• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.395-404
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• 2017

Fungal cell walls and cell membranes are the main targets of antifungals. In this study, we report on the antifungal activity of an ethanol extract from Paeonia lactiflora against Candida albicans, showing that the antifungal activity is associated with the synergistic actions of preventing cell wall synthesis, enabling membrane depolarization, and compromising permeability. First, it was shown that the ethanol extract from P. lactiflora was involved in damaging the integrity of cell walls in C. albicans. In isotonic media, cell bursts of C. albicans by the P. lactiflora ethanol extract could be restored, and the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the P. lactiflora ethanol extract against C. albicans cells increased 4-fold. In addition, synthesis of $(1,3)-{\beta}-{\small{D}}-glucan$ polymer was inhibited by 87% and 83% following treatment of C. albicans microsomes with the P. lactiflora ethanol extract at their $1{\times}MIC$ and $2{\times}MIC$, respectively. Second, the ethanol extract from P. lactiflora influenced the function of C. albicans cell membranes. C. albicans cells treated with the P. lactiflora ethanol extract formed red aggregates by staining with a membrane-impermeable dye, propidium iodide. Membrane depolarization manifested as increased fluorescence intensity by staining P. lactiflora-treated C. albicans cells with a membrane-potential marker, $DiBAC_4(3)$ ((bis-1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid) trimethine oxonol). Membrane permeability was assessed by crystal violet assay, and C. albicans cells treated with the P. lactiflora ethanol extract exhibited significant uptake of crystal violet in a concentration-dependent manner. The findings suggest that P. lactiflora ethanol extract is a viable and effective candidate for the development of new antifungal agents to treat Candida-associated diseases.

• 한국생물물리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국생물물리학회 2003년도 정기총회 및 학술발표회
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• pp.62-62
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• 2003

The native form of serpin (serine protease inhibitor) is kinetically trapped in metastable state. Metastability in these proteins is critical to their biological function. Serpins inhibit target proteases by forming a stable covalent complex in which the cleaved reactive site loop of the serpin is inserted into $\beta$-sheet A of the serpin with concomitant translocation of the protease to the opposite of the initial binding site. Despite recent determination of the crystal structures of a Michaelis protease-serpin complex as well as a stable covalent complex, details on the kinetic mechanism remain unsolved. In this study we constructed several $\alpha$$_1$-antitrypsin variants and examined their kinetic mechanism of loop translocation and formation of protease-serpin complex by stopped-flow experiments of fluorescence resonance energy transfer as well as quenched-flow experiment. We report here the relationship of serpin's conformational switch mechanism with Inhibitory activity. There is little direct correlation between loop insertion rate and inhibitory activity. Rather, disrupting a salt bridge between R196 and E354 accelerates loop translocation even though it impairs the inhibitory activity. Moreover, the serpin's reactive site loop is translocated, at least partially, prior to loop cleavage.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제13권6호
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• pp.283-288
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• 2013

The pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF${\alpha}$) and interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ are crucial mediators involved in chronic inflammatory diseases. Inflammatory signal pathways regulate inflammatory cytokine expression-mediated by p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38MAPK). Therefore, considerable attention has been given to p38MAPK as a target molecule for the development of a novel anti-inflammatory therapeutics. BIRB 796, one of p38MAPK inhibitor, is a candidate of therapeutic drug for chronic inflammatory diseases. In this study, we investigated the effect of BIRB 796 on inflammatory cytokine productions by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in different immune cell types. BIRB 796 reduced LPS-mediated IL-8 production in THP-1 cells but not in Raw 264.7 cells. Further analysis of signal molecules by western blot revealed that BIRB 796 sufficiently suppressed LPS-mediated phosphorylation of p38MAPK in both cell types whereas it failed to block inhibitor of kappa B (I-${\kappa}B$) degradation in Raw 264.7 cells. Taken together, these results suggest that the anti-inflammatory function of BIRB 796 depends on cell types.

