• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.907-915
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• 2007

In this study the effect of water extract of Sophora tonkinensis Gapnep (RST) was investigated on the growth of human lung carcinoma A549 cells. Exposure of A549 cells to RST resulted in the growth inhibition in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay. The antiproliferative effect by RST treatment in A549 cells was associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. RST treatment did not induce the cell cycle arrest and the levels of tumor suppressor p53 as well as cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1). It was found that RST treatment decreased the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX) -2 mRNA and protein expression without significant changes in the expression of COX-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), which was correlated with a decrease in prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis. RST treatment also slightly inhibited the levels of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA and protein expression, and the activity of telomerase. Taken together, these findings suggested that RST-induced inhibition of human lung carcinoma A549 cell growth was aoosciated with the inhibition of COX-2 expression and PGE2 production. These results provided important new insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of RST.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1437-1449
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• 2007

In this study, the effect of extract of Corydalis yanhusuo (ECT) used in Oriental medicine therapy was investigated on the cell growth and apoptosis of HepG2 human hepatoma cells. It was found that ECT could inhibit the cell growth effectively in a dose-dependent manner, which was associated with morphological change and apoptotic cell death such as formation of apoptotic bodies, DNA fragmentation and increased populations of apoptotic-sub G1 phase. And we observed the effects of ECT on loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), using the JC-1 probe by DNA flow cytometric analysis. Apoptosis of HepG2 cells by ECT was associated with a down-regulation of anti apoptotic Bcl-2 expression, inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) expression and proteolytic activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9. However, ECT did not affect the pro-apoptotic Bax expression and activity of caspase-8. ECT treatment also concomitant degradation and /or inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), phospholipase C-1 ($PLC{\gamma}1$). Furthermore, ECT treatment caused a dose-dependent inhibition of iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2). Additionally ECT have been implicated in the regulation of telomerase expression. ECT treatment induced the down-regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA (hTERT) expression of HepG2 cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that ECT may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of HepG2 human hepatoma cells.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1996 no.05
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• pp.88-90
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• 1996

The right and left atrial pressures are important parameters in automatic control of a total artificial heart (TAH) within normal physiological ranges. Our TAH is composed of a moving actuator, right and left ventricles and the interventricular space enclosed by a semi-rigid housing. During operation of the TAH, the jnterventpicular space's volume is changed dynamically by the difference between the ejection volume of one ventricle and the inflow volume of the other. Therefore, the changes in pressure of the interventricular space is related to both atrial pressures. We measured the interventricular pressure (IVP) waveform using a pressure sensor and attempted to indirectly estimate the changes of atrial pressures. This method has an advantage that the sensor does not contact the blood directly. Furthermore, the IVP waveforms have its zero baseline in each pump cycle, thus the pressure measurements are free from the transducer drift problems by measuring the peak pressure from these baseline values. From the In vitro experiments, we found that the IVP waveform contained several useful parameters such as negative peak, dP/dT on the initial break, the area enclosed by the profile in each stroke, which are associated with atrial pressures and the filling conditions of the ventricles. The measured atrial pressures were linearly related to the negative peak of the interventricular pressure.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1969

Changes in the phosphorylation of Chlorella cells during the life cycle the aulotrophic and micotrophic synchronous culture were followed under the light and dark. 1. In the autotrophic culture of Chlorella the amounts of esterified phosphate compounds of the algal cell under the light increased during the growing period and decreased strikingly in the ripening period showing a peak at the $L_1$ i/-cell stage. 2. TRhe amount of total esterified phosphate compounds of the cell under the dark, however, decreased during the growing period and then kept fairly constnat during the ripening nad division periods showing the greates activity of the oxidative phosphorylation in the early growing stage. 3. It is presumed that the energy requirement of the dividing algal cell in the autotrophic culture is fulfilled prior to the nuclear division mostly by the photosynthetic phosphorylation. 4. In the mixotrophic culture, the amount of esterified phosphate compounds of the algal cells under the light increased during the growing period and decreased during the late ripening and early division periods showing a peak in the $L_2$-cell stage as in the case of the phosphorylation under the dark. 5. The phosphorylation of the fell grown in the glucose medium is more active under the dark than under the light in the stages of the growing and early ripening periods. 6. It is considered that the excess glucose in the algal cell not only promotes the oxidative phosphorylation but also inhibits the photosynthetic phosphorylation of the cell. 7. It is presumed that the energy requirement of the dividing algal cell in the glucose medium is fulfilled prior to the nuclear division by the combined action of oxidative and photosynthetic phosphorylation, mostly by the oxidative phosphorylation.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.257-261
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• 2006

