage, total phenolic concentration, antioxidant capacity, total flavonoid concentration, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity, and glucosinolates content of the sprouts were measured before and after the heat shock treatments. As a result, there was a significant decrease in the fresh and dry weight of kale sprouts treated with heat shock compared with control at harvest in study I. Especially, heat shock at $60^{\circ}C$ lead to more pronounced growth inhibition compared with heat treatments at 40 and $50^{\circ}C$. Electrolyte leakage by cell collapse was the highest in the sprouts exposed to $60^{\circ}C$ distilled water, which agreed with the growth results. Heat shock at $50^{\circ}C$ significantly induced the accumulation of phenolic compounds. In study II, fresh weight of kale sprouts at $50^{\circ}C$ heat shock showed a significant decrease compared with the control at one and two days after the treatment. However, the decrease was minimal and dry weight of kale sprouts was not significantly different from that in control. In contrast, the heat shock-treated kale sprouts had higher level of total phenolic concentration than control at harvest. Heat shock treatments at $50^{\circ}C$ for 20 seconds or more showed at least 1.5 and 1.2 times higher total phenolic concentration and antioxidants capacity than control, respectively. The change of the total flavonoid concentration was similar with that of antioxidants. PAL activity after 24 hours of heat shock was higher in all the heat shock-treated sprouts than that in control suggesting heat shock may stimulate secondary metabolic pathway in kale sprouts. Seven glucosinolates were identified in kale sprouts and soaking the sprouts with $50^{\circ}C$ water for 20 seconds had a pronounced impact on the accumulation of total glucosinolates as well as two major glucosinolates, progoitrin and sinigrin, at harvest. In conclusion, this study suggests that heat shock using hot water would be a potential strategy to improve nutritional quality of kale sprouts by inducing the accumulation of phytochemicals with antioxidant and anticancer properties.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 1974

According to the content of sugar and starch of each positional leaf sheath and internode at heading and 4 weeks after it using IR667-Suwon 214 (high yielding var. having tropical Indica parantage) and Jinheung (local leading var. temperate Japonica) rice grown in various cultivation seasons the suitability of grouping into the high sugar type (sugar>starch), sugar, tendency (increasing tendency in sugar content), high starh type (starch>sugar) and starch tendency (increasing tendency in starch) in carbohydrate metabolism was reexamined as follows. 1. Sugar tendency appeared strongly in IR667 than Jinheung, internode than leaf sheath, late season cultivation than early season, 4 weeks after than heading and high temperature than low temperature. Thus at heading, leaf sheath and internode of Jinheung in early and late season cultivation were high starch type, and lower internode in early season cultiattion and leaf sheath and internode in late season for IR667 were high sugar type. In very late season all internodes of both varieties except 1st internode of Jinheung at heading were high starch type. At four week after heading all leaf sheaths except 1st and 4th one of Jinheung and all internodes were high sugar type. High sugar type was intensified 4 weeks after heading in leaf sheaths than in internodes of IR667 in early season and of both varieties in late season. 2. The upper three leaf sheaths and internodes seem to work in the same way for carbohydrate translocation. Among them upper ones showed sugar tendency at heading and starch tendency 4 weeks after heading and it was clear in Jinheung. 3. The later the cultivation season, the higher the carbohydrate content (sugar+starch), and such tendency was clear 4 weeks after heading and in IR667, suggesting teanslocation inhibition by low temperature. 4. Grain filling rate (weight increase per day) was more rapid in early season cultivation and IR667 took shorter days to reach maximum rate. 5. The later the cultivation season, the greater the percent contribution of carbohydrate before heading to yield and it was always greater in IR667, a leaf sheath type. 6. Sugar and starch ratio appears to be determined principally by metabolic characteristics of variety according to growth process and secondly but considerably by environmental factors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1079-1085
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• 2012