• 천문학회보
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.68.2-68.2
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• 2016

We present the variability and time lag measurements of PG 0934+013 based on the photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign over two years. We obtained 46 epochs of data from the spectroscopic campaign, which was carried out using the South African Large Telescope with 1 week cadence over two sets of 4 month-long observing period, while we obtained 80 epochs of B band data from the campaign. Due to the six month gap between two campaigns, we separately measured the time lag of the $H{\beta}$ emission line by comparing the emission line light curve with the B band continuum light curve using the cross-correlation function techniques. We determined the time lags and black hole mass.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.375-382
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• 2012

Ginsenoside Rp1 (G-Rp1) is a saponin derivate that provides anti-metastatic activities through inhibition of the NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway. In this study, we examined the effects of G-Rp1 on regulatory T cell (Treg) activation. After treatment of splenocytes with G-Rp1, Tregs exhibited upregulation of IL-10 expression, and along with dendritic cells (DCs), these Tregs showed increased cell number compared to other cell populations. The effect of G-Rp1 on Treg number was augmented in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which mimics pathological changes that occur during inflammation. However, depletion of DCs prevented the increase in Treg number in the presence of G-Rp1 and/or LPS. In addition, G-Rp1 promoted the differentiation of the memory types of $CD4^+Foxp3^+CD62L^{low}$ Tregs rather than the generation of new Tregs. In vivo experiments also demonstrated that Tregs and DCs from mice that were fed G-Rp1 for 7 d and then injected with LPS exhibited increased activation compared with those from mice that were injected with LPS alone. Expression of TGF-${\beta}$ and CTLA4 in Tregs was increased, and upregulation of IL-2 and CD80/CD86 expression by DCs affected the suppressive function of Tregs through IL-2 receptors and CTLA4. These data demonstrate that G-Rp1 exerts anti-inflammatory effects by activating Tregs in vitro and in vivo.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.424-429
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• 2006

In the present study, a human mammary epithelial cell (HMEC) culture model was developed to evaluate the potential involvement of carrier-mediated transport systems in drug transfer into milk. Trypsin-resistant HMECs were seeded on $Matrigel^{circledR}-coated$ filters to develop monolayers of functionally differentiated HMEC. Expression of the specific function of HMEC monolayers was dependent of the number of trypsin treatments. Among the monolayers with different numbers of treatment (treated 1 to 3 times), the monolayer treated 3 times (3-t-HMEC monolayer) showed the highest maximal transepithelial resistance and expression of $\beta-casein$ mRNA as an index of differentiation. Transport of tetraethylammonium (TEA) across the 3-t-HMEC monolayer in the basolateral-to-apical direction was significantly higher than that in the apical-to-basolateral direction (p<0.05), whereas such directionality was not observed for p-aminohippurate, suggesting the existence of organic cation transporters, but not organic anion transporters. In fact, expression of mRNAs of human organic cation transporter (OCT) 1 and 3 were detected in the 3-t-HMEC monolayer. These results indicate that the 3-t-HMEC monolayer is potentially useful for the evaluation of carrier-mediated secretion of drugs including organic cations into human milk.

• Biomaterials and Biomechanics in Bioengineering
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• 제3권1호
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• pp.37-46
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• 2016

To maintain activity in a coenzyme/enzyme mixture system, such as ${\beta}$-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)/dehydrogenase, the water-soluble 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymers as an additive were synthesized and investigated for their stabilizing function. The inhibitor for the NADH/dehydrogenase reaction was spontaneously formed when the NADH was stored in the dehydrogenase solution. Therefore, we hypothesized that if the additive polymer could interact with an inhibitor without any adverse effect on the dehydrogenase, the activity in the NADH/dehydrogenase mixture could be maintained. We selected lactose dehydrogenase (LDH) as the enzyme, and the NADH was dissolved and incubated at $37^{\circ}C$ in the LDH solution containing the polymers. The phospholipid polymers used in this study were poly(MPC) (PMPC), poly(MPC-co-3-trimethylammonium-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate chloride) (PMQ) and poly[MPC-co-potassium 3-methacryloyloxypropyl sulfonate ($MSO_3$)] ($PMMSO_3$). The poly($MSO_3$) was used as a reference. For the PMQ and $PMSO_3$ aqueous solutions, the activity of the NADH/LDH mixture system decreased with incubation time as the same level or lower than that in the Tris buffered solution in the absence of the polymers. However, for the poly($MPC-co-MSO_3$) ($PMMSO_3$) aqueous solution, the activity of the NADH/LDH mixed system was six times higher than that in the buffered solution even after a 3-days incubation. The LDH activity was 1.5-1.8 times higher in the presence of the $PMMSO_3$ compared with that in the $PMSO_3$ solution. The mixture of two polymers, poly(MPC) and poly($MSO_3$), did not produce any stabilization. Thus, both the MPC and $MSO_3$ units in the polymer chain had important and cooperative effects for stabilizing the NADH/LDH mixture.

