• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2018

Alterations in sulfur amino acid metabolism are associated with an increased risk of a number of common late-life diseases, which raises the possibility that metabolism of sulfur amino acids may change with age. The present study was conducted to understand the age-related changes in hepatic metabolism of sulfur amino acids in 2-, 6-, 18- and 30-month-old male C57BL/6 mice. For this purpose, metabolite profiling of sulfur amino acids from methionine to taurine or glutathione (GSH) was performed. The levels of sulfur amino acids and their metabolites were not significantly different among 2-, 6- and 18-month-old mice, except for plasma GSH and hepatic homocysteine. Plasma total GSH and hepatic total homocysteine levels were significantly higher in 2-month-old mice than those in the other age groups. In contrast, 30-month-old mice exhibited increased hepatic methionine and cysteine, compared with all other groups, but decreased hepatic S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), S-adenosylhomocysteine and homocysteine, relative to 2-month-old mice. No differences in hepatic reduced GSH, GSH disulfide, or taurine were observed. The hepatic changes in homocysteine and cysteine may be attributed to upregulation of cystathionine ${\beta}-synthase$ and down-regulation of ${\gamma}-glutamylcysteine$ ligase in the aged mice. The elevation of hepatic cysteine levels may be involved in the maintenance of hepatic GSH levels. The opposite changes of methionine and SAM suggest that the regulatory role of SAM in hepatic sulfur amino acid metabolism may be impaired in 30-month-old mice.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.398-402
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• 2022

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), a rich source of polyphenols, exerts hypocholesterolemic effects. However, little is known about its effects on the regulation of the hepatic cholesterol metabolism and the underlying mechanisms. In the present study, the effects of polyphenol-rich black chokeberry extract (CBE) on hepatic cholesterol metabolism were investigated by measuring the expression of genes involved in the absorption, de novo synthesis, and efflux of cholesterol in HepG2 cells. There was a significant reduction in the expression levels of genes involved in cholesterol metabolism, the low-density lipoprotein receptor, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, and sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2, in CBE-treated HepG2 cells. Meanwhile, CBE increased the expression levels of genes involved in cholesterol and bile acid efflux. The expression levels of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation genes increased, whereas those of lipogenic genes decreased following CBE treatment. These data suggest that the consumption of black chokeberry may be beneficial for the prevention of hypercholesterolemia.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.34 no.1 s.132
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• pp.100-108
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• 2003

The regulation of plasma lipid level, particularly LDL cholesterol, represents the focus of current therapy for atherosclerosis. And $Lp-PLA_2$ is able to hydrolyse oxidized phosphatidylcholine within LDL into lyso-PC and oxidized fatty acids. $Lp-PLA_2$ is a potential biomarker of coronary heart disease and plays an important proinflammatory role in the progression of atherosclerosis. We investigated the inhibitory effects of methanol extracts of 224 natural plants on $Lp-PLA_2$ activity. Seven kinds of methanol extracts of tested plants showed above 50% inhibitory effect with the concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. The concentrated aqueous suspensions of each methanol extract were partitioned with n-hexane, $CHCl_3$, and EtOAc. Among them, EtOAc extracts of Astilbe chinensis var. davidii (root) and Pourthiaea villosa var. brunnea (leaf) significantly inhibited $Lp-PLA_2$ activity at the same concentration.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.1021-1030
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to assess improvements caused by chitosan, sericin and collagen peptide extract complexes (1:1:1, w/w/w, CSC-F-005) in lipid concentrations in the sera of dyslipidemic rats (SD strain) fed on experimental diets for 5 weeks. Serum concentrations of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, ratio of HDL-cholesterol concentration to total cholesterol, atherosclerotic index, LDL-cholesterol, free cholesterol, cholesteryl ester, triglyceride, phospholipid and blood glucose were effective on the metabolic regulation of dyslipidemic rats. The activities of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in serum were remarkably lower in the extract complexes (CSC-F-005) than in the dyslipidemic model. From the above results shows that CSC-F-005 extract complexes were effective on the improvement of the lipid metabolism in sera of dyslipidemic rats.

• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.230-235
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• 2018

Bone resorption by multinucleated osteoclasts is a multistep process involving adhesion to the bone matrix, migration to resorption sites, and formation of sealing zones and ruffled borders. Macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and osteopontin (OPN) have been shown to be involved in the bone resorption process by respective activation of integrin ${\alpha}v{\beta}3$ via "inside-out" and "outside-in" signaling. In this study, we investigated the link between signal modulators known to M-CSF- and OPN-induced osteoclast adhesion and spreading. M-CSF- and OPN-induced osteoclast adhesion was achieved via activation of stepwise signals, including integrin ${\alpha}v{\beta}3$, $PLC{\gamma}$, $PKC{\delta}$, and Rac1. Osteoclast spreading induced by M-CSF and OPN was shown to be controlled via sequential activation, consistent with the osteoclast adhesion processes. In contrast to osteoclast adhesion, osteoclast spreading induced by M-CSF and OPN was blocked via activation of $PLC{\gamma}/PKC{\alpha}/RhoA$ signaling. The combined results indicate that osteoclast adhesion and spreading are selectively regulated via $PLC{\gamma}/PKC{\alpha}-PKC{\delta}/RhoA-Rac1$ signaling.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 2017

