• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.771-776
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• 2003

The present study was conducted to evaluate the regulation mechanism of nitric oxide(NO) by water-extracted Cyperus rotundus (WCR) in RAW 264.7 macrophages. We investigated the effects of cell proliferation in mouse spleen cell and RAW 264.7 macrophages cells. WCR enhanced mitogenic activity in the dose-response manner in mouse spleen cells and RAW 264.7 macrophages cells. In nitric oxide (NO) synthesis by WCR, WCR alone had an effect on NO synthesis. It was found that the production of NO of RAW 264.7 cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could be markedly inhibited by WCR. Inhibition of NO production was achieved by reducing inducible nitric oxide syntheses(iNOS) mRNA expression. The expression of IL-I gene by WCR was investigated using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). In RT-PCR, IL-1 family(IL-1 α, IL-1β) expressions were induced by WCR. These finding suggested that regulation of NO production by WCR may be, at least in part, associated with the regulation of iNOS mRNA expression and IL-1 family gene expression.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.823-832
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• 2001

Periodontal therapy has dealt primarily with attempts at arresting progression of disease, however, more recent techniques have focused on regenerating the periodontal ligament having the capacity to regenerate the periodontium. The effect of chitosan(poly-N-acetyl glucosaminoglycan), a carbohydrate biopolymer extracted from chitin, on periodontal ligament regeneration is of particular interest. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of chitosan on the human periodontal ligament fibroblasts(hPDLFs) in vitro, with special focus on their proliferative properties by M'IT assay, the synthesis of type I collagen by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and the activity of alkaline phosphatase(ALP). Fibroblast populations were obtained from individuals with a healthy periodontium and cultured with ${\alpha}MEM$ as the control group. The experimental groups were cultured with chitosan in concentration of 0.01,0.1, 1,2mg/ml. The results are as follows; 1. Chitosan-induced proliferative responses of hPDLFs reached a plateau at the concentration of O.lmg/ml(p<0.05). 2. When hPDLFs were stimulated with 0.lmg/ml chitosan, mRNA expression of type I collagen was up-regulated. 3. When hPDLFs were stimulated with 0.lmg/ml chitosan, ALP activity was significantly up-regulated(p<0.05). In summary, chitosan(0.lmg/ml) enhanced the type I collagen synthesis in the early stage, and afterwards, facilitated differentiation into osteogenic cells. The results of this in vitro experiment suggest that chitosan potentiates the differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells and may facilitate the formation of bone.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.589-597
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• 1998

Effects of Mori Folium Ethanol Soluble Fraction (MFESF) on mRNA expression of glucose transporters, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and leptin were examined in db/db mice. 500 and 1000mg/kg dose for MFESF (designated by SY 500 and SY 1000, respectively) and 5mg/kg dose for acarbose were administered for 6 weeks. Quantitations of glucose transporters (GLUT-2 and GLUT-4), ACC and leptin mRNA were performed by RT-PCR and in vitro transcription with co-amplification of rat ${\beta}$-actin gene as an internal standard. Muscular GLUT-4 mRNA expression in MFESF-treated groups were increased dose dependently. On the other hand, MFESF caused the GLLT-4 and leptin mRNA expressions in adipose tissue to decrease dose dependently, which means that triglyceride synthesis in adipocytes might be decreased and consequently signals adipocytes to inhibit the synthesis and release of leptin. Hepatic ACC mRNA expression in MFESF-treated groups was also decreased. and this may result in lowering of serum triiglyceride level. In contrast, liver GLUT-2 mRNA expressions in MFESF-treated and acarbose groups were increased. Higher rate of glucose uptake into hepatocytes is known to inhibit a phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK)-catalyzed reaction, which is a rate-limiting step in gluconeogenesis.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.281-288
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• 2013

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is one of the major extracellular matrix components in skin. The HA content is reported to decline with age, which may contribute to decrease in skin moisture, wrinkle formation and the decrease in elasticity of the skin. Among the family of HA synthase genes (HAS-1, 2, 3) identified so far, HAS-2 plays crucial roles in the regulation of HA synthesis in human skin fibroblasts. In this study, we elucidated the effects of ferulic acid isolated from Cnidium officinale on HA production. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR and quantitative real-time PCR showed that ferulic acid increased mRNA level of HAS-2 gene and ELISA assay also revealed that ferulic acid increased HA production in human skin fibroblasts. Our study suggests that ferulic acid might prevent age-dependent skin deteriorations such as wrinkles, dryness and elasticity decrease, all of which could be ascribed to the reduction of the HA content in human skin.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Prosthodontics
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.787-794
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• 2007

