• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.448-453
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• 1999

In ginsenoside Rh2-treated rat glioma C6Bu-1 cells, apoptotic morphological changes, such as cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation and pyknosis were confirmed by means of electron microscopy. To evaluate whether induction of apoptosis by ginsenoside Rh2 is mediated by the members of Bcl-2 family, we first established C6Bu-1 cells overexpressing Bcl-2. It was demonstrated that the expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, and Bax was not altered in ginsenoside Rh2-treated C6Bu-1 overexpressing C6Bu-1 cells failed to prevent from ginsenoside Rh2-induced cell death. These results suggest the existence of other apoptotic pathway that requires induction of apoptosis by ginsenoside Rh2 rather than the pathway through Bcl-2, $Bcl-x_{L}$ or Bax in C6Bu-1 cells.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.257-266
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• 1987

Investigation on the ability of nitrogen usage by N2-fixing Nostoc muscorum and cultured tobacco cells when they were associately cultured on nitrogen-free media was carried out. Also, effect of polyamines on the associated cultured condition was carried out. In addition, morphological changes of N. muscorum and cultured tobacco cells in associate culture were observed to detect the possibility of induction of nitrogen fixing ability on cultued plant cells. The activity of nitrogenase increased markedly when N. muscorum was grown exclusively on nitrogen-free media. When N. muscorum was cultured associately with cultured tobacco cells on nitrogen-free media containing polyamines, high activity was detected in 10-4 M spermine treated group. Investigation on the change of polyamine amounts showed two times increase in spermidine and eight times increase in spermine on a associate culture. These effects of associated culture were shown through morphological change such as dense loclization of N. muscorum around the cultured tobacco cells as well as inside the cells. These results indicate the viability of N. muscorum in cultured tobacco cells and possible induction of nitrogen fixation ability by symbiosis.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.518-524
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• 2000

We examined the modulation of protein kinase C (PKC) subtypes during apoptosis induced by ginsenoside Rh2 (G-Rh2) in human neuroblastoma SK-N-Bl(2) and rat glioma C6Bu-1 cells. Apoptosis induced by C-Rh2 in both cell lines was confirmed, as indicated by DNA fragmentation and in situ strand breaks, and characteristic morphological changes. During apoptosis induced by G-Rh2 in SK-N-BE(2) cells, PKC subtypes $\alpha$, $\beta$ and $\gamma$ were progressively increased with prolonged treatment, whereas PKC $\delta$ increased transiently at 3 and 6 h and PKC $\varepsilon$ was gradually down-regulated after 6 h following the treatment. On the other hand, PKC subtype $\beta$ markedly increased at 24 h when maximal apoptosis was achieved. In C6Bu-l cells, no significant changes in PKC subtypes $\alpha$, $\gamma$, $\delta$, $\varepsilon$ and $\beta$ were observed during apoptosis induced by G-Rh2. These results suggest the evidence for a possible role of PKC subtype in apoptosis induced by G-Rh2 in SK-N-BE(2) cells but not in C6Bu-1 cells, and raise the possibility that G-Rh2 may induce apoptosis via different pathways interacting with or without PKC in different cell types.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 1996

To study the compensatory aspect of putrescine biosynthetic enzyme n tobacco suspension cultured cells, we examined the contents of the cellular polyamines and the activities of arginine decarboxylase (ADC, EC 4.1.1.19) and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17) in the tobacco suspension cells treated with $\alpha$-difluoromethyl arginine (DFMA) or $\alpha$-difluoromethyl ornithine (DFMO). In the untreated cells, the content of the cellular putrescine was decreased during the first 3 hours and then subsequently increased. However, the content of the cellular spermidine and spermine remained constant during the incubation time. While ADC activity increased after 6 hours, ODC activity decreased following the rapid increase until 6 hours. DFMA induced the decrease in the contents of putrescine and spermidine, and the increase in that of spermine. It also caused the inhibition of ADC and ODC activities throughout the incubation time. DFMO produced the stimulation of ADC activity about 2 times of untreated cells and the decrease in the content of putrescine about 50% of them at 12 hour. The application of putrescine or cycloheximide prevented the increase of ADC activity by DFMO but that of actinomycin-D did not show any detectable effect. The stimulation of ADC activity by DFMO in tobacco suspension cultured cells was probably due to the enhancement of de novo synthesis for ADC protein, which might be regulated in the translation step by the content of the cellular putrescine.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.315-324
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• 2001

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cvs.Xanthi-nc and NC 82) plants infected with Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) were examined ultrastructurally. Local lesions produced by TMV were sunken and withered. The plants were subjected to temperature shift (TS), a method to produce programmed cell death (PCD), by placing the infected plants initially at high temperature (35$^{\circ}C$) for 2 days and then shifting them to greenhouse temperature (22-27$^{\circ}C$). As a result, expanded lesions around the original necrotic lesions were produced. The expanded area initially had no symptoms, but it withered and became necrotic 15 h after TS. No ultrastructural changes related to PCD were noted at 0 h after TS in Xanthi-nc tobacco tissues as well as in healthy and susceptible tobacco tissues infected with TMV, At 6 h after TS, chloroplasts were convoluted and cytoplasm began to be depleted; however no necrotic cells were found. At 17 h after TS, ground cytoplasm of affected cells was completely depleted and chloroplasts were stacked together with bent cell wall or dispersed in the intracellular space. Necrotic cells were also observed, containing virus particles in the necrotic cytoplasm. There were initially two types of symptoms in the expanded lesions: chlorosis and non-chlorosis (green). Abundant TMV particles and X-bodies were only found in the chlorotic tissue areas. These results suggest that PCD by TMV infection may start with the wilting of cells and tissues before necrotic lesion formation.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.143-150
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• 2002

