• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.305-311
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• 1984

Relationship between hypertension and monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity in rat brain and the change of this relationship by presynaptic ${\alpha}-receptor$ agonist were studied. Animals were divided into three groups. Group I was composed of normotensive Sprague-Dawley rats (NR), group II of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and group III of acquired hypertensive rats induced by deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) and NaCl treatment. Clonidine, a presynaptic ${\alpha}-receptor$ agonist, was administered to groups II and III. Blood pressures and MAO activities were measured in each group. MAO activities in the brain of SHR were lower than those of NR. Animals in group II received clonidine which lowered blood pressures but did not change MAO activities in the brain. DOCA and NaCl induced hypertension 21 days after these treatments in group III and did not cause any changes in brain MAO activity. Clonidine lowered blood pressures of group III but did not change MAO activities. The data from the present study suggest that abnormaly low MAO activities in SHR brain may be one of the underlying factors for the susceptibility to hypertension and that the decrease in noradrenergic neuronal activities through presynaptic ${\alpha}-receptor$ activation by clonidine may not be related to the changes of brain MAO activities.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2008

Gangliosides, sialic acid-containing glycosphingolipids, are implicated in many neuronal diseases, but the precise molecular mechanisms underlying their pathological activities are poorly understood. Here we report that TLR2 participates in the initiation of ganglioside-triggered inflammatory signaling responses. Using FACS analysis and immunofluorescence microscopy, we found that gangliosides rapidly enhanced the cell surface expression of TLR2 in microglia, while reducing that of TLR4. The ganglioside-dependent increase of TLR2 expression was also observed at the messenger and protein levels. We also showed that gangliosides stimulate the interaction of TLR2 with Myd88, an adaptor for TLRs, and obtained evidence that lipid raft formation is closely associated with the ganglioside-induced activation of TLR2 and subsequent inflammatory signaling. These results collectively suggest that TLR2 contributes to the ability of gangliosides to cause inflammatory conditions in the brain.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1111-1119
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• 2004

In this study, we investigated that the effects of corynoxeine on the apoptosis by inducible CT105 in PC 12 cells and neuronpathogenic agent as CT105 confirmed with apoptosis, DNA fragmentation, neurite outgrowth and immunocytochemistry analysis This study examines whether corynoxeine have an anti-alzhmeimer agent by inhibition of apoptosis by CT105 and induces neurite outgrowth. Cytotoxicity was assessed in PC12 cell cultures by DNA fragmentation and measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the culture media. The treatment of corynoxeine in exposure of cultures to CT105 and provided complete protection against cytotoxicity. CT105-induced cytotoxicity was blocked by apoptotsis, repaired by DNA fragmentation, neurite outgrowth and exposure to CT105 expression and regenerated with neurite outgrowth and immunocytochemistry by corynoxeine. These results indicate that in neuronal cell cultures, damage of T105, repaired excitotoxicity by corynoxeine and CT105-induced cytotoxicity is blocked primarily by the activation of anti-apoptosis.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.242-245
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• 2005

The most common feature of neurodegenerative disease (i.e. Alzheimer's disease, AD) is the increased number of activated microglial cells nearby the pathogenic area of the brain, such as amyloid plaque in AD. An abnormality of protein regulation and an imbalance of clearance against ${\beta}-amyloid\;(A{\beta})$ produced amyloid precursor protein (APP) can turn microglia into the activated feature out of the ramified resting phase. We examined the possibility that ginsenoside Rb1 could attenuate the microglial activation induced by massive $A{\beta}$ that has known to induce a chronic inflammation, which is a major cause of AD by damaging neuronal cells (i.e. apoptosis or necrosis). Aggregated $A{\beta}42\;(5\;{\mu}M)$ peptide was used with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ($10\;{\mu}g$) for a comparative control up to 48hours. We found that Rb1 reduced the production of nitric oxide as well as proinflammatory cytokines, such as $IL-1{\beta}$ and $TNF-{\alpha}$.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.35 no.2 s.137
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• pp.105-109
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• 2004

The effect of MeOH extract of Cibotium barometz (or Cibaro) on nogo-A expression was studied by neurite cone collapse and neurite outgrowth assay. The degrees of mRNA expression of BDNF, GDNF, and Caspase-3 in nogo-A were also examined with SK-N-SH cell lines using RT-PCR and confocal microscopy methods. We have shown that Cibaro treatment inhibits nogo-A activation in SK-N-SH cell lines. It has been shown that Cibaro increases the expression rates of neurofilament and enhances neurite outgrowth in neuroblastoma cells as increasing the amount of Cibaro. It has been also shown that Cibaro increases the expression rates of BDNF, GDNF mRNA in neuroblastoma cells as increasing the amount of Cibaro. These results suggest that Cibaro induces neutrite outgrowth by nogo-A inactivation and is, therefore, crucial for the treatments against anaplastic disc and spinal neuronal anesthesia.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.462-469
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• 2007