Statement of problem. Surface microgrooves on Ti substrata have been shown to alter the expression of genes responsible for various biological activities of cultured fibroblasts. However, their effect on enhancing cell proliferation is not yet clear. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine the dimension of surface microgrooves on Ti substrata that enhances proliferation and alters gene expression of cultured human gingival fibroblasts. Material and methods. Commercially pure Ti discs with surface microgrooves of monotonous $3.5{\mu}m$ in depth and respective 15 and $30{\mu}m$ in width were fabricated using photolithography and used as the culture substrata in the two experimental groups in this study (TiD15 and TiD30), whereas the smooth Ti was used as the control substrata (smooth Ti group). Human gingival fibroblasts were cultured on the three groups of titanium substrata and the proliferation, DNA synthesis, and gene expression of theses cells were analyzed and compared between all groups using XTT assay, BrdU assay, and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Results. From the XTT assay at 48 h incubation, the proliferation of human gingival fibroblasts in TiD30 was significantly enhanced compared to that in smooth Ti and TiD15. The results from the BrdU assay showed that, at 24 h incubation, the DNA synthesis was significantly enhanced in TiD30 compared to that in smooth Ti. In RT-PCR, increase in the expression of PCR transcripts of fibronectin, CDK6, $p21^{cip1}$ genes was noted at 48h incubation. Conclusion. Surface microgrooves $30{\mu}m$ in width and $3.5{\mu}m$ in depth on Ti substrata enhance proliferation and alter gene expression of cultured human gingival fibroblasts.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.998-1003
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• 2007

The green marine algae, Capsosiphon fulvescens (CF) is a food supplement cultivated in south coast of Southern Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of CF-induced hypopigmentation. The present study was designed to determine the effect of CF extracton melanogenesis in B16 cells, particularly its specific effects on tyrosinase and tyrosinase-related protein 2 (TRP-2). We measured melanin contents and analyzed melanosome associated protein levels using Western blot and Reverse transcription-polymerase chian reaction (RT-PCR) analysis. CF extract markedly inhibited melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity. In addition, cellular dendricity was slightly decreased by CF extract. In further experiments, CF extract significantly reduced the protein levels of tyrosinase and TRP-2 in B16 cells. RT-PCR analysis revealed that tyrosinase and TRP-2 mRNA levels were unaffected by CF treatment. Therefore, these results suggest that hypopigmentary effect of CF was due to post-translational degradationof tyrosinase and TRP-2.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.12D no.7 s.103
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• pp.1049-1064
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• 2005

The demands of increasingly complicated software have led to the proliferation of object-oriented design methodologies in embedded systems. To execute a system designed with objects in target hardware, a task set should be derived from the objects, representing how many tasks reside in the system and which task processes which event arriving at an object. The derived task set greatly influences the responsiveness of the system. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to derive an optimal task set due to the discrepancy between objects and tasks. Therefore, the common method currently used by developers is to repetitively try various task sets. This paper proposes Scenario-based Implementation Synthesis Architecture (SISA) to solve this problem. SISA encompasses a method for deriving a task set from a system designed with objects as well as its supporting development tools and run-time system architecture. A system designed with SISA not only consists of the smallest possible number of tasks, but also guarantees that the response time for each event in the system is minimized. We have fully implemented SISA by extending the ResoRT development tool and applied it to an existing industrial PBX system. The experimental results show that maximum response times were reduced $30.3\%$ on average compared to when the task set was derived by the best known existing methods.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.509-526
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• 2000

