• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.375-387
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• 2009

Objective : Gyehyuldeung (GHD) has been widely used in oriental medicine for the treatments of cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Thus, its potential facilitatory activity on axonal regeneration was investigated in the rats. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were given crush injury at the sciatic nerve and the changes of axon growth after nerve injury on each nerve injury model were investigated with anti-NF-200 antibody, DiI, GAP-43 protein and Cdc2 protein Results : GHD-mediated enhancement of axonal regeneration after crush injury was measured in both qualitative and quantitative ways by immunofluorescence staining with anti-NF-200 antibody and retrograde tracing of fluorescence dye DiI. GAP-43 protein levels were elevated by GHD treatments in the distal injured sciatic nerve and DRG sensory neurons. The neurite outgrowth of DRG sensory neurons was facilitated by GHD treatment when co-cultured with Schwann cells and astrocytes prepared from injured sciatic nerves and injured spinal cord tissues, respectively. It was observed that Cdc2 protein was up-regulated in co-cultured Schwann cells or astrocytes and Cdc2 protein signals were co-localized to a certain extent with those of phospho-vimentin protein. Conclusions : These results suggest that GHD may play a facilitatory role in axonal regeneration by acting on the injured axons and adjacent non-neuronal cells. The current findings may be useful for the development of therapeutic targets through more specific explorations on molecular interactions between herbal components and endogenous factors.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.117-127
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• 2008

Objective: Bee venom (BV) has been used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and relief of pain in Oriental medicine. The two main components of BV are melittin and phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Of these, melittin, the major active ingredient of BV, has been reported to induce apoptosis and to possess anti tumor effects. Several studies have established that the agents inducing apoptosis in target organs suppress tumorigenesis. As the other component, PLA2 has been reported to induce neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. However, there was no report about proliferative effect of BV in neuronal cells. In order to examine the effect of BV on glioma cell, human glioma cell line, U87 was used. Methods: Analysis of proliferation was confirmed by MTT assay. BV increased cell number through dose and duration dependent manner and these effects are apparent at a concentration of 10 ug/ml. To observe which signaling molecules will be activated by BV, phosphorylation of Akt, MAPK, PYK2 or CREB were examined by Western blot analysis. To study the long term effect of BV in U87 cells, the image of cells treated with BV for 4 days were obtained. Results: The phosphorylation levels of PYK2 and Akt were increased at 5 min after addition of 10 ug/ml of BV and sustained to 2 hours. On the other hand, phosphorylation of MAPK and CREB were increased at 5 min, maximum at 10 min, and returned to 30 min. These imply that BV may activate two different signaling pathways, PYK2/Akt and MAPK/CREB. BV treated cells showed increased neurite number and length. Conclusion: These results propose that BV may induce differentiation as well as proliferation of U87 cells through the activation of PYK2/ Akt and MAPK/ CREB.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1142-1147
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• 2007

In this study, we investigated the effects of the flowers of Lespedeza bicolor on melanogenesis in a mouse melanocyte cell line, B16/F10 cells. Our results show that the flowers of Lespedeza bicolor significantly inhibits melanin synthesis in concentration-dependent manner. In addition, it was also found to inhibit the activity of tyrosinase, the rate-limiting melanogenic enzyme. While the flowers of Lespedeza bicolor have no direct inhibitory effect on tyrosinase activity in cell free assay system using mushroom tyrosinase. Moreover, the flowers of Lespedeza bicolor effectively suppressed the ${\alpha}-MSH-stimulated$ melanin formation, tyrosinase activity and dendrite outgrowth. These results suggest that the flowers of Lespedeza bicolor is a potent depigmetation agent.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.92-98
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• 2013