Healthy aging has become a major goal of public health. Many studies have provided evidence and theories to explain molecular mechanisms of the aging process. Recent studies suggest that epigenetic mechanisms are responsible for life span and the progression of aging. Epigenetics is a fascinating field of molecular biology, which studies heritable modifications of DNA and histones that regulate gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. DNA methylation is a major epigenetic mark that shows progressive changes during aging. Recent studies have investigated aging-related DNA methylation as a biomarker that predicts cellular age. Interestingly, growing evidence proposes that nutrients play a crucial role in the regulation of epigenetic modifiers. Because various nutrients and their metabolites function as substrates or cofactors for epigenetic modifiers, nutrition can modulate or reverse epigenetic marks in the genome as well as expression patterns. Here, we will review the results on aging-associated epigenetic modifications and the possible mechanisms by which nutrition, including nutrient availability and bioactive compounds, regulate epigenetic changes and affect aging physiology.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1748-1755
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• 2016

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of niacin supplementation on hepatic lipid metabolism in rabbits. Rex Rabbits (90 d, n = 32) were allocated to two equal treatment groups: Fed basal diet (control) or fed basal diet with additional 200 mg/kg niacin supplementation (niacin). The results show that niacin significantly increased the levels of plasma adiponectin, hepatic apoprotein B and hepatic leptin receptors mRNA (p<0.05), but significantly decreased the hepatic fatty acid synthase activity and adiponectin receptor 2, insulin receptor and acetyl-CoA carboxylase mRNA levels (p<0.05). Plasma insulin had a decreasing tendency in the niacin treatment group compared with control (p = 0.067). Plasma very low density lipoproteins, leptin levels and the hepatic adiponectin receptor 1 and carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1 genes expression were not significantly altered with niacin addition to the diet (p>0.05). However, niacin treatment significantly inhibited the hepatocytes lipid accumulation compared with the control group (p<0.05). In conclusion, niacin treatment can decrease hepatic fatty acids synthesis, but does not alter fatty acids oxidation and triacylglycerol export. And this whole process attenuates lipid accumulation in liver. Besides, the hormones of insulin, leptin and adiponectin are associated with the regulation of niacin in hepatic lipid metabolism in rabbits.

• Korean System Dynamics Review
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.155-170
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to develop a system dynamics model for management of glucose metabolism disorders that demonstrated dynamic relationships between insulin and plasma glucose levels over the time. The model was developed to 1) represent the physiology of glucose metabolism for an normal adult subject, 2) to draw causal loop diagram that demonstrate feedback systems of glucose regulation in normal condition and pathologic condition of the type 2 diabetes, 3) to develop an interactive computer simulation model for management of glucose metabolism disorders. The simulation results showed the plasma glucose level for normal persons varied from 75 to 140 which was consistent with clinical findings. As an example for patients we selected a case which varied from 110 to 310. Two types of interventions were chosen to review the model; meal control and insulin administration. The simulation results for those cases also matched well with clinical findings. The developed model can be used as an effective educational tool for patients to develop healthy lifestyle choices. The results also provide a blueprint for health providers to maintain normal blood glucose levels in diabetes patients.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.244-252
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• 2007

Escherichia coli has a PhoR-PhoB two-component regulatory system to detect and respond to the changes of environmental phosphate concentration. For the E. coli W3110 strain growing under phosphate-limiting condition, the changes of global gene expression levels were investigated by using DNA microarray analysis. The expression levels of some genes that are involved in phosphate metabolism were increased as phosphate became limited, whereas those of the genes involved in ribosomal protein or amino acid metabolism were decreased, owing to the stationary phase response. The upregulated genes could be divided into temporarily and permanently inducible genes by phosphate starvation. At the peak point showing the highest expression levels of the phoB and phoR genes under phosphate-limiting condition, the phoB- and/or phoR-dependent regulatory mechanisms were investigated in detail by comparing the gene expression levels among the wild-type and phoB and/or phoR mutant strains. Overall, the phoB mutation was epistatic over the phoR mutation. It was found that PhoBR and PhoB were responsible for the upregulation of the phosphonate or glycerol phosphate metabolism and high-affinity phosphate transport system, respectively. These results show the complex regulation by the PhoR-PhoB two-component regulatory system in E. coli.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.114-122
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• 2023

A family of signal transduction pathways known as wingless type (Wnt) signaling pathways is essential to developmental processes like cell division and proliferation. Mutation in Wnt signaling results in a variety of diseases, including cancers of the breast, colon, and skin, metabolic disease, and neurodegenerative disease; thus, the Wnt signaling pathways have been attractive targets for disease treatment. However, the complicatedness and large involveness of the pathway often hampers pinpointing the specific targets of the metabolic process. In our current study, we investigated the differential metabolic regulation by the overexpression of the Wnt signaling pathway in a timely-resolved manner by applying high-throughput and un-targeted metabolite profiling. We have detected and annotated 321 metabolite peaks from a total of 36 human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells using GC-TOF MS and LC-Orbitrap MS. The un-targeted metabolomic analysis identified the radical reprogramming of a range of central carbon/nitrogen metabolism pathways, including glycolysis, TCA cycle, and glutaminolysis, and fatty acid pathways. The investigation, combined with targeted mRNA profiles, elucidated an explicit understanding of activated fatty acid metabolism (β-oxidation and biosynthesis). The findings proposed detailed mechanistic biochemical dynamics in response to Wnt-driven metabolic changes, which may help design precise therapeutic targets for Wnt-related diseases.