• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.75-85
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• 2023

This study was conducted to assess the effect of heptapeptide, composed of seven amino acids, on the activation of human hair cells isolated from human hair follicles. We have confirmed that the heptapeptide could bind to Lgr5 from the results of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis. Heptapeptide enhanced the proliferation of human hair follicle dermal papilla cells (HHFDPCs) in a dose dependent manner. It induced the protein level of nuclear β-catenin, and the expressions of β-catenin downstream target genes, including LEF1, Cyc-D1 and c-Myc, in HHFDPCs. Heptapeptide significantly induced the phosphorylation of Akt and ERK, and the mRNA expressions of growth factors, including hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), in HHFDPCs. In addition, heptapeptide significantly increased mRNA expression levels of differentiation-related transcription factors of human hair germinal matrix cells (HHGMCs) and differentiation markers of human hair outer root sheath cells (HHORSCs). Additionally, we investigated the effect of heptapeptide on human hair follicle stem cells (HHFSCs) differentiation and found that the heptapeptide reduced the mRNA and protein levels of stem cell markers, while it increased those levels of differentiation markers. These results have indicated that the heptapeptide promotes proliferation or differentiation of various types of hair follicle constituent cells through the induction of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. From the results, we have suggested that the heptapeptide in this study could be applied as a new functional material for the improvement of hair growth and alopecia.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2012

Differential capacity of the parthenogenetic embryonic stem cells (PESCs) is still under controversy and the mechanisms of its neural induction are yet poorly understood. Here we demonstrated neural lineage induction of PESCs by addition of insulin-like growth factor-2 (Igf2), which is an important factor for embryo organ development and a paternally expressed imprinting gene. Murine PESCs were aggregated to embryoid bodies (EBs) by suspension culture under the leukemia inhibitory factor-free condition for 4 days. To test the effect of exogenous Igf2, 30 ng/ml of Igf2 was supplemented to EBs induction medium. Then neural induction was carried out with serum-free medium containing insulin, transferrin, selenium, and fibronectin complex (ITSFn) for 12 days. Normal murine embryonic stem cells derived from fertilized embryos (ESCs) were used as the control group. Neural potential of differentiated PESCs and ESCs were analyzed by immunofluorescent labeling and real-time PCR assay (Nestin, neural progenitor marker; Tuj1, neuronal cell marker; GFAP, glial cell marker). The differentiated cells from both ESC and PESC showed heterogeneous population of Nestin, Tuj1, and GFAP positive cells. In terms of the level of gene expression, PESC showed 4 times higher level of GFAP expression than ESCs. After exposure to Igf2, the expression level of GFAP decreased both in derivatives of PESCs and ESCs. Interestingly, the expression level of $Tuj1$ increased only in ESCs, not in PESCs. The results show that IGF2 is a positive effector for suppressing over-expressed glial differentiation during neural induction of PESCs and for promoting neuronal differentiation of ESCs, while exogenous Igf2 could not accelerate the neuronal differentiation of PESCs. Although exogenous Igf2 promotes neuronal differentiation of normal ESCs, expression of endogenous $Igf2$ may be critical for initiating neuronal differentiation of pluripotent stem cells. The findings may contribute to understanding of the relationship between imprinting mechanism and neural differentiation and its application to neural tissue repair in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.471-478
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• 2013

Human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSCs) have therapeutic potential, including the ability to self-renew and differentiate into multiple lineages. Understanding of molecular mechanisms of stem cell differentiation is important for improving the therapeutic efficacies of stem cell transplantation. In this study, we determined the role of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT5) in the osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs. The down-regulation of NFAT5 expression by the transfection of a specific siRNA significantly inhibited osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs and decreased the activity of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-${\kappa}B$) promoter without affecting their proliferation and adipogenic differentiation. The inhibition of NFAT5 expression inhibited the basal and Tumor Necrosis Factor ${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) induced activation of NF-${\kappa}B$, but it did not affect TNF-${\alpha}$-induced degradation of the $I{\kappa}B$ protein. These findings indicate that NFAT5 plays an important role in the osteogenic differentiation of hADSCs through the modulation of the NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.77 no.4
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• pp.429-444
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• 1988