Obesity is an important issue worldwide as it may associated with increased prevalence of metabolic diseases. Mung bean is known as a functional food for decreasing the glycemic index and lipid profile of plasma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-obesity effects of vitexin from mung bean on the regulation of adipocyte differentiation and adipocytokine secretion. When 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with vitexin from days 0 to 14 at various levels of 25, 50, 100, and $200{\mu}M$, there was no change in cell viability. Vitexin treatment at 50, 100, and $200{\mu}M$ decreased triacylglycerol levels in cells, but only $100{\mu}M$ vitexin induced lipolysis. At $200{\mu}M$ of vitexin, phosphorylation of p38 and ERK, which causes secretion of inflammatory adipocytokines, was depressed, whereas there was an increase in expression of $PPAR{\gamma}$, the key regulator of adipocyte differentiation. Phosphorylation of AMPK increased at $100{\mu}M$ vitexin. TNF-${\alpha}$ and aP2 mRNA expression increased at $25{\mu}M$ vitexin, whereas only TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA expression increased at $200{\mu}M$ vitexin. Further, the mRNA levels of TNF-${\alpha}$ and aP2 decreased at other concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. Since we observed that mRNA expression of C/EBP, SREBP1, and $PPAR{\gamma}$ did not change upon vitexin treatment, our future studies will investigate other genes such as mTOR, which is related with apoptosis signaling, or SIRT1, which is associated with inhibition of adipogenesis. Our results indicate that vitexin at concentrations between 100 and $200{\mu}M$ is suitable in vivo for the development of mung bean as an anti-obesity therapy or functional food.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2011

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is hormonal imbalance condition as the endocrine and metabolic disorder that induces the infertility and various complications in reproductive age women. Estradiol valerate (EV) is used hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women and is reported that excessive administration of EV induces the PCOS. Nerve growth factor (NGF) is the factor to regulate the survival and maturation of developing neuronal cell and is also synthesized in ovary. And NGF is overexpressed in EV-induced polycystic ovary (PCO) as previously reported. Therefore, this study examined the possibility of NGF as can be used the biological marker in diagnosis of PCOS, the hormonal imbalance condition, using PCO and CHO (chinese hamster ovarian) cell lines. The concentration of EV treatment is optimized a 1 mg as not influence on the proliferation of CHO cell but 2 mg and 3 mg of EV treatment have the inhibition effect at initial stage. The morphological change was not observed in CHO cell after dose dependent manner treatment of EV. Expression of NGF mRNA and protein is significantly increased at 30 min after EV treatment in CHO cells compared to that of control. And NGF protein expression is strongly increased in PCO tissue, which observed many follicular cysts compared to normal ovary tissue. Taken together, overexpression of NGF may be act as a molecule to induce an abnormal development of follicle, suggesting that NGF can be used as a biological marker in diagnosis of PCOS.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.237-242
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• 2015

The use of calcite-forming bacteria (CFB) in crack remediation and durability improvements in construction materials creates a permanent and environmentally-friendly material. Therefore, research into this type of application is stimulating interdisciplinary studies between microbiology and architectural engineering. However, the mechanisms giving rise to these materials are dependent on calcite precipitation by the metabolism of the CFB, which raises concerns about possible hazards to cement-based construction due to microbial metabolic acid production. The aim of this study was to determine target microorganisms that possibly can have bio-corrosive effects on cement mortar and to assess multi-functional CFBs for their safe application to cement structures. The chalky test was first used to evaluate the $CaCO_3$ solubilization feature of construction sites by fungi, yeast, bacterial strains. Not all bacterial strains are able to solubilize $CaCO_3$, but C. sphaerospermum KNUC253 or P. prolifica KNUC263 showed $CaCO_3$ solubilization activity. Therefore, these two strains were identified as target microorganisms that require control in cement structures. The registered patented strains Bacillus aryabhatti KNUC205, Arthrobacter nicotianae KNUC2100, B. thuringiensis KNUC2103 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KNUC2106, reported as multifunctional CFB (fungal growth inhibition, crack remediation, and water permeability reduction of cement surfaces) and isolated from Dokdo or construction site were unable to solubilize $CaCO_3$. Notably, B. aryabhatti KNUC205 and A. nicotianae KNUC2100 could not hydrolyze cellulose or protein, which can be the major constituent macromolecules of internal materials for buildings. These results show that several reported multi-functional CFB can be applied to cement structures or diverse building environments without corrosive or bio-deteriorative risks.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2016

Obesity is a pro-inflammatory state that contributes to the development of metabolic disorders such as hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver, and cardiovascular disease. In this study, we evaluated the inhibition of adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice by Peucedanum japonicum Thunberg L. water extract (PJT). Lipid accumulation measurement indicates that PJT markedly inhibited adipogenesis in a dose-dependent manner. RT-PCR results demonstrated that the mRNA expression of adipogenic transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-α (C/EBPα) in 3T3-L1 cells were significantly down-regulated by PJT treatment. Oral administration of PJT (100, 300, and 500 ㎎/㎏, b.w/daily for 4 weeks) was conducted in high-fat diet induced obese mice and C57BL/6 mice. The PJT-administered group of HFD-induced mice had a lower body weight gain, along with decreased serum levels of glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol compared with the control mice, however, the HDL-cholesterol/total cholesterol ratio was increased. Furthermore, the elevated mRNA expression levels of adipogenesis related genes in the white adipose tissue of obese mice were significantly suppressed by PJT. These results indicate that PJT exhibits anti-obesity effects in obese mice by decreasing in serum lipid levels and lipogenesis related gene.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2018