Objective : This study characterized the neurons in the lumbosacral cord that express phospho ERK (pERK) after distension or irritation of the bladder, and their relation to the vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1) positive primary afferents. Methods : Mechanical distension and chemical irritation of the bladder were induced by intravesical injection of the saline and mustard oil, respectively. Spinal neurons expressing pERK and the primary afferent fibers were characterized using multiple immunofluorescence for neurokinin 1 (NK1), neuronal nitric oxide synthetase (nNOS) and VR1. Results : Neurons in lamina I, medial dorsal horn (MDH), dorsal gray commissure (DGC) and sacral parasympathetic nucleus (SPN) were immunoreactive for pERK after either mechanical or chemical stimulation. The majority of pERK positive cells were positive for NK1 in lamina I and SPN, but not in the DGC. Most of pERK positive cells are not stained for nNOS except in a small population of the cells in the SPN and DGC. Contacts between perikarya and dendrites of pERK-positive cells and terminals of primary afferents expressing VR1 were identified in lamina I. lateral collateral path (LCP) and SPN. Conclusion : In this study, the lumbosacral neurons activated by mechanical and chemical stimulation of the urinary bladder were identified with expression of the pERK, and also provided the evidence that VR1-positive primary afferents may mediate the activation of these neurons.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.347-353
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• 2000

It has been well documented that a massive release of not only glutamate but also other neurotransmitters may modulate the final responses of nerve cells to the ischemic neuronal injury. But there is no information regarding whether the release of monoamines is directly associated with synaptic vesicular proteins under ischemia. In the present study, it was investigated whether synapsin 1, syntaxin and SNAP-25 are involved in the release of 5-hydroxytryptamine $([^3H]5-HT)$ in glucose/oxygen deprived (GOD) rat hippocampal slices. And, the effect of NMDA receptor using DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) on ischemia- induced release of 5-HT and the changes of the above proteins were also investigated. GOD for 20 minutes enhanced release of $[^3H]5-HT,$ which was in part blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonist, APV. The augmented expression of synapsin 1 during GOD for 20 minutes, which was also in part prevented by APV. In contrast, the expression of syntaxin and SNAP-25 were not altered during GOD. These results suggest that ischemic insult induces release of $[^3H]5-HT$ associated with synapsin 1, synaptic vesicular protein, via activation of NMDA receptor in part.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.359-364
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• 2013

Inordinate stress causes disorders of various systems in humans and activates defense mechanisms to maintain homeostasis in the body. Sleep is a vital, highly organized process regulated by complex systems of neuronal networks and neurotransmitters. Sleep is an essential biological process whose underlying regulating involves numerous anatomical structures and biochemical substances that can be compromised by stress and by the immune system. Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter of the central nervous system, and activation of GABAA receptors is known to favor sleep. This study was conducted to evaluate the possible application of Lactobacillus brevis BJ20 fermentation to improve the functional qualities of sea tangle Saccharina japonica and oyster Crassostrea gigas. Antioxidant activity was determined by assaying levels of radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and superoxide. L. brevis BJ20 fermentation of sea tangle and oyster enhanced both antioxidant and antiinflammatory activities. These results suggested that L. brevis BJ20 fermented sea tangle and oyster could be used for alleviation of stress and to promote sleep.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8313-8319
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• 2016

We have recently shown that thymoquinone (TQ) has a potent cytotoxic effect and induces apoptosis via caspase-3 activation with down-regulation of XIAP in mouse neuroblastoma (Neuro-2a) cells. Interestingly, our results showed that TQ was significantly more cytotoxic towards Neuro-2a cells when compared with primary normal neuronal cells. In this study, the effects of TQ on cell-cycle regulation and the mechanisms that contribute to this effect were investigated using Neuro-2a cells. Cell-cycle analysis performed by flow cytometry revealed cell-cycle arrest at G2/M phase and a significant increase in the accumulation of TQ-treated cells at sub-G1 phase, indicating induction of apoptosis by the compound. Moreover, TQ increased the expression of p53, p21 mRNA and protein levels, whereas it decreased the protein expression of PCNA, cyclin B1 and Cdc2 in a dose-dependent manner. Our finding suggests that TQ could suppress cell growth and cell survival via arresting the cell-cycle in the G2/M phase and inducing apoptosis of neuroblastoma cells.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.199-204
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• 2007

HCN (hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated) channels, whose gene family consists of four subunits (HCN1-4), mediate depolarizing cation currents and contribute to controlling neuronal excitability. In the present study, immunohistochemical and electrophysiological approaches were used to elucidate the role of HCN channels in the cerebellum. Immunohistochemical labeling for HCN1 and HCN2 channels revealed localized expression of both channels at pinceau, the specialized structure of presynaptic axon terminals of basket cells. To determine the functional role of the presynaptic HCN channels, spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were recorded from Purkinje cells, the main synaptic targets of basket cells in the cerebellum. While activation of HCN channels by 8-bromo-cAMP increased amplitude of spontaneous IPSCs, blockade of the activated HCN channels by subsequent ZD7288 application reduced the amplitude of spontaneous IPSCs to the level far below the control. Our results imply that modulation of HCN1 and HCN2 channels in presynaptic terminals of basket cells regulates neurotransmitter release, thereby controlling the excitability of Purkinje cells.