• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.157-167
• /
• 2022

In this study, we investigated the effects of heptapeptide on cellular activation and inhibition of cellular damage induced by photoaging condition in NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Cell proliferation and extracellular matrix (ECM) expression were induced by heptapeptide. The reduced cell viability under photoaging condition through ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation was increased by heptapeptide. And UVA-induced apoptosis, matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) expression, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) level were decreased by heptapeptide. In addition, the inhibition of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)/smad signaling under UVA irradiation which resulting in reduction of ECM expression was also recovered by heptapeptide. We also tested the effect of heptapeptide under another photoaging condition through heat shock, and pre-treatment of heptapeptide prevented the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and MMP-1 expression induced by heat shock. From these results, it has been shown that the heptapeptide has protective effects on fibroblasts through the up-regulation of cellular activity and through the decreasing of intracellular ROS level induced by UVA irradiation or heat shock. It is expected that the dermal protection effect of heptapeptide can be applied as a new cosmetic material in the future.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2008

In view of obtaining potential anticancer compounds, we studied the inhibitory activity and the cytotoxic effects of a candidate compound in cancer cells. The cytotoxic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) in vitro were evaluated in NIH3T3 fibroblasts, B16 melanoma cells, A549 lung cancer cells, MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells, Lenca kidney cells and SNU-C4 colon cancer cells. The cells were cultured in various concentrations of CBD for 48 h and 25 ${\mu}$M of CBD for 6-36 h. The cells were observed to exhibit inhibitory effects of the cell viability in their growth, and then cytotoxicity was estimated. The inhibitory activity of CBD was increased in all cancer cells and showed especially strong increment in breast cancer cells. The cytotoxicity of CBD increased in a dose- and time-dependent manner with growth inhibition in all cancer cell lines. Also, to assess the membrane toxicity induced by CBD, we investigated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. After treatment with various concentrations of CBD, LDH release rate of cancer cells was accelerated. On the other hand, in the induction of cell death, caspase-3, -8 and -9 activations were detected in cancer cells after treatment with various concentrations of CBD, and CBD effectively induced activity of caspase-3, -8 and -9 in A549 lung cancer cells, MDAMB-231 breast cancer cells and Renca kidney cells. Therefore these results suggest that CBD has a possibility of anticancer agents and anticancer effects against cancer cells by modulation of apoptotic pathway in the range of 5-80 ${\mu}$M concentration.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.222-227
• /
• 2020

Inositol polyphosphate multikinase (IPMK) is required for the biosynthesis of inositol phosphates (IPs) through the phosphorylation of multiple IP metabolites such as IP3 and IP4. The biological significance of IPMK's catalytic actions to regulate cellular signaling events such as growth and metabolism has been studied extensively. However, pharmacological reagents that inhibit IPMK have not yet been identified. We employed a structure-based virtual screening of publicly available U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs and chemicals that identified the antidepressant, vilazodone, as an IPMK inhibitor. Docking simulations and pharmacophore analyses showed that vilazodone has a higher affinity for the ATP-binding catalytic region of IPMK than ATP and we validated that vilazodone inhibits IPMK's IP kinase activities in vitro. The incubation of vilazodone with NIH3T3-L1 fibroblasts reduced cellular levels of IP5 and other highly phosphorylated IPs without influencing IP4 levels. We further found decreased Akt phosphorylation in vilazodone-treated HCT116 cancer cells. These data clearly indicate selective cellular actions of vilazodone against IPMK-dependent catalytic steps in IP metabolism and Akt activation. Collectively, our data demonstrate vilazodone as a method to inhibit cellular IPMK, providing a valuable pharmacological agent to study and target the biological and pathological processes governed by IPMK.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.89-99
• /
• 2020

