• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.895-903
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• 2019

The aim of the present study was to improve the cell viability of human dental papilla derived single-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using a Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, Y-27632. The iPSCs were produced using an episomal plasmid-based reprogramming method. After cell separation using trypsin, the iPSCs were treated with 0, 0.5, 1, 2.5, 5, 7.5, or $10{\mu}M$ Y-27632 for 5 d. Cell viability increased significantly following the $5{\mu}M$ Y-27632 treatment (p<0.05). When the iPSCs were exposed to medium containing $10{\mu}M$ Y-27632 for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 d, the cell viability rate increased significantly in accordance with the cell viability rate (p<0.05). To evaluate the effect of the Y-27632 treatment on stemness characteristics, the expression of stem cell-specific transcripts and telomerase activity were investigated in the iPSCs treated with $10{\mu}M$ Y-27632 for 5 d. The expression levels of stem cell-specific transcripts, such as OCT-4, NONOG, and SOX-2, and telomerase activity were not significantly different in the iPSCs treated with $10{\mu}M$ Y-27632 as compared with those of untreated control iPSCs (p>0.05). Taken together, the results demonstrated that cell viability can be improved by treatment with the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, without losing iPSC stemness characteristics.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.93-106
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• 2003

Objective : To investigate the possible molecular mechanism(s) of melittin as a candidate of anti-cancer drug, we examined the effects of the compound on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549. Methods: MTT, morphological changes, DAPI staining, Western blot, RT-PCR and in vitro prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) accumulation assays were performed. Results: The anti-proliferative effect by melittin treatment in A549 cells was associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. Melittin induced apoptotic cell death in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with inhibition or degradation of apoptotic target proteins such as ${\beta}$-catenin, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase(PARP) and phospholipase $C-{\gamma}1(PLC-{\gamma}1)$. Melittin treatment inhibited the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and accumulation of PGE2 in aconcentration-dependent fashion. In addition, Melittin treatment induced the down-regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) and proto-oncogene c-myc expression of A549 cells. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that melittin-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via regulation of several major growth regulatory gene products, and melittin may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.553-560
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• 2004

In the present study, we investigated the anti-proliferative effects of aqueous extract of Wikyung-tang(WKT) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549. WKT treatment declined the cell viability and proliferation of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The anti-proliferative effects by WKT treatment in A549 cells was associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. WKT treatment induced an inhibition and/or degradation of apoptotic target proteins such poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and phospholipase C-γ1 (PLC-γ1). WKT treatment did not affect the levels of other Bcl-2 family gene products, such as Bcl-2, Bax and Bad. Western blot analysis and RT-PCT data revealed that the levels of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 were induced by WKT treatment in A549 cells. Additionally, WKT treatment induced the down-regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA (hTERT) expression of A549 cells, however, the levels of other telomere-regulatory gene products were not affected. Taken together, these findings suggest that WKT-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via regulation of several major growth regulatory gene products and WKT may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2809-2813
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• 2014

Background: This study was conducted to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and cleft lip and palate transmembrane1-like (CLPTM1L) and lung cancer risk in a Chinese population. Methods: We performed a hospital-based case-control study, including 980 lung cancer cases and 1000 cancer-free controls matched for age and sex. Each case and control was interviewed to collect information by well-trained interviewers. A total of 5 ml of venous blood was collected for genotype testing of TERT rs2736098 and CLPTM1L rs401681 using TaqMan methodology. Results: The results revealed that the variant homozygote TERT rs2736098TT was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (OR=2.017, 95%CI=1.518-2.681), especially lung adenocarcinoma (OR=2.117, 95%CI=1.557-3.043) and small cell carcinoma (OR=1.979, 95%CI: 1.174-3.334), compared with the TERT rs2736098CC genotype. Similar results were observed in non-smokers. Conclusion: The TERT rs2736098 polymorphism might affect the susceptibility to lung cancer in Chinese populations. The associations need to be verified in larger and different populations.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.722-728
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• 2005

The DNA topoismerase I inhibitor ${\beta}-lapachone$, the product of a lapacho tree (Tabebuia avellanedae) from South America, activates a novel apoptotic response in a number of cell lines. In the present report, we investigated the effects of ${\beta}-lapachone$ on the growth of human lung in human non-small-cell-lung-cancer A549 cells. Upon treatment with ${\beta}-lapachone$, a concentration-dependent inhibition of cell viability and cell proliferation was observed as measured by hemocytometer counts and MTT assay. The ${\beta}-lapachone-treated$ cells developed many of the hallmark features of apoptosis, including membrane shrinking, condensation of chromatin and DNA fragmentation. These apoptotic effects of ${\beta}-lapachone$ in A549 cells were associated with a marked induction of pro-apoptotic Bax expression, however the levels of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 expression were decreased in a dose-dependent manner. Accordingly, elevated amount of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 expression accompanied by up-regulation of tumor suppressor p53 was observed. By RT-PCR analyses, decrease in gene expression level of telomerase reverse transcriptase and telomeric repeat binding factor were also observed. Thus, these findings suggest that ${\beta}-lapachone$ may be a potential anti-cancer therapeutics for the control of human lung cancer cell model.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.452-458
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• 2005