Our review begins with the maize hybrid for grain, called 'Seakso 1,' which was developed in 2008 by the Gangwon Agricultural Research and Extension Services in Korea, and subsequently registered in 2011. In this study, we aimed to investigate the lipid metabolic enzyme activity and inhibitory effect on the adipocyte differentiation, in 3T3-L1 cells of the identified Seakso 1 corn husk and cob extracts (EHCS). We investigated the pancreatic lipase inhibitory effect and anti-adipogenic effect of EHCS.The lipid accumulation and adipocyte differentiation were measured by the procedure of Oil Red O staining, Real-time PCR and the Western blot analysis. The pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of EHCS was measured at higher levels than those of the positive control (orlistat) at 100, 500, and $1,000{\mu}g/mL$. In particular, EHCS was noted as being significantly inhibited and including a measured adipocyte differentiation and lipid accumulation, when treated during the adipocyte differentiation process in 3T3-L1 cells. Based on the Oil Red O staining, EHCS inhibited lipid accumulation at 19.19%, 33.30% at $1000{\mu}g/mL$, $2000{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. The real-time PCR and Western blot analysis showed that EHCS significantly decreased in the mRNA expression and protein level of obesity-related factors, such as peroxisome-proliferatorsactivated-receptor-${\gamma}$ ($PPAR{\gamma}$) and CCAAT enhancer-binding-proteins ${\alpha}$ ($C/EBP{\alpha}$). This study potentially suggests that the Saekso 1 corn husk and cob extracts may improve lipid metabolism and reduce lipid accumulation.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.234-242
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• 2019

We analyzed the anthocyanin accumulation, abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellic acid (GA) contents and metabolic genes expression in berry skins under high temperature (High T) at veraison, in order to investigate the cause of bad coloration of 'Kyoho' grape due to High T in summer season. The coloration of 'Kyoho' grapes was stopped by High T for 10 days from veraison, and the fruit quality was not affected except skin color. Total anthocyanin of skins was decreased by High T treatment and malvidin and peonidin were decreased compared to control. In berry skins, ABA content did not decrease by High T treatment, but it was rather higher than that of control. GA content was increased about two times compared to the control after 10 days of High T treatment, which caused decreased ratio of ABA/GA. Analysis of expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes showed that the early biosynthetic genes were not affected by High T and the expression of UFGT was decreased by temperature treatment. ABA biosynthetic gene expressions were not affected by High T and the expression of GA20ox1 and GA2ox1/2, which are known to regulate the biosynthesis and inactivation of GA, were increased and decreased by High T, respectively. Therefore, the bad coloration of 'Kyoho' grapes under the High T at veraison was due to inhibition of anthocyanin biosynthesis of skin, and it was suggested that the anthocyanin biosynthesis was controlled by the ratio of ABA and GA rather than ABA content.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.1104-1110
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• 2019

Recently, there has been an increase in the elderly population of the world. Consequently, bone metabolic diseases such as osteoporosis are emerging as a social problem. Osteoclasts play a role in bone resorption, and osteoporosis is induced when bone resorption occurs excessively. Because currently used bone resorption inhibitors may cause side effects when used for a long period of time, it is necessary to develop a new material that effectively inhibits osteoclast differentiation. This study aimed to confirm the inhibitory effect of ethanol extract of Locusta migratoria on RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation and its mechanism. The toxicity and proliferation effects of LME on RAW264.7 osteoclasts were measured by an MTS assay. There was no cytotoxicity or proliferation when the osteoclasts were treated with up to $2,000{\mu}g/ml$ of LME. In order to confirm the effect of LME on the differentiation of osteoclasts, osteoclasts were treated with RANKL alone or with LME for 3 days. As a result of a TRAP (tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) assay, the increasing osteoclast differentiation by RANKL decreased in a concentration-dependent manner with the treatment of LME. In addition, LME suppressed the expression of differentiation-related marker genes (TRAP, RANK, NFATc1, and CK) and proteins (NFATc1 and c-Src) that had been increased by RANKL. Also, LME influenced the $NF-{\kappa}B$, ERK and JNK signaling pathways, resulting in the inhibition of osteoclast differentiation. These results suggest that LME may be used as a novel functional material for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis by playing a role in inhibiting bone absorption.