It is known that injuries to the dentin have a corresponding inflammatory effect on the pulp and these inflammatory effects frequently result in pulpal pathoses due to progressive degradation of pulpal connective tissue. It was supposed that the tissue degradation in different inflammatory process was controlled by proteinase activity and antiproteinase activity. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the pulp and periapical pathoses in terms of the activities of proteinase and proteinase inhibitor, 37 pulpal tissues were divided by clinical diagnostic criteria into normal pulp, acute inflamed pulp, and chronic inflamed pulp, and then those groups were subdivided by histopathological findings into 5 pulpal pathoses groups, i.e. normal pulp (P1, n=8), chronic pulpitis with fibrotic change (P2, n=2), chronic pulpitis with dystrophic calcification (P3, n=11), chronic pulpitis with pulp abscess (P4, n=7), acute pulpitis with necrotic change (P5, n=4), 26 periapical tissues were also divided by ordinary histopathological findings into 3 periapical pathoses group, i.e., granuloma (A1, n=17), cyst (A2, n=2) and abscess (A3, n=7). The activities of proteinases (cathepsin G, MMP-3) and proteinase inhibitors (${\alpha}1$-AT, TIMP-1 and, SLPI) were evaluated by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical methods. The results were as follows. 1. Generally, the intensity of immunohistochemical staining of proteinases and proteinase inhibitors increased in P2 and P5 groups compared to P1 group. 2. The immunohistochemical stain of proteinases and proteinase inhibitors was intensely detected in P2 group, showing low inflammatory reaction and low tissue degradation, but it was reduced in P3 and P4 groups, showing severe tissue degradation. 3. The distribution of proteinases and proteinase inhibitors in pulpal pathoses was consistently presented by immunohistochemical staining, while the expression of proteinase and/or proteinase inhibitors mRNAs in pulpal pathoses was occasionally detected by RT-PCR methods. 4. RT-PCR of proteinase and proteinase inhibitors was usually positive in P2, showing rare tissue degradation, but it was almost negative in P3 and P4, showing severe tissue degradation. 5. We presume that the reason why the level of proteinase and proteinase inhibitors was so sparse in RT-PCR method is due to the abrupt decrease of mRNA synthesis or degradation of synthesized mRNA of proteinase and/or proteinase inhibitors depend on the inflammatory reaction and/or on the degradation of pulp tissues(P3, P4). 6. Pulpal pathoses groups showed significant lower RT-PCR detection of proteinases and proteinase inhibitors than the periapical pathoses group(p<0.05), and there is no significant difference among the periapical pathoses groups(p>0.05).

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2015

Here we report a new chemical inhibitor against HIV-1 with a novel structure and mode of action. The inhibitor, designated as A1836, inhibited HIV-1 replication and virus production with a 50% inhibitory concentration ($IC_{50}$) of $2.0{\mu}M$ in an MT-4 cell-based and cytopathic protection antiviral assay, while its 50% cytotoxic concentration ($CC_{50}$) was much higher than $50{\mu}M$. Examination of the effect of A1836 on in vitro HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase showed that neither were molecular targets of A1836. The characterization and re-infection assay of the HIV-1 virions generated in the presence of A1836 showed that the synthesis of early RT products in the cells infected with the virions was inhibited dose-dependently, due in part to abnormal protein formation within the virions, thus resulting in an impaired infectivity. These results suggest that A1836 might be a novel candidate for the development of a new type of HIV-1 inhibitor.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.737-742
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• 2006

Open reading frame 60 of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (Bm60) is located between 56,673 and 57,479 bp in the BmNPV genome which encodes 268 amino acid residues with predicted molecular weight of 31.0 kDa. Bm60 and its homologues have been identified in 11 completely sequenced lepidopteran NPVs. The transcript of Bm60 was detected by RT-PCR at 18-72 h post-infection (p.i.), while the corresponding protein could be detected at 24-72 h p.i. in BmNPV-infected BmN cells by Western blot analysis using a polyclonal antibody against Bm60. The expression of Bm60 was inhibited in the presence of Ara-c, an inhibitor of viral DNA synthesis. These results together indicated that Bm60 was a late gene. The size of Bm60 product was found to be a 31 kDa in BmNPV-infected BmN cells, consistent with predicted molecular weight. Immuno-fluoresence analysis showed that the Bm60 product was first detected in the cytoplasm at 24 h p.i and also located in nucleus during later infection. In conclusion, the available data suggest that Bm60 is a functional ORF of BmNPV and encodes a 31kDa protein expressed in the later stage of infection cycle.