Cordyceps militaris is a medicinal fungus, which has been used for patient suffering from cancer in Oriental medicine. It was reported previously that C. militaris extracts are capable of inhibiting tumor growth, however, the anti-poliferative effects of human cancer cells have not been poorly understood. In this study, to elucidate the growth inhibitory mechanisms of human cancer cells by treatment of aqueous extract of C. militaris (AECM) we investigated the anti-proliferative effects of AECM in human leukemia U937 cell line. AECM treatment inhibited the growth of U937 cells and induced the apoptotic cell death in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with morphological changes. We observed the up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1) by p53-independent manner and activation of caspase-3 in AECM-treated U937 cells, however, the activity of caspase-9 was remained unchanged. Additionally, AECM treatment caused a dose-dependent inhibition of the expression of telomere regulatory gene products such as human telomere reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and telomerase-associated protein-1 (TEP-1). Taken together, these findings suggest that AECM-induced inhibition of human leukemic cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via modulation of several major growth regulatory gene products, and C. militaris may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.391-398
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of telomere length with breast cancer risk. We simultaneously explored the association between telomerase reverse transcriptase gene polymorphisms and telomere length. Methods: We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure relative telomere length (RTL) in genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood from 183 breast cancer cases and 191 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Results: Our results show that breast cancer patients had significantly shorter RTLs than control subjects (p<0.05). When the RTLs were categorized into tertiles, we found that the lowest RTL was significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk compared with the highest RTL (odds ratio [OR], 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40-3.90; p=0.001). Subgroup analyses indicated that risk of breast cancer was also significantly increased in the lowest RTL compared with the highest RTL in age >40 years (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.31-4.43;p=0.005), body mass index ${\leq}24kg/m^2$ (OR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.55-5.10; p=0.001), and postmenopausal women (OR, 3.94; 95% CI, 1.63-9.51; p=0.002), respectively. In addition, individuals with the AA genotype of rs2853677 have longer telomeres than those of breast cancer patients with the AG genotype (p=0.011). Conclusion: Our results suggest that shorter RTL was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. An association was found between the AA genotype of rs2853677 and longer RTLs in the case group. Functional studies are warranted to validate this association and further investigate our findings.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.33 no.3 s.98
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• pp.185-197
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• 2003

This study was performed to identify the characteristics of the OFC1 gene (locus: chromosome 6p24.3) in Korean patients, which is assumed to be the major gene behind the nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate. The sample consisted of 80 subjects: 40 nonsyndromic cleft lip and palate patients (proband, 20 males and females, mean age 14.2 years); and 40 normal adults (20 males and 20 females, mean age 25.6 years). Using PCR-based assay, the OFC1 gene was amplified, sequenced, and then searched for similar protein structures. Results were as follows: 1. The OFC1 gene contains the microsatellite marker 'CA' repeats. The number of the reference 'CA' repeats was 21 times, and formed as TA(CA)11TA(CA)10. But, in Koreans, the number of tandem 'CA' repeats was varied from 17 to 26 except 18, and 'CA' repeats consisted of TA(CA)n. 2. Nine allelic variants were found. Distribution of the OFC1 allele was similar between the patients and control group. 3. There was a replacement of the base 'T' to 'C' after 11 tandem 'CA' repeats in Koreans compared with Weissenbach's report. However, the difference did not seem to be the ORF prediction results between Koreans and Weissenbach's report. 4. The BLAST search results showed the Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and the Nucleotide binding protein 2 (NBP2) as similar proteins. The TERT was a protein product by the hTERT gene in the locus 5p15.33 (NCBI Genome Annotation; NT023089) The NBP2 was a protein product by the ABCC3 (ATP-binding cassette, sub-family C) gene in the locus 17q22 (NCBI Genome Annotation; NT010783). 5. In the Pedant-Pro database analysis, the predictable protein structure of the OFC1 gene had at least one transmembrane region and one non-globular region.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.323-331
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• 2005

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of $\beta-lapachone$, a quinone obtained from the bark of the lapacho tree (Tabebuia avellanedae) in South America, on the cell growth of human hepatoma (HepG2) and bladder (T24) carcinoma cells. Exposure of cancer cells to $\beta-lapachone$ resulted in growth inhibition, morphological changes and apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner, which could be proved by MTT assay and flow cytometry analysis. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analyses revealed that $\beta-lapachone$ did not affect the levels of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21 (WAFl/CIPl) expression. However, the transcriptional factor Sp-l and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) protein levels were significantly down-regulated by $\beta-lapachone$ in both cell lines. Moreover, $\beta-lapachone$ treatment caused a dose-dependent inhibition of the expression of telomere regulatory gene products such as human telomere reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and telomerase-associated protein-l (TEP-l). Taken together, these findings suggest that $\beta-lapachone$-induced inhibition of human hepatoma and bladder carcinoma cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via modulation of several major growth regulatory gene products, and provide important new insights into the additional mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of $\beta-lapachone$.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.374-382
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• 2017

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains unexplained and untreated despite the high attention of research in recent years. Aside from its various characteristics is the baffling male preponderance over the female population. Using a validated animal model of ASD which is the telomerase reverse transcriptase overexpressing mice (TERT-tg), we conducted ASD-related behavioral assessments and protein expression experiments to mark the difference between male and females of this animal model. After statistically analyzing the results, we found significant effects of TERT overexpression in sociability, social novelty preference, anxiety, nest building, and electroseizure threshold in the males but not their female littermates. Along these differences are the male-specific increased expressions of postsynaptic proteins which are the NMDA and AMPA receptors in the prefrontal cortex. The vGluT1 presynaptic proteins, but not GAD, were upregulated in both sexes of TERT-tg mice, although it is more significantly pronounced in the male group. Here, we confirmed that the behavioral effect of TERT overexpression in mice was male-specific, suggesting that the aberration of this gene and its downstream pathways preferentially affect the functional development of the male brain, consistent with the male preponderance in ASD.