• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.200-207
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• 2015

Various natural products or their derivatives, mostly originating from plants, fungi, and bacteria, have been exploited as therapeutic drugs to treat various human diseases. In addition to previously explored organisms, research on natural compounds has now expanded into unexamined living organisms in order to identify novel bioactive substances. Here, we determined whether or not the larval form of the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle, contains cytotoxic substances that exclusively affect cancer cell viability. Ethanol extract and its solvent partitioned fractions, hexane and ethyl acetate fractions, showed anticancer effects against various human cancer cells derived from the prostate (PC3 and 22Rv1), cervix (HeLa), liver (PLC/PRF5, HepG2, Hep3B, and SK-HEP-1), colon (HCT116), lung (NCI-H460), breast (MDA-MB231), and ovary (SKOV3). Cell death induced by the fractions was a mix of apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy. The hexane fraction was administered intraperitoneally to nude mice bearing a hepatocellular carcinoma SK-HEP-1 and showed inhibition of tumor growth in vivo. Therefore, we concluded that worm extracts contain cytotoxic substances, which can be enriched by proper fractionation protocols, and further separation and purification could lead to the identification of novel molecules to treat human cancers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.416-421
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• 2008

This study was performed to determine the antimutagenic and anticytotoxic effects of soybean paste (doenjang) added deep sea water salt and see tangle in Salmonella Typhimurium TA98, TA100 and human cancer cell lines. In the Ames test, methanol extract of doenjang did not exhibit any mutagenicity but showed substantial inhibitory effects against mutation induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO). The methanol extracts of doenjang ($200{\mu}g$/plate) added deep sea salt and see tangle (doenjang C) showed approximately 89.1% and 70% inhibitory effect on the mutagenesis induced by MNNG and 4NQO against TA100 strain, whereas 84.4% inhibitions were observed on the mutagenesis induced by 4NQO against TA98 strain. The cytotoxic effects of doenjang methanol extracts against the cell lines with human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa), human hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep3B), human gastric carcinoma (AGS), human lung carcinoma (A549) and human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) were inhibited with the increase of the extract concentration. The treatment of 1.0 mg/mL doenjang C of methanol extracts showed strong cytotoxicities of 71%, 74.4%, 66.2%, 77.3%, and 71.2% against HeLa, Hep3B, AGS, A549, and MCF-7, respectively. In contrast 1 mg/mL treatment of doenjang C methanol extracts had only $10{\sim}40%$ cytotoxicity on normal human embryonal kidney cell (293). Doenjang methanol extract inhibited significantly the tumor growth in mice injected sarcoma-180 cells. Especially, doenjang C methanol extract showed an inhibition of tumor cell activity of 33% by the administration of 25 mg/kg methanol extracts.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.389-398
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• 2013

Platycodin D is a major constituent of triterpene saponins, which is found in the root of Platycodon grandiflorum, Platycodi Radix, which is widely used in traditional Oriental medicine for the treatment of many chronic inflammatory diseases. Several pharmacological effects of this compound have been reported recently, such as anti-inflammation, immunogenicity, anti-adipogenesis, lowered cholesterol, and anti-cancer activity. However, the mechanism by which this action occurs is poorly understood. In this study, we found that platycodin D greatly increased the potential of the anti-proliferative effect in various cancer cell lines. Our data revealed that platycodin D treatment resulted in a time- and concentration-response growth inhibition of U937 cells by inducing apoptosis, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies, chromatin condensation, and the accumulation of cells in the sub-G1 phase. Apoptosis induction of U937 cells by platycodin D correlated with an increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caused the down-regulation of IAP family members. In addition, platycodin D treatment resulted in proteolytic activation of caspase-3, the concomitant degradation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, and the collapse of the mitochondria membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}_m$). However, the cytotoxic effects induced by platycodin D treatment were significantly inhibited by z-DEVD-fmk, a caspase-3 inhibitor, which demonstrated the important role that caspase-3 played in the observed cytotoxic effect. These findings suggest that platycodin D may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for use in the control of human leukemia U937 cells. These findings also provided important new insights into possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of platycodin D.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.718-726
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to investigate the physiological activities of Aronia melanocarpa extracts on extraction solvents (through hot water extraction, 50% ethanol extraction, and 50% methanol extraction). The yield of 50% ethanol extract, 84.50%, was higher than that of the hot water extract (84.05%) and of the 50% methanol extract (76.20%). The total sugar content of the extraction solvent, 35.56~37.68 g/100 g, did not significantly differ. The total anthocyanin content of the 50% methanol extract, 395.10 mg/100 g, was higher than of 50% ethanol extract (318.61 mg/100 g) and of the hot water extract (252.82 mg/100 g). The anthocyanin composition of the cyanidin-3-galactoside, 364.65 mg/100 g, was higher than that of the cyanidin-3-arabinoside (163.06 mg/100 g) and of the cyanidin-3-glucoside (35.69 mg/100 g) in the 50% methanol extract. The DPPH radical scavenging activities of the 50% ethanol and the 50% methanol extracts at $100-1,000{\mu}g/mL$ were 7.96-70.01%, and 8.90-69.21%, respectively. The superoxide radical scavenging activities of all the extracts improved with an increase in the treatment concentration. The FRAP of the 50% ethanol extract and the 50% methanol extract at $100-1,000{\mu}g/mL$ were $57.14-817.87{\mu}M$ and $67.32-812.78{\mu}M$, respectively. The tyrosinase inhibitory activity of the 50% ethanol extract, 23.03-33.82% ($100-1,000{\mu}g/mL$), was higher than that of the other extracts. The cancer cell growth inhibition activity of the 50% ethanol extract (76.86% at $1,000{\mu}g/mL$) on HeLa cell line was significantly higher than of the hot water and of the 50% methanol extracts. There results suggest that the 50% ethanol extract from Aronia melanocarpa may be a useful for functional food material in the food industry.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2015