The symptoms of malaria are periodic alternting of fever and chills on every one, two or three days. The patient has a fever at the first time of malaria, feels a chill, and has muscle pain at the next time. The long cycle of malarial fever such as every 2 or 3 days means that it takes a turn for the worse. In this study, oriental medicine was taken based on the oriental medicine principle such as Gagamcheongbi-tanggami(加減淸脾湯加味方), and the patient takes a turn for the better. The purpose of this paper is to report the patient with malarial fever, a chill and muscle pain who was improved dy oriental medical treatment.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2011

Protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in many cellular signaling pathways, it participates in many physiological processes, such as cell cycle, growth, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. To investigate the effect of PKC on the silkworm midgut tissue infection of Bombyx mori parvo-like virus (BmPLV), a B. mori atypical protein kinase C (BmaPKC) gene was cloned from larval midgut tissue, expressed in E. coli and purified. Additionally, the BmPLV susceptible silkworm strain and resistant silkworm strain were used to test the effect of the B. mori infection on BmPLV. The result showed that BmaPKC encodes a predicted 586 amino acid protein, which contains a C-terminal kinase domain and an N-terminal regulatory domain. The maximum expression amount of the soluble (His)6-tagged fusion protein was detected after 0.8 mmol/L IPTG was added and cultured at $21^{\circ}C$. The (His) 6-tagged fusion protein revealed about 73 kDa molecular weight which confirmed by western blot and mass spectrography. Furthermore BmaPKC protein were detected at 0-72 h post-infection in BmPLVinfected larval midgut tissue, western blot showed that as time went on, the expression of BmaPKC increased gradually in susceptible strain, the expression quantity on 72 h is 5 times of 0 h. However, in resistant strain, the expression quantity is slightly lower than susceptible strain. But no significant change in resistant strain was observed as time went on. The available data suggest that BmaPKC may involve in the regulation of BmPLV proliferation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.650-657
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• 2021

Metformin is an anti-diabetic drug and has anticancer effects on various cancers. Several studies have suggested that metformin reduces cell proliferation and stimulates cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. However, the definitive molecular mechanism of metformin in the pathophysiological signaling in endometrial tumorigenesis and metastasis is not clearly understood. In this study, we examined the effects of metformin on the cell viability and apoptosis of human cervical HeLa and endometrial HEC-1-A and KLE cancer cells. Metformin suppressed cell growth in a dose-dependent manner and dramatically evoked apoptosis in HeLa cervical cancer cells, while apoptotic cell death and growth inhibition were not observed in endometrial (HEC-1-A, KLE) cell lines. Accordingly, the p27 and p21 promoter activities were enhanced while Bcl-2 and IL-6 activities were significantly reduced by metformin treatment. Metformin diminished the phosphorylation of mTOR, p70S6K and 4E-BP1 by accelerating adenosine monophosphate-activated kinase (AMPK) in HeLa cancer cells, but it did not affect other cell lines. To determine why the anti-proliferative effects are observed only in HeLa cells, we examined the expression level of liver kinase B1 (LKB1) since metformin and LKB1 share the same signalling system, and we found that the LKB1 gene is not expressed only in HeLa cancer cells. Consistently, the overexpression of LKB1 in HeLa cancer cells prevented metformin-triggered apoptosis while LKB1 knockdown significantly increased apoptosis in HEC-1-A and KLE cancer cells. Taken together, these findings indicate an underlying biological/physiological molecular function specifically for metformin-triggered apoptosis dependent on the presence of the LKB1 gene in tumorigenesis.

