• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2010

Our previous study demonstrated that methanolic extract of Chrysanthemum zawadskii Herbich var. latilobum Kitamura (Compositae) has the potential to induce detoxifying enzymes such as NAD(P)H:(quinone acceptor) oxidoreductase 1 (EC 1.6.99.2) (NQO1, QR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST). In this study we further fractionated methanolic extract of Chrysanthemum zawadskii and investigated the detoxifying enzyme-inducing potential of each fraction. The fraction (CZ-6) shown the highest QR-inducing activity was found to contain (+)-(3S,4S,5R,8S)-(E)-8-acetoxy-4-hydroxy-3-isovaleroyloxy-2-(hexa-2,4-diynyliden)-1,6-dioxaspiro [4,5] decane and increased QR enzyme activity in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, CZ-6 fraction caused a dose-dependent enhancement of luciferase activity in HepG2-C8 cells generated by stably transfecting antioxidant response element-luciferase gene construct, suggesting that it induces antioxidant/detoxifying enzymes through antioxidant response element (ARE)-mediated transcriptional activation of the relevant genes. Although CZ-6 fraction failed to induce hepatic QR in mice over the control, it restored QR activity suppressed by $CCl_4$ treatment to the control level. Hepatic injury induced by $CCl_4$ was also slightly protected by pretreatment with CZ-6. In conclusion, although CZ-6 fractionated from methanolic extract of Chrysanthemum zawadskii did not cause a significant QR induction in mice organs such as liver, kidney, and stomach, it showed protective effect from liver damage caused by $CCl_4$.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.124-130
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• 2002

The inductions of phase II enzymes, such as NAD(P)H : quinone reductase (QR), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione (GSH) level and the inhibition of polyamine metabolism were tested for the chemopreventive potentials of the extracts from the soybean fermented with Agrocybe cylindracea (AC) or Phellinus igniarius (PI). The soybean fermented with AC or PI was potent inducer of QR activity in murine hepatoma Hepa1c1c7 cells. GST activities of the extracts from soybean fermented with AC or PI were higher than that of the extract from soybean not fermented with basidiomycetes. In addition, GSH levels of the extracts from soybean fermented with AC or PI were increased about 1.2 fold or 1.4 fold, respectively. In addition, proliferation of Acanthamoeba castellanii in a broth medium was inhibited by the extracts from soybean fermented with AC or PI at the both concentration of 20 and 40 mg/3 ml. These results suggest that soybean fermented with AC or PI may have chemopreventive potentials by inducing QR activity, increasing GSH and GST levels and inhibiting polyamine metabolism.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.135-145
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• 2018

Due to the critical location and physiological activities of the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell, it is constantly subjected to contact with various infectious agents and inflammatory mediators. However, little is known about the signaling events in RPE involved in Toxoplasma gondii infection and development. The aim of the study is to screen the host mRNA transcriptional change of 3 inflammation-related gene categories, PI3K/Akt pathway regulatory components, blood vessel development factors and ROS regulators, to prove that PI3K/Akt or mTOR signaling pathway play an essential role in regulating the selected inflammation-related genes. The selected genes include PH domain and leucine- rich-repeat protein phosphatases (PHLPP), casein kinase2 (CK2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1). Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), we found that T. gondii up-regulates PHLPP2, $CK2{\beta}$, VEGF, GCL, GST and NQO1 gene expression levels, but down-regulates PHLPP1 and PEDF mRNA transcription levels. PI3K inhibition and mTOR inhibition by specific inhibitors showed that most of these host gene expression patterns were due to activation of PI3K/Akt or mTOR pathways with some exceptional cases. Taken together, our results reveal a new molecular mechanism of these gene expression change dependent on PI3K/Akt or mTOR pathways and highlight more systematical insight of how an intracellular T. gondii can manipulate host genes to avoid host defense.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.303-309
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• 2014

The fruit of Gleditsia sinensis has been extensively used as a key ingredient of an herbal remedy for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases in traditional Korean Medicine. However, the reason of using the fruit of G. sinensis for the remedy is unclear. Since Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is a key anti-inflammatory transcription factor, which is activated by the fruit of G. sinesis, we examined whether other plant parts of G. sinensis are also capable of suppressing inflammatory responses by activating Nrf2. Water extracts of various parts of G. sinensis were prepared and tested for Nrf2 activation by reporter assay and western blot analysis. Our results show that the hull of G. sinensis is the most potent in activating Nrf2. Sequential organic solvent extraction of the hull show that all the fractions had a higher potency in activating Nrf2 than the water extract, albeit differential degrees. The hull originated from Korea in general activated Nrf2 strongly compared to that of China. Chloroform fraction of the hull was further examined, showing that the fraction induced nuclear localization of Nrf2, indicative of activated Nrf2, and Nrf2-dependent gene expression including NAD(P)H dehydrogenase quinone 1 (NQO-1), glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC), and heme oxygenase - 1 (HO-1). Therefore, our results show that, among other plant parts examined in this study, the hull of G. sinensis is the most potent, providing the experimental basis for the use of the hull of G. sinensis as an active ingredient for an anti-inflammatory remedy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1708-1716
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• 2016

Glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) is an oxidoreductase enzyme and is used as a biocatalyst to regenerate NAD(P)H in reductase-mediated chiral synthesis reactions. In this study, the glucose 1-dehydrogenase B gene (gdhB) was cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, and wild-type (GDH-BT^WT) and His-tagged (GDH-BT^N-His, GDH-BT^C-His) enzymes were produced in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). All enzymes were produced in the soluble forms from E. coli. GDH-BT^WT and GDH-BT^N-His showed high specific enzymatic activities of 6.6 U/mg and 5.5 U/mg, respectively, whereas GDH-BT^C-His showed a very low specific enzymatic activity of 0.020 U/mg. These results suggest that the intact C-terminal carboxyl group is important for GDH-BT activity. GDH-BT^WT was stable up to 65℃, whereas GDH-BT^N-His and GDH-BT^C-His were stable up to 45℃. Gel permeation chromatography showed that GDH-BT^WT is a dimer, whereas GDH-BT^N-His and GDH-BT^C-His are monomeric. These results suggest that the intact N- and C-termini are required for GDH-BT to maintain thermostability and to form its dimer structure. The homology model of the GDH-BT^WT single subunit was constructed based on the crystal structure of Bacillus megaterium GDH (PDB ID 3AY6), showing that GDH-BT^WT has a Rossmann fold structure with its N- and C-termini located on the subunit surface, which suggests that His-tagging affected the native dimer structure. GDH-BT^WT and GDH-BT^N-His regenerated NADPH in a yeast reductase-mediated chiral synthesis reaction, suggesting that these enzymes can be used as catalysts in fine-chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.92-100
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• 2017

Acetoin (AC) is a volatile platform compound with various potential industrial applications. AC contains two stereoisomeric forms: (3S)-AC and (3R)-AC. Optically pure AC is an important potential intermediate and widely used as a precursor to synthesize novel optically active materials. In this study, chiral (3R)-AC production from meso-2,3-butanediol (meso-2,3-BD) was obtained using recombinant Escherichia coli cells co-expressing meso-2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase (meso-2,3-BDH), NADH oxidase (NOX), and hemoglobin protein (VHB) from Serratia sp. T241, Lactobacillus brevis, and Vitreoscilla, respectively. The new biocatalyst of E. coli/pET-mbdh-nox-vgb was developed and the bioconversion conditions were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, 86.74 g/l of (3R)-AC with the productivity of 3.61 g/l/h and the stereoisomeric purity of 97.89% was achieved from 93.73 g/l meso-2,3-BD using the whole-cell biocatalyst. The yield and productivity were new records for (3R)-AC production. The results exhibit the industrial potential for (3R)-AC production via whole-cell biocatalysis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.310-317
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• 2017

Mammalian cells control cellular homeostasis using a variety of defensive enzymes in order to combat against environmental oxidants and electrophiles. NF-E2-related factor-2 (NRF2) is a transcription factor that, in response to an exposure to oxidative stress, translocates into the nucleus and modulates the inducible expression of various phase II cytoprotective enzymes by binding to the antioxidant response element (ARE). In the present study, we have acquired 400 ethanol extracts of traditional medicinal plants and attempted to find out possible extract(s) that can increase the NRF2/ARE-dependent gene expression in human keratinocytes. As a result, we have identified that ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica strongly activated the ARE-dependent luciferase activity in HaCaT- ARE-luciferase cells. Exposure of ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica increased the viability and activated transcription and translation of NRF2-dependent phase II cytoprotective enzymes in HaCaT cells, such as heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and NAD[P]H:quinone oxidorecutase-1 (NQO1). In addition, ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica suppressed 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby inhibiting the formation of 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHG) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) in HaCaT cells. Together, our results demonstrate that ethanol extracts of Rheum undulatum and Inula japonica exert anti-oxidant effects via the induction of NRF2/ARE-dependent gene expression in human keratinocytes.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.707-711
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• 2006