Considering the recent trent toward the development of multiple-use of forest trees, investigations for comprehensive information on these young stands of Hinoki cypress are necessary for rational forest management. From this point of view, 83 sample trees were selected and cut down from 23-ear old stands of Hinoki cypress at Changsung-gun, Chonnam-do. Various stem growth factors of felled trees were measured and canonical correlaton analysis, principal component analysis and factor analysis were applied to investigate the stem growth characteristics, relationships among stem growth factors, and to get potential information and comprehensive information. The results are as follows ; Canonical correlation coefficient between stem volume and quality growth factor was 0.9877. Coefficient of canonical variates showed that DBH among diameter growth factors and height among height growth factors had important effects on stem volume. From the analysis of relationship between stem-volume and canonical variates, which were linearly combined DBH with height as one set, DBH had greater influence on volume growth than height. The 1st-2nd principal components here adopted to fit the effective value of 85% from the pincipal component analysis for 12 stem growth factors. The result showed that the 1st-2nd principal component had cumulative contribution rate of 88.10%. The 1st and the 2nd principal components were interpreted as "size factor" and "shape factor", respectively. From summed proportion of the efficient principal component fur each variate, information of variates except crown diameter, clear length and form height explained more than 87%. Two common factors were set by the eigen value obtained from SMC (squared multiple correlation) of diagonal elements of canonical matrix. There were 2 latent factors, $f_1$ and $f_2$. The former way interpreted as nature of diameter growth system. In inherent phenomenon of 12 growth factor, communalities except clear length and crown diameter had great explanatory poorer of 78.62-98.30%. Eighty three sample trees could he classified into 5 stem types as follows ; medium type within a radius of ${\pm}1$ standard deviation of factor scores, uniformity type in diameter and height growth in the 1st quadrant, slim type in the 2nd quadrant, dwarfish type in the 3rd quadrant, and fall-holed type in the 4 th quadrant.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1099-1104
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• 2014

Aims and Background: Ginsenoside Rh2, which exerts the potent anticancer action both in vitro and in vivo, is one of the most well characterized ginsenosides extracted from ginseng. Although its effects on cancer are significant, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In this study, we sought to elucidate possible links between ginsenoside Rh2 and phosphoglucose isomerase/autocrine motility factor (PGI/AMF). Methods: $KG1{\alpha}$, a leukemia cell line highly expressing PGI/AMF was assessed by western blot analysis and reverse transcription- PCR (RT-PCR) assay after transfection of a small interfering (si)-RNA to silence PGI/AMF. The effect of PGI/AMF on proliferation was measured by typan blue assay and antibody array. A cell counting kit (CCK)-8 and flow cytometry (FCM) were adopted to investigate the effects of Rh2 on PGI/AMF. The relationships between PGI/AMF and Rh2 associated with Akt, mTOR, Raptor, Rag were detected by western blot analysis. Results: KG1${\alpha}$ cells expressed PGI/AMF and its down-regulation significantly inhibited proliferation. The antibody array indicated that the probable mechanism was reduced expression of PARP, State1, SAPK/JNK and Erk1/2, while those of PRAS40 and p38 were up-regulated. Silencing of PGI/AMF enhanced the sensibility of $KG1{\alpha}$ to Rh2 by suppressing the expression of mTOR, Raptor and Akt. Conclusion: These results suggested that ginsenoside Rh2 suppressed the proliferation of $KG1{\alpha}$, the same as down-regulation of PGI/AMF. Down-regulation of PGI/AMF enhanced the pharmacological effects of ginsenoside Rh2 on KG1${\alpha}$ by reducing Akt/mTOR signaling.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.7 s.80
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• pp.1207-1213
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• 2006

Tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}\;(TNF-{\alpha})$ has been implicated in skeletal diseases by promoting bone loss in inflammatory bone diseases. In the present study, we examined the effects of $TNF-{\alpha}$ on osteoblastic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs). $TNF-{\alpha}$ dose-dependently promoted matrix mineralization of hBMSCs with a maximal stimulation at 2ng/ml. $TNF-{\alpha}$ increased expression of alkaline phosphatase, which plays a crucial role for the matrix deposition. The $TNF-{\alpha}-stimulated$ osteoblastic differentiation was not affected by $NF_kB$ inhibitors, BAY and SN50. However, a JNK-specific inhibitor, SP600125 completely abolished the $TNF-{\alpha}-stimulated$ matrix mineralization and expression of alkaline phosphatase. These results suggest that $TNF-{\alpha}$ enhances osteoblastic differentiation of hBMSCs through JNK-dependent pathway.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.363-371
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• 2012