A strong oxidative stress-inducible peroxidase promoter (referred to as SWPA2 promoter) was cloned from tell cultures of sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) and characterized in transgenic tobacco cultured cells in terms of biotechnological applications. Employing a transient expression assay in tobacco protoplasts, with five different 5'-deletion mutants of the SWPA2 promoter fused to the $\beta$-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene, the 1314 bp deletion mutant showed approximately 30 times higher GUS expression than the CaMV 35S promoter. The expression of GUS activity in suspension cultures of transgenic cells derived from transgenic tobacco leaves containing the -1314 bp SWPA2 promoter-GUS fusion was strongly expressed following 15 days of subculture compared to other deletion mutants, suggesting that the 1314 bp SWPA2 promoter will be biotechnologically useful for the development of transgenic cell lines engineered to produce key pharmaceutical proteins. In this respect, we developed transgenic cell lines such as tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. BY-2), ginseng (Panax ginseng) and Siberian ginseng (Acanthopanax senticosus) using a SWPA2 promoter to produce a human lactoferrin (hLf) and characterized the hLf production in cultured cells. The hLf production monitored by ELISA analysis in transgenic BY-2 cells was directly increased proportional to cell growth and reached a maximal level (up to 4.3% of total soluble protein) at the stationary phase in suspension cultures. The SWPA2 promoter should result in higher productivity and increased applications of plant cultured cells for the production of high-value recombinant proteins.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.261-266
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• 1995

Age-related change in the frequency of spontaneous sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and chromosornal aberrations were investigated in bone marrow cells of accelerated senescence-resistant mice (SAM R1) and senescence accelerated ones (SAM P1). And the effect of chronic treatment of ginseng extract (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) on these chromosomal abnormalities was tested in SAM P1. SCE frequency in the cells was progressively increased with age in both mice, but it was consistently higher in SAM P1 than in SAM R1 at all corresponding age. Chromosomal aberrations were, however, not significantly changed with age except that it was slightly increased in only aged SAM P1. Interestingly, the rate of these genetic instabilities in SAM P1 was remarkably retarded by long-term administration of ginseng water extract (0.05% in drinking water). These results suggest that frequency of spontaneous SCE in bone marrow cells increase in parallel with senescence of the mice, and SAM P1 is in the condition of being more exposed than SAM R1 to DNA damaging factors. These also indicate that long-term treatment of ginseng may reduce the genetic damage.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.231-235
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• 2000

The changes of calmodulin levels, calmodulin-binding proteins, and $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin-dependent glutamate decarboxylase during the growth of tobacco suspension cells were investigated. Tobacco cells exhibited a typical growth curve, including an exponential growth phase between 3 and 5 days after inoculation, and an apparent stationary phase occurring after 5 day. Although slight changes were observed from sample to sample, calmodulin protein levels remained similar during the phases of culture growth. Several $Ca^{2+}-dependent$ calmodulin-binding proteins including 56, 46, 36, and 32-kDa proteins were detected in tobacco cell extracts. The 56-kDa protein was identified as glutamate decarboxylase by Western-blot analysis using an anti-GAD monoclonal antibody. The levels of GAD protein and the specific activity of GAD enzyme were highest during the middle exponential phase of the culture growth cycle. These data suggest that $Ca^{2+}$/calmodulin-dependent glutamate decarboxylase is modulated during the growth of tobacco suspension cells.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.175-178
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• 2004

Transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Bright Yellow-2) cell lines expressing a human histone H1.5 (referred to as hH1.5), which suppress collagen-induced rheumatoid arthritis, were developed under the oxidative stress-inducible peroxidase (SWPA2) promoter. Tobacco BY-2 cells were transformed by Agrobacterium-mediated method. The kanamycin-resistant calli were selected on the modified MS medium containing 150mg/L kanamycin and 300mg/L claforan. Transgenic cell lines were confirmed by PCR and northern blot analysis. Recombinant hH1.5 (rhH1.5) protein (42 kDa) was also detected by Western blot analysis, showing a different molecular weight of human hH1.5 (32 kDa). These results suggested that a hH1.5 gene was properly introduced in tobacco cultured cells under the control of SWPA2 promoter. The further characterization of rhH1.5 protein remains to be studied.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.153-162
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• 2005

Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cells were transformed with rice expansin genes, OsEXPA4, OsEXPB3, OsEXPB4, and OsEXPB6, to elucidate the function of the genes in tobacco cells. The transformation increased the mass of the callus by $36\%-65 \%$, and the cell length by $12\%-28\%$. The cell width was decreased by $3\%$ for OsEXPB3, not changed for OsEXPB4, increased by $25\%\;and\;20\%$ for OsEXPA4 and OsEXPB6, respectively. From database search, seven expansin genes were found and six of them belong to EXPA group and one of them belongs to EXPB group. EXLA and EXLB were not found. All tobacco expansin genes were evenly distributed in the phylogenetic tree of rice and Arabidopsis expansin genes.