PURPOSE. The effects of four different self-adhesive resin cement materials on cell viability and apoptosis after direct and indirect exposure were evaluated using different cell culture techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Self-adhesive cements were applied to NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts by the extract test method, cell culture inserts, and dentin barrier test method. After exposure periods of 24 h and 72 h, the cytotoxicity of these self-adhesive materials was evaluated using the MTT assay (viability) and the Annexin-V-FITC/PI staining (apoptosis). RESULTS. The lowest cell viability was found in cells exposed to BeautiCem SA for 24 h in the extract test method. Cell viability was reduced to 70.6% compared to negative controls. After the 72 h exposure period, viability rate of cell cultures exposed to BeautiCem SA decreased more than 2- fold (29.5%) while cells exposed to RelyX U200 showed the highest viability rate of 71.4%. In the dentin barrier test method, BeautiCem SA induced the highest number of cells in apoptosis after a 24 h exposure (4.1%). Panavia SA Cement Plus was the material that caused the lowest number of cells in apoptosis (1.5%). CONCLUSION. The used self-adhesive cements have showed different cytotoxic effects based on the evaluation method. As exposure time increased, the materials showed more cytotoxic and apoptotic effects. BeautiCem SA caused significantly more severe cytotoxic and apoptotic effects than other cements tested. Moreover, cements other than BeautiCem SA have caused necrotic cell death rather than apoptotic cell death.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.62-70
• /
• 2019

Objectives: This study was carried out to analyze the cytotoxicity of cadmium sulfate ($CdSO_4$) and the antioxidative effect of Typha orientalis L. (TO) extract on the oxidative stress induced by cytotoxicity of $CdSO_4$ in the cultured NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Methods: For this study, the cell viability and the antioxidative effects such as the inhibitory activity of lipid peroxidation (LP) and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity and xanthine oxidase (XO)-inhibitory activity were assessed. Results: The cadmium sulfate significantly decreased cell viability in dose-dependently, and $XTT_{50}$ value was measured at $47.4{\mu}M$ of $CdSO_4$. The cytotoxicity of $CdSO_4$ was determined as highly toxic by Borenfreund and Puerner's toxic criteria. The butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as antioxidant significantly increased cell viability injured by $CdSO_4$-induced cytotoxicity in these cultures. In the protective effect of TO extract on $CdSO_4$-induced cytotoxicity, TO extract remarkably increased the inhibitory ability of LP and XO as well as SOD-like ability. Conclusions: From the above results, it is suggested that the oxidative stress is involved in the cytotoxicity of $CdSO_4$, and TO extract effectively protected $CdSO_4$-induced cytotoxicity by antioxidative effects. The natural component like TO extract may be a putative therapeutic agent for treatment of the toxicity induced by heavy metallic compound like $CdSO_4$ correlated with the oxidative stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2010.02a
• /
• pp.44-45
• /
• 2010

We are currently conducting studies on culturing and biocompatibility assessment of various cells such as neural stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells(IPS cells) on carbon nanotube (CNT), on nerve regeneration electrodes, and on silicon wafers with a focus on developing nerve integrated CNT based bio devices for interfacing with living organisms, in order to develop brain-machine interfaces (BMI). In addition, we are carried out the chemical modification of carbon nanotube (mainly SWCNTs)-based bio-nanosensors by the plasma ion irradiation (plasma activation) method, and provide a characteristic evaluation of a bio-nanosensor using bovine serum albumin (BSA)/anti-BSA binding and oligonucleotide hybridization. On the other hand, the researches in the case of "novel plasma" have been widely conducted in the fields of chemistry, solid physics, and nanomaterial science. From the above-mentioned background, we are conducting basic experiments on direct irradiation of body tissues and cells using a micro-spot atmospheric pressure plasma source. The device is a coaxial structure having a tungsten wire installed inside a glass capillary, and a grounded ring electrode wrapped on the outside. The conditions of plasma generation are as follows: applied voltage: 5-9 kV, frequency: 1-3 kHz, helium (He) gas flow: 1-1.5 L/min, and plasma irradiation time: 1-300 sec. The experiment was conducted by preparing a culture medium containing mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3) on a culture dish. A culture dish irradiated with plasma was introduced into a $CO_2$-incubator. The small animals used in the experiment involving plasma irradiation into living tissue were rat, rabbit, and pick and are deeply anesthetized with the gas anesthesia. According to the dependency of cell numbers against the plasma irradiation time, when only He gas was flowed, the growth of cells was inhibited as the floatation of cells caused by gas agitation inside the culture was promoted. On the other hand, there was no floatation of cells and healthy growth was observed when plasma was irradiated. Furthermore, in an experiment testing the effects of plasma irradiation on rats that were artificially given burn wounds, no evidence of electric shock injuries was found in the irradiated areas. In fact, the observed evidence of healing and improvements of the burn wounds suggested the presence of healing effects due to the growth factors in the tissues. Therefore, it appears that the interaction due to ion/radicalcollisions causes a substantial effect on the proliferation of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), nerve growth factor (NGF), and transforming growth factor (TGF) that are present in the cells.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.484-488
• /
• 2001

