• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the inhibitory effects of Resina Pini against Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) that is one of the major causes of dental caries and oral diseases. Topically applied Resina Pini (RP) would be incorporated in saliva and thus the factor associated with water solubility should be considered. In this paper, therefore, effects of various treatment for RP and activities of water extracts from unprocessed and processed RP were compared. The crude RP (RP1) and the recrystallized RP (RP2) in ethanol solution showed strong antimicrobial activities (d.>15mm) against S. mutans. All RP samples exhibited considerable inhibitory effect against glucosyltransferase produced by S. mutans $(IC_{50}=91.2\;to\;276.2\;{\mu}g/ml)$. The very considerable increase in cellular permeability of S. mutans was observed with RP1, RP2 and their water extracts. These results suggest that RP1 and RP2 may be a potential source for pharmaceutical products used for prevention and/or treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.777-782
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• 2016

The innate immune system has evolved to detect and destroy invading pathogens before they can establish systemic infection. To successfully eradicate pathogens, including viruses, host innate immunity is activated through diverse pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) which detect conserved viral signatures and trigger the production of type I interferon (IFN) and pro-inflammatory cytokines to mediate viral clearance. Viral persistence requires that viruses co-opt cellular pathways and activities for their benefit. In particular, due to the potent antiviral activities of IFN and cytokines, viruses have developed various strategies to meticulously modulate intracellular innate immune sensing mechanisms to facilitate efficient viral replication and persistence. In this review, we highlight recent advances in the study of viral immune evasion strategies with a specific focus on how Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) effectively targets host PRR signaling pathways.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2007

Curcumin and its analogues(Tetrahydrocurcumin THC, demethoxycurcumin ; BDMC and dimethoxycurcumin DiMC) were compared for their ability to inhibit the growth of human leukemia HL-60 cells. The growth of HL-60 cells was inhibited by curcumin, DeMC and DiMC, but not by THC lacking ${\alpha},{\beta}-unsaturated$ carbonyl groups thus suggesting that ${\alpha},{\beta}-unsaturated$ carbonyl groups are crucial for antiproliferative activity. The order of antiproliferative activity was DiMC, curcumin and BDMC indicating that the number of methoxy groups on the aromatic rings of the active compounds plays an important role in enhancing anti-proliferating activity. In comparison with cellular uptake of the active compounds, uptake capacity was found to be highest with DiMC, followed by curcumin and BDMC. Therefore, it is most likely that the differential antiproliferative activities of DiMC, curcumin and BDMC are associated with their capacities of cellular uptake resulting in building up of enough concentration inside the cells.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2008

As a part of an ongoing search for antioxidants from marine sources, antioxidant activities of 24 kinds of seaweeds (4 green algae, 8 brown algae, and 12 red algae) were investigated. The seaweeds were extracted by acetone/dichloromethane and methanol, respectively. The antioxidant properties of both extracts were evaluated using four different activity tests, including degree of occurrence of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), NO, lipid peroxidation, and GSH (glutathione) in mouse macrophage Raw 264.7 cells. The levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and GSH were measured using 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFDA) and monobromobimane as fluorescence probe, respectively. Moreover, the generation of NO and lipid peroxidation products were determined by each method based on the Griess reaction and TBARS assay. Solvent extracts from seaweeds such as Scytosiphon lomentaria, Prionitis cornea, Laruencia okamurae, Callophyllis japonica, Sargassum horneri, Dictyopteris divaricata, Lomentaria catenata, Corallina confuse, Ishige okamurae, and Ahnfeltiopsis flabelliformi exhibited high antioxidant activities in cellular oxidizing systems.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.134.1-134.1
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• 2017

In this study, we propose a new scaffold fabrication method, "direct electro-hydrodynamic jet process," using the initial jet of an electrospinning process and ethanol media as a target. The fabricated threedimensional (3D) fibrous structure was configured with multilayered microsized struts consisting of randomly entangled micro/nanofibrous architecture, similar to that of native extracellular matrixes. The fabrication of the structure was highly dependent on various processing parameters, such as the surface tension of the target media, and the flow rate and weight fraction of the polymer solution. As a tissue regenerative material, the 3D fibrous scaffold was cultured with preosteoblasts to observe the initial cellular activities in comparison with a solid-freeform fabricated 3D scaffold sharing a similar structural geometry. The cell-culture results showed that the newly developed scaffold provided outstanding microcellular environmental conditions to the seeded cells (about 3.5-fold better initial cell attachment and 2.1-fold better cell proliferation).

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.207-212
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• 2009

Celandine (Chelidonium majus, family Papaveraceae) is an herb used extensively in traditional Korean medicine. To investigate its antioxidant and antiproliferative activities, the methanolic extract of celandine was introduced. The antioxidant properties of the extract were tested using various in vitro systems, including hydroxyl radical scavenging assay, DNA damage protection assay, 1,1-diphenyll-2-2-pricylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity, metal chelating activity, and reducing power assay. The extract exhibited stronger antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}=7.92{\mu}g/mL$) against hydroxyl radicals in the Fenton system than butylated hydroxyanisole ($IC_{50}=51.46{\mu}g/mL$) and $\alpha$-tocopherol ($IC_{50}=67.48{\mu}g/mL$). Likewise, damage to the plasmid pBR 322 induced by hydroxyl radicals was found to be protected by the extract at a concentration of $400{\mu}g/mL$. Cellular proliferation and the induction of apoptosis were also examined by a cellular proliferation assay, flow cytometry, and mRNA expression analysis. Taken together, the extract significantly inhibited the growth of HT-29 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and gradually increased both the proportion of apoptotic cells and the expression of caspase-3. Overall, our research suggests that celandine possesses antioxidant and antiproliferative properties.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.45 no.11
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• pp.820-832
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• 2022

As a potential candidate to generate an everlasting cell source to treat various diseases, embryonic stem cells are regarded as a promising therapeutic tool in the regenerative medicine field. Cohesin, a multi-functional complex that controls various cellular activities, plays roles not only in organizing chromosome dynamics but also in controlling transcriptional activities related to self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells. Here, we report a novel role of the α-kleisin subunits of cohesin (RAD21 and REC8) in the maintenance of the balance between these two stem-cell processes. By knocking down REC8, RAD21, or the non-kleisin cohesin subunit SMC3 in mouse embryonic stem cells, we show that reduction in cohesin level impairs their self-renewal. Interestingly, the transcriptomic analysis revealed that knocking down each cohesin subunit enables the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into specific lineages. Specifically, embryonic stem cells in which cohesin subunit RAD21 were knocked down differentiated into cells expressing neural alongside germline lineage markers. Thus, we conclude that cohesin appears to control the fate determination of embryonic stem cells.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.159-165
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• 2023

The Ruvb-like AAA ATPase1 (Ruvbl1; also known as Pontin) is an evolutionary conserved protein belonging to the adenosine triphosphates associated with diverse cellular activities (AAA+) superfamily of ATPases. Ruvbl1 