Bee Venom(below BV) has been used in alternative medicine to treat the diseases, such as pain diseases. BV contains a variety of peptides, including melittin, apamin, adolapin, MCD peptide, enzymes(i.e. PLA2), amines(i.e. histamine and epinephrine), and nonpeptide components. The two main components of BV are melittin and PLA2. The cell cytotoxic effects through the activation of PLA2 by melittin have been suggested to be the critical mechanism for the depress of cancer cell. Melittin and PLA2 have been reported to induce apoptosis and to possess anti-cancer effects and neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells. Analysis of proliferation was confirmed by MTT assay. BV decreased cell number through dose- and duration-dependent manner and these effects are apparent at a concentration of 3 ${\mu}g/ml$. To observe which signaling molecules will be activated by BV, phosphorylation of ERK, p38 MAPK, JNK and ERM were examined by Western blot analysis. To study the long term effect of BV in human gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines, the image of cells treated with BV for 4 days were obtained. BV was shown to exhibit anti-cancer activity in human gastric adenocarcinoma cell lines at a broad range of concentrations of 3 ${\mu}g/ml$. ERK, p38 MAPK and JNK were found to increase in BV treated cells. However, ERM which known to be involved in the cell death, was gradually decreased to 30minutes after addition 3 ${\mu}g/ml$ of BV. These results provide a possible BV-induced inhibitory signal for cancer proliferation that is initiated by the decrease in ERM activity. Moreover, it is likely that the activation of ERK, p38 MAPK and JNK are required for the BV-induced inhibition of cancer proliferation.

• Progress in Superconductivity
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.75-79
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• 2003

YBCO films were deposited with various thicknesses from 100nm to 1.6$\mu\textrm{m}$ on single crystal $SrTiO_3$ substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The effects of different deposition conditions, especially different deposition rates by means of changing the pulsed laser frequency up to 200Hz, on the J$_{c}$ value were studied. For YBCO film with the thickness of 200nm, the $J_{c}$ value of $2.1MA/\textrm{cm}^2$ has been achieved under the high deposition rate of 3.2nm/s (190nm/min). The $J_{c}$ can be maintained greater than $1M/\textrm{cm}^2$ with the thickness less than 1$\mu\textrm{m}$. The X-ray analysis was used to examine the texture, crystallization and surface quality. The SEM was employed to analyze the surface of YBCO, and it was shown the surface of YBCO film became rougher with increasing the thickness. There were many large singular outgrowths and networks of outgrowths on the surface of YBCO films which lowered the density of thick YBCO film. The outgrowth network was probably the a-axis YBCO corresponding to XRD $\theta$-2$\theta$scan and $\chi$-scan which were used to characterize a-axis orientation of YBCO film. The reason for J$_{c}$ declining with increasing the thickness was studied and discussed.sed.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.83-101
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• 2012

Objectives : This study was aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of Bogijetongtanggammi-bang (BJTG) on injury of the peripheral nerve tissues. Methods : Rats were divided into 2 groups. The rats of the first group were injected with Taxol (1.25 mg/kg) to their sciatic nerves, once each. The sciatic nerves of the rats of the second group were crushed by forcept for 30 seconds. Rats were administered with BJTG (400 mg/kg) or 0.9% saline for 5 days. Changes of DRG neurons, Schwann cells, Cdc2, caspase 3. phospho-p44/42 Erk1/2, phospho-vimentin and ${\beta}1$ integrin were observed by fluorescent microscope and analysed in western blot. Results : In Taxol-treated SD rat models, BJTG up-regulated neurite outgrowth, Schwann cells, Cdc2 and phospho-Erk1/2, and down-regulated caspase 3. In pressure-injured rat models, BJTG up-regulated axons of sciatic nerve, Schwann cells, Cdc2, phospho-vimentin, ${\beta}1$ integrin, and down-regulated caspase 3. Conclusions : Taken together, BJTG was promotive of nerve regeneration on SNI as well as Taxol-induced nerve injury. BJTG had a pharmaceutical property enhancing recovery of injured peripheral nerves and could be a candidate for drug development after further research.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.281-285
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• 2012

