• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 2016

Osteoporosis is a bone pathology leading to increased fracture risk and challenging the quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an anthraquinone glycoside, aloin, on osteogenic induction of MC3T3-E1 cells. Aloin increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, an early differentiation marker of osteoblasts. Aloin also increased the ALP activity in adult human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSC), indicating that the action of aloin was not cell-type specific. Alizarin red S staining revealed a significant amount of calcium deposition in cells treated with aloin. Aloin enhanced the expression of osteoblast differentiation genes, Bmp-2, Runx2 and collagen 1a, in a dose-dependent manner. Western blot analysis revealed that noggin and inhibitors of p38 MAPK and SAPK/JNK signals attenuated aloin-promoted expressions of Bmp-2 and Runx2 proteins. siRNA mediated blocking of Wnt-5a signaling pathway also annulled the influence of aloin, indicating Wnt-5a dependent activity. Inhibition of the different signal pathways abrogated the influence of aloin on ALP activity, confirming that aloin induced MC3T3-E1 cells into osteoblasts through MAPK mediated Wnt and Bmp signaling pathway.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.531-534
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• 2010

Purpose: Lipobean$^{(R)}$s, widely used in lipodissolving techniques, contain phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate as its main substances. They have been approved only as medication for liver disease by the FDA. However, they have been used under various clinical settings without exact knowledge of its action mechanism. The authors designed an in vitro study to analyze the effects of different concentrations of phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate on adipocytes and other types of cells. Methods: Human adipose-derived stem cell were cultured and induced to differentiate into adipocytes. Fibroblasts extracted from human inferior turbinate tissue, and MC3T3-E1 osteoblast lines were cultured. Phosphatidylcholine solution dissolved with ethanol was applied to the culture medium at differing concentrations (1, 4, 7, 10 mg/mL). The sodium deoxycholate solution dissolved in DMSO applied to the medium at differing concentrations (0.07, 0.1. 0.4. 0.7 mg/mL). Cells were dispersed at a concentration of $5{\times}10^3$ cells/well in 24 well plates, and surviving cells were calculated 1 day after the application using a CCK-8 kit. Results: The number of surviving cells of adipocytes, fibroblasts and osteoblasts decreased as the concentration of sodium deoxycholate increased. However, all types of cells that had been processed in a phosphatidylcholine showed a cell survival rate of over 70% at all concentrations. Conclusion: This study shows that sodium deoxycholate is the more major factor in destroying adipocytes, and it is also toxic to the other cells. Therefore, we conclude that care must be taken when using Lipobean$^{(R)}$s as a method of reducing adipose tissue, for its toxicity may destroy other nontarget cells existing in the subcutaneous tissue layer.

• Laboraroty Animal Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.279-287
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• 2018

Placenta specific 8 (PLAC8, also known as ONZIN) is a multi-functional protein that is highly expressed in the intestine, lung, spleen, and innate immune cells, and is involved in various diseases, including cancers, obesity, and innate immune deficiency. Here, we generated a Plac8 knockout mouse using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The Cas9 mRNA and two single guide RNAs targeting a region near the translation start codon at Plac8 exon 2 were microinjected into mouse zygotes. This successfully eliminated the conventional translation start site, as confirmed by Sanger sequencing and PCR genotyping analysis. Unlike the previous Plac8 deficient models displaying increased adipose tissue and body weights, our male Plac8 knockout mice showed rather lower body weight than sex-matched littermate controls, though the only difference between these two mouse models is genetic context. Differently from the previously constructed embryonic stem cell-derived Plac8 knockout mouse that contains a neomycin resistance cassette, this knockout mouse model is free from a negative selection marker or other external insertions, which will be useful in future studies aimed at elucidating the multi-functional and physiological roles of PLAC8 in various diseases, without interference from exogenous foreign DNA.