STATs are proteins with a dual function: signal transducers in the cytoplasm and transcriptional activators in the nucleus. Among the six known major STATs (STAT1-6), STAT3 has been implicated in the widest range of signaling pathways that regulate cell growth and differentiation. As a part of our on-going investigation on the pleiotropic functions of STAT proteins, we examined the role of STAT3 as a molecular adaptor that links diverse cell growth signaling pathways. We observed that STAT3 can be specifically activated by multiple cytokines, such as IL-3, in transformed fibroblasts and IL-4 or IFN-$\gamma$ in primary immune cells, respectively. The selective activation of STAT3 in H-ras-transformed NIH3T3 cells is associated with an increased expression of phosphoserioe STAT3 in these cells, compared to the parental cells. Notably phosphoresine-STAT3 interacts with oncogenic ras, shown by immunoprecipitation and Western blots. The results suggest the role of STAT3 in rasinduced cellular transformation as a molecular adaptor linking the Jak/STAT and Ras/MAPK pathways. In primary immune cells, IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$ each induced (in addition to the characteristic STAT6 and STAT1 homodimers) the formation of STAT3-containing complexes that bind to GAS probes, which correspond to the $Fe{\varepsilon}$ Rll and $Fe{\gamma}$ RI promoter sequences, respectively. Since IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$ are known to counter-regulate the expression of these genes, the ability of STAT3 to form heterodimeric complexes with STAT6 or STAT1 implies its role in the fine-tuned control of genes that are regulated by IL-4 and IFN-$\gamma$.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.42 no.1
• /
• pp.81-89
• /
• 2018

Background: BIOGF1K, a compound-K-rich fraction, has been shown to display anti-inflammatory activity. Although Panax ginseng is widely used for the prevention of photoaging events induced by UVB irradiation, the effect of BIOGF1K on photoaging has not yet been examined. In this study, we investigated the effects of BIOGF1K on UVB-induced photoaging events. Methods: We analyzed the ability of BIOGF1K to prevent UVB-induced apoptosis, enhance matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression, upregulate anti-inflammatory activity, reduce sirtuin 1 expression, and melanin production using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, melanin content assay, tyrosinase assay, and flow cytometry. We also evaluated the effects of BIOGF1K on the activator protein-1 signaling pathway, which plays an important role in photoaging, by immunoblot analysis and luciferase reporter gene assays. Results: Treatment of UVB-irradiated NIH3T3 fibroblasts with BIOGF1K prevented UVB-induced cell death, inhibited apoptosis, suppressed morphological changes, reduced melanin secretion, restored the levels of type I procollagen and sirtuin 1, and prevented mRNA upregulation of MMP-1, MMP-2, and cyclo-oxygenase-2; these effects all occurred in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, BIOGF1K markedly reduced activator-protein-1-mediated luciferase activity and decreased the activity of mitogen-activated protein kinases (extracellular response kinase, p38, and C-Jun N-terminal kinase). Conclusion: Our results strongly suggest that BIOGF1K has anti-photoaging activity and that BIOGF1K could be used in anti-aging cosmeceutical preparations.