A previous animal study has shown the effects of erythropoietin (EPO) and its non-erythropoietic carbamylated derivative (CEPO) on neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. In the present study, we sought to investigate the effect of EPO on adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and to compare the ability of EPO and CEPO promoting dendrite elongation in cultured hippocampal neural progenitor cells. Two-month-old male BALB/c mice were given daily injections of EPO (5 U/g) for seven days and were sacrificed 12 hours after the final injection. Proliferation assays demonstrated that EPO treatment increased the density of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled cells in the subgranular zone (SGZ) compared to that in vehicle-treated controls. Functional differentiation studies using dissociated hippocampal cultures revealed that EPO treatment also increased the number of double-labeled BrdU/microtubulea-ssociated protein 2 (MAP2) neurons compared to those in vehicle-treated controls. Both EPO and CEPO treatment significantly increased the length of neurites and spine density in MAP2(+) cells. In summary, these results provide evidences that EPO and CEPO promote adult hippocampal neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation. These suggest that EPO and CEPO could be a good candidate for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety associated with neuronal atrophy and reduced hippocampal neurogenesis.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.893-901
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• 2001

We developed the nerve growth factor (NGF) loaded poly (L - lactide) (PLA) scaffolds by means of emulsion freeze drying method to the possibility for the application of the nerve regeneration of spinal cord disease and the degeneration in Alzheimer's disease. The release amount of NGF from NGF loaded PLA scaffold were analyzed over a 4 week period in vitro at phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.4, at $37^{\circ}C$. It can be observed the open cell pore structure of porous scaffolds and can be easily controlled the pore structure by the controlling of formulation factors resulting in the controlling of the release rate and the release period. The stability of NGF during the preparation of PLA scaffold was evaluated by comparing the released amounts of total NGF, assayed NGF enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Released NGF has been found to enhance the neurite sprouting and outgrowth from pheochromocytoma (PC-12) cells. These results suggest that the released NGF from NGF loaded PLA scaffold such as conduit type can be very useful for the nerve regeneration in the neural tissue engineering area.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.117-124
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• 1986

The present study was undertaken to evaluate rosette formation and NK activity of splenic lymphocytes in 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) treated mice. Mice were sensitized iv with 0.1ml of 1% sheep red blood cell (SRBC) suspension were treated with a single ip injection of olive oil alone or with different doses of MCA in oil at various time before or after sensitization, and were challenged at 4 days after SRBC. Rosette formation and NK activity of splenic lymphocytes were measured at 24 hours after challenge. Erythrocyte(E) rosette formation of splenic lymphocytes was significantly depressed in mouse treated with large dose of MCA (5~50mg) regardless of injecting time. But, there was no difference in the response between the treated with small dose of MCA (0.5mg). Whereas erythrocyte-antibody(EA) rosette or erythrocyte-antibody-complement(EAC) rosette forming cells were significantly depressed by MCA. Under small dose of MCA (0.5mg), any difference of NK activity was not observed in all course of injecting time. But, under large dose of MCA, the activity was markedly inhibited to about half the values seen in control and this suppression was transient, resulting that the normal level was reached again 19 days after MCA. These results, which conform with the predictions of immunosuppression hypothesis, suggest that MCA inhibits immunological responses including NK activity and thereby allows the outgrowth of antigenic neoplastic cells.

• BMB Reports
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.437-442
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• 2016

We aimed to study the role of protein L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase (PIMT) in neuronal differentiation using basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-induced neuronal differentiation, characterized by cell-body shrinkage, long neurite outgrowth, and expression of neuronal differentiation markers light and medium neurofilaments (NF). The bFGF-mediated neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells was induced through activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling molecules [MAPK kinase 1/2 (MEK1/2), extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), and p90RSK], and phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling molecules PI3Kp110β, PI3Kp110γ, Akt, and mTOR. Inhibitors (adenosine dialdehyde and S-adenosylhomocysteine) of protein methylation suppressed bFGF-mediated neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells. PIMT-eficiency caused by PIMT-specific siRNA inhibited neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells by suppressing phosphorylation of MEK1/2 and ERK1/2 in the MAPK signaling pathway and Akt and mTOR in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Therefore, these results suggested that PIMT was critical for bFGF-mediated neuronal differentiation of PC12 cells and regulated the MAPK and Akt signaling pathways.