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.89-101
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• 2018

In Mt. Halla, an arctic-alpine plant Diapensia lapponica var. obovata largely clings to rock surfaces. We observed the rock-surface temperatures of a rocky ridge on the summit area of the mountain from late April 2009 to early May 2010 in order to examine the diurnal and annual temperature variations and the thermal amplitude. We also investigated temperature regimes such as the frequency of freeze-thaw cycles and the temperature change, which might endanger the habitat through frost weathering. For comparison of slope aspects, temperature monitoring was carried out on the north and south faces of the same rocky ridge. The south face experiences the high daily maximum rock-surface temperatures and the high thermal amplitudes during the unfreezing season of May to November 2009. The temperature regimes are considered to exert physiological stress to the arctic-alpine plant. In addition, the south face shows the high frequency of freeze-thaw cycles during the seasonal freezing period of December 2009 to April 2010. This indicates that the south face is susceptible the exfoliation and granular disintegration of rock surfaces, which results in habitat destruction. As a consequence, the south face is believed to be less favorable for the establishment and growth of the arctic-alpine plant than the north face on the summit area of Mt. Halla.

• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.96-105
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• 2022

The ovary undergoes substantial physiological changes along with estrus phase to mediate negative/positive feedback to the upstream reproductive tissues and to play a role in producing a fertilizable oocyte in the developing follicles. However, the disorder of estrus cycle in female can lead to diseases, such as cystic ovary which is directly associated with decline of overall reproductive performance. In gene expression studies of ovaries, quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay has been widely applied. During this assay, although normalization of target genes against reference genes (RGs) has been indispensably conducted, the expression of RGs is also variable in each experimental condition which can result in false conclusion. Because the understanding for stable RG in porcine ovaries was still limited, we attempted to assess the stability of RGs from the pool of ten commonly used RGs (18S, B2M, PPIA, RPL4, SDHA, ACTB, GAPDH, HPRT1, YWHAZ, and TBP) in the porcine ovaries under different estrus phase (follicular and luteal phase) and cystic condition, using stable RG-finding programs (geNorm, Normfinder, and BestKeeper). The significant (p < 0.01) differences in Ct values of RGs in the porcine ovaries under different conditions were identified. In assessing the stability of RGs, three programs comprehensively agreed that TBP and YWHAZ were suitable RGs to study porcine ovaries under different conditions but ACTB and GAPDH were inappropriate RGs in this experimental condition. We hope that these results contribute to plan the experiment design in the field of reproductive physiology in pigs as reference data.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.229-234
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• 2022

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Indigo Naturalis (IN) is a dark blue powder obtained by processing leaves or stems of indigo plants, its anticancer effects have been reported in several studies. However, the pharmacological mechanism of IN in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is not elucidated. In this study, to investigate the anticancer efficacy of IN for SCLC, we presented potential active ingredients, SCLC-related targets, and pharmacological mechanisms of IN that are expected to have anticancer activity for SCLC using a network pharmacological analysis. The phytochemical compounds of IN have been collected through TCMSP, SymMap, or HPLC documents. The active ingredients of IN such as indirubin, indican, isatin, and tryptanthrin were selected through ADME parameters or literature investigations for each compound. Using the Compounds, Disease-Target associations Databases, 124 common targets of IN and SCLC were obtained. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway enrichment analysis was carried out. GO biological processes are associated with response to xenobiotic stimulus, positive regulation of protein phosphorylation, regulation of mitotic cell cycle, and regulation of apoptotic signaling pathway. KEGG disease pathways included Gastric cancer, Bladder cancer, SCLC, and Melanoma. The main anticancer targets of the IN for SCLC were analyzed in 14 targets, including BCL2, MYC, and TP53. In conclusion, the results of this study based on the network pharmacology of IN can provide important data for the effective prevention and treatment of SCLC.