Sambucus williamsii var. coreana have been used as a traditional medical food. This research was conducted to investigate the antioxidants of S. williamsii var. coreana leave and stem extracts. Total phenolic content of S. williamsii var. coreana leaves and stem water extracts were 6.6 and 2.0 mg/mL. The EDA by DPPH free radical scavenging test of S. williamsii var. coreana leaves extracts were 99.5 and 89.7% in water and ethanol extracts contained phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$. The stem extracts were 92.2 and 94.3% in water and ethanol extracts contained phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$. The ABTS radical decolorization activity of water and ethanol extracts from leaves were 79.8 and 99.1% at phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$ and water and ethanol extracts from stem were 90.8 and 97.2% at phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$. The antioxidant protection factor of water and ethanol extracts from leaves were 1.1 PF and 1.1 PF at phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$ and water and ethanol extracts from stem were 1.4 PF and 1.0 PF at phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$. The TBARs of water and ethanol extracts from leaves were 88.7 and 98.1% at phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$ and water and ethanol extracts from stem were 93.6 and 90.6% at phenolic 200 ${\mu}g/mL$. The antioxidative activities of extracts from S. williamsii var. coreana leaves and stem were higher than BHT as positive control. These results suggests that S. williamsii var. coreana extracts have the greatest property as a natural antioxidative source.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.482-488
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• 2016

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subset of tumor cells, which are characterized by resistance against chemotherapy and environmental stress, and are known to cause tumor relapse after therapy. A number of molecular mechanisms underlie the chemoresistance of CSCs, including high expression levels of drug efflux transporters. We investigated the role of the antioxidant transcription factor NF-E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) in chemoresistance development, using a CSC-enriched colonosphere system. HCT116 colonospheres were more resistant to doxorubicin-induced cell death and expressed higher levels of drug efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) compared to HCT116 monolayers. Notably, levels of NRF2 and expression of its target genes were substantially elevated in colonospheres, and these increases were linked to doxorubicin resistance. When NRF2 expression was silenced in colonospheres, Pgp and BCRP expression was downregulated, and doxorubicin resistance was diminished. Collectively, these results indicate that NRF2 activation contributes to chemoresistance acquisition in CSC-enriched colonospheres through the upregulation of drug efflux transporters.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2016

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in the bone marrow and other somatic tissues reside in an environment with relative low oxygen tension. Cobalt chloride ($CoCl_2$) can mimic hypoxic conditions through transcriptional changes of some genes including hypoxia-inducible factor-$1{\alpha}$ (HIF-$1{\alpha}$) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). This study evaluated the potential role of $CoCl_2$ preconditioning on multi-lineage differentiation of C3H/10T1/2, a murine MSC line to understand its possible molecular mechanisms in vitro. $CoCl_2$ treatment of MSCs markedly increased HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and VEGF mRNA, and protein expression of HIF-$1{\alpha}$. Temporary preconditioning of MSCs with $CoCl_2$ induced up-regulation of osteogenic markers including alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and type I collagen during osteogenic differentiation, followed by enhanced mineralization. $CoCl_2$ also increased chondrogenic markers including aggrecan, sox9, and type II collagen, and promoted chondrocyte differentiation. $CoCl_2$ suppressed the expression of adipogenic markers including $PPAR{\gamma}$, aP2, and $C/EBP{\alpha}$, and inhibited adipogenesis. Temporary preconditioning with $CoCl_2$ could affect the multi-lineage differentiation of MSCs.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.111-117
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• 2008

Objectives and methods : Previous mechanistic studies suggest the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors represent the good candidates against tumor progression. MeOH extract of the stem barks of Euonymus alatus induced the strong inhibition of COX-2. A phenolic compound responsible for the anti- COX-2 known to involve in tumor adhesion and invasion has been studied through the methanol extracts. The compound, rosmarinic acid (ROS-A) was an ester of caffeic acid and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyllactic acid. ROS-A showed a strong inhibitory effect of COX-2 activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Then we have measured the IL-1${\beta}$, IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$ production related the immune regulation, induction of inflammatory related genes. Results and Conclusions :Hep3B cells produce proinflammatory cytokines of IL-1${\beta}$, IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$ while ROS A inhibited the cytokines production. Since IL-1${\beta}$, IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$ need the transcription factors such as nuclear factor- ${\kappa}$B (NF-${\kappa}$B) and activated protein-1 (AP-1), we measured the transcription factors. ROS-A inhibited the activation of p65, p50, c-Rel subunits of NF-${\kappa}$B and AP-1 transcription factors. These findings indicate that ROS A from the stem bark of E. alatus inhibits proliferation in metastatic cancer cells. It was suggested that stem barks of E. alatus could be suitable for anti-cancer drugs.