Phase 2 enzymes are transcriptionally induced by a wide variety of chemical agents and natural products, and their induction plays a critical role in protection against chemical carcinogens and other toxic xenobiotics. The activity of the methanol extract and fractions of paprika (Capsicum annuum L.) was examined in murine Hepa1c1c7 cells for the induction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) NAD(P)H/quinone reductase (QR). The ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction induced QR activity in a dose-dependent manner in the concentration range of 10 to $500\;{\mu}g/mL$ with a maximum of a 3.3-fold increase in induction. The EtOAc fraction also showed high QR induction potency in Ah-receptor-defective mutant of Hepa 1c1c7 cells ($BP^rcl$ cells), which indicates that this fraction is a monofunctional inducer of QR. These results suggest that useful cancer chemopreventive materials could be isolated from EtOAc fraction of Paprika.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.97-104
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• 1972

The extent of water pollution was investigated at 4 stations in Kyonggi Bay during the summer seasons in 1970 and 1971. The concentrations of dissolved oxygen, total hardness, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, chemical oxygen demand, salinity, biochemical oxygen demand, coliform bacteria and facel coli were examined together with the measurement of pH and transparency. The relationship between the extent of pollution and the distance from the Inchon Bay also was examined. The concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, coliform bacteria nad fecal coli were all highest at station 1, and lowest at station 4. Values were somewhat higher at low tide level in general. On the contrary, dissolved oxygen concentration was highest at station 4 and lowest at station 1. The highest and lowest values of biochemical oxygen demand were 10.88 ppm at station 1 and 0.27 ppm at station 4. The chemical oxygen demand concentrations at station 1 and 4 were 1.90 ppm and 0.63 ppm. Ammonia concnetration at station 1 was 0.43 pp, and was nearly 5 times as much as that at station 4. The values were $2.45{\times}10^{-4}$ ppm at station 1, and $6{\times}10^{-4}$ ppm at station 4. Nitrite concnetration at station 1 was $3{\times}10^{-4}$ppm and was the highest, while the lowest was $9.45{\times}10^{-5}$ ppm at station 4. Phosphate value at station 1 too was the highest and was about 4 times as much as that at station 4. Coliform bacteria were most abundant at station 1, and were counted to be 1.$1.7{\times}10^{-5}$cells/ml. At station 4, the number greatly reduced to 8 * 10$^{2}$ cells/ml. The number of fecal coli at station 1 was $2{\times}10^{-4}$ cells/ml. But at station 4, no fecal coli was detected at high tide level. At low tide level, 3 cells/ml were counted at station 4. In all of these, the highest data were obtained at low tide level, while most of the lowest value, at high tide level. Generally, values at statio 1 were 3-5 times as much as those at station 4. Concentration of dissolved oxygen at station 1 was 0.366 mg-atoms/1 and was the lowest. The highest value was 0.420 mg-atoms/1 and was recorded at station 4. The highest at station 4, which certainly were believed to be the result of the dilution by the fresh water of the Han river flowing into the Inchon Bay. As we can see from the data above, the extent of pollution was highest at station 1, the nearest from Inchon harbor, and lowest at station 4, where is the farthest, Station 1 and 2 were proved to be much polluted, but station 3 and 4, not.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.7-15
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• 2015

Objectives : Rosa laevigata Michx. has been used for the treatment of renal disease in traditional Korean medicine. In this study, we investigated cytoprotective effect of R. laevigata water extract (RLE) against oxidative stress induced by arachidonic acid (AA) + iron.Methods : To evaluate the protective effects of RLE against AA + iron-induced oxidative stress in HepG2 cell, cell viability and changes on apoptosis-related proteins were assessed by MTT and immunoblot analyses. The effects of RLE on reduced glutathione level, production of reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial membrane potential were also monitored. Furthermore, to verify underlying molecular mechanism, NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) was examined by immunoblot analysis. Additionally, Nrf2 transactivation and its downstream target genes expression were also determined by reporter gene and realtime RT-PCR analyses.Results : RLE pretreatment (30-300 μg/ml) prevented cells from AA + iron-mediated cell death in a concentration dependent manner. In addition, 100 μg/ml RLE inhibited AA + iron-induced glutathione depletion, reactive oxygen species production and mitochondrial dysfunction. RLE accumulated nuclear Nrf2 and also transactivated Nrf2, which was evidenced by antioxidant response element- and glutathione S-transferase A2-driven luciferase activities and mRNA level of glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 and sestrin 2. Moreover, protective effect of RLE against AA + iron was abolished in Nrf2 knockout cells.Conclusions : These results indicate that RLE has the ability to protect hepatocyte against oxidative stress through Nrf2 activation.