• Animal cells and systems
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.302-312
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Phellodendri Cortex extract (PCE) could improve learning and memory impairments caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in the rat brain. The effect of PCE on modulating pro-inflammatory mediators in the hippocampus and its underlying mechanism were investigated. Injection of LPS into the lateral ventricle caused acute regional inflammation and subsequent deficits in spatial learning ability in the rats. Daily administration of PCE (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, i.p.) for 21 days markedly improved the LPS-induced learning and memory disabilities in the Morris water maze and passive avoidance test. PCE administration significantly decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$, interleukin-$1{\beta}$, and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA in the hippocampus, as assessed by RT-PCR analysis and immunohistochemistry. Together, these findings suggest that PCE significantly attenuated LPS-induced spatial cognitive impairment through inhibiting the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators in the rat brain. These results suggested that PCE may be effective in preventing or slowing the development of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, by improving cognitive and memory function because of its anti-inflammation activity in the brain.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.1462-1469
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• 2007

This study has been carried out to understand the effect of Gangsim-tang on the hyperglycemic mice induced with Streptozotocin(STZ). The 60 mg/kg of streptozotocin(STZ) was treated into mice twice by 24 hrs interval and then 120 mg/kg STZ was treated again 3 days after the earlier treated. Control group was administered mice with 0.9％ saline(2ml/kg), and experimental groups were administered Gangsim-tang extract(GA group, 10 ㎎/㎏/day; GB group, 30 mg/kg/day) after hyperglycemic induction daily for 6 weeks. The body weight of experimental groups was lower than control. The blood glucose concentration increased continuously, reaching to 298.9 mg/dl after 6 weeks, however, experimental groups of the GA and GB groups significantly(p<0.01) decreased in the 4, 5, and 6 weeks groups. Blood glucose tolerance test was not significant between control and experimental groups. We examined the blood transaminase activities to know the effect of herbal medicine on liver function. The glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase(GOT) activity was lower in group GB than in control. The glutamic-pyruvic transaminse(GPT) activity was lower in group GA and GB than in control. The superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase activities were higher in the group GA compared to control. The results of immunohistochemical study, Langerhan's islet of pancreas was destructed by treatment of STZ in the control, and a few of insulin positive cells observed in the control and experimental group. These results suggest that administration of Gangsim-tang extract to the hyperglycemic mice induced with STZ not regeneration of ${\beta}-cells$ but control of the blood glucose level.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.190-201
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• 2015

This paper uses the switching function approach to present a simple state model of the Vienna-type rectifier. The approach introduces the relationship between the DC-link neutral point voltage and the AC side phase currents. A novel direct power control (DPC) strategy, which is based on the sliding mode control (SMC) for Vienna I rectifiers, is developed using the proposed power model in the stationary ${\alpha}-{\beta}$ reference frames. The SMC-based DPC methodology directly regulates instantaneous active and reactive powers without transforming to a synchronous rotating coordinate reference frame or a tracking phase angle of grid voltage. Moreover, the required rectifier control voltages are directly calculated by utilizing the non-linear SMC scheme. Theoretically, active and reactive power flows are controlled without ripple or cross coupling. Furthermore, the fixed-switching frequency is obtained by employing the simplified space vector modulation (SVM). SVM solves the complicated designing problem of the AC harmonic filter. The simplified SVM is based on the simplification of the space vector diagram of a three-level converter into that of a two-level converter. The dwelling time calculation and switching sequence selection are easily implemented like those in the conventional two-level rectifier. Replacing the current control loops with power control loops simplifies the system design and enhances the transient performance. The simulation models in MATLAB/Simulink and the digital signal processor-controlled 1.5 kW Vienna-type rectifier are used to verify the fast responses and robustness of the proposed control scheme.