In this study, we tried to separate the photosensitizer that induces apoptosis of leukemia cells (U937) from perilla leaves. Perilla leaves (Perilla frutescens Britt var. japonica Hara) are a popular vegetable in Korea, being rich in vitamins (A and E), GABA, and minerals. Dried perilla leaves were extracted with methanol to separate the photosensitizer by various chromatographic techniques. The structure of the isolated compound (PL9443) was identified by 1D-NMR, 2D-NMR, and FAB-mass spectroscopy. Absorbance of the UV-Vis spectrum was highest at 410 nm and was confirmed by the 330, 410, and 668 nm. PL9443 compound was determined to be pheophorbide, an ethyl ester having a molecular weight of 620. It was identified as a derivative compound of pheophorbide structure when magnesium comes away from a porphyrin ring. Observation of morphological changes in U937 cells following cell death induced by treated PL9443 compound revealed representative phenomena of apoptosis only in light irradiation conditions (apoptotic body, vesicle formation). Results from examining the cytotoxicity of PL9443 substance against U937 cells showed that inhibition rates of the cell growth were 99.9% with the concentration of 0.32 nM PL9443. Also, the caspase-3/7 activity was 99% against U937 cells with the concentration of 0.08 nM of PL9443 substance. The result of the electrophoresis was that a DNA ladder was formed by the PL9443. The PL9443 compound is a promising lead compound as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy of cancer.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.128-139
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• 1998

Background: It is well known that various cytokines and growth factors secreted mainly from alveolar macrophages do the key role in the pathogenesis of IPF. But recently it has been known that structural cells like fibroblast can also release cytokines. So the phenotypic changes in fibroblasts of IPF may do a role in continuous progression of fibrosis. The aim of this study is to find out whether there is a change in the biologic properties of the lung fibroblasts of IPF. Subjects and Method: The study was done on 13 patients with IPF diagnosed by open or thoracoscopic lung biopsy and 7 control patients who underwent resectional surgery for lung cancer. Lung fibroblast cell lines (FB) were established by explant culture technique from the biopsy or resected specimen Result: Basal proliferation of the fibroblast of IPF(IFB) measured by BrdU uptake tended to be highter than control fibroblast(NFB) (0.212 0.107 vs $0.319{\pm}0.143$, p=0.0922), also there was no significant difference in proliferation after the stimulation with PDGF or 10% serum. On the contrary, the degree of inhibition in proliferation by PGE2 was significantly lower($33.0{\pm}13.1%$) in IFB than control($46.7{\pm}10.0%$, p=0.0429). The IFB secreted significantly higher amount of MCP-l($l574{\pm}1283$ pg/ml) spontaneously than NFB($243{\pm}100$ pg/ml) and also after the stimulation with TGF-$\beta$($3.23{\pm}1.31$ ng/ml vs $0.552{\pm}0.236$ ng/ml, p=0.0012). Similarly IL-8 and IL-6 seretion of IFB was significantly higher than NFB at basal state and with TGF-$beta$ stimulation. But after the maximal stimulation with IL-1,8, no significant difference in cytokine secretion was found between IFB and NFB. Conclusion : Above data suggest that the fibroblasts of IPF were phenotypically changed and these change may do a role in the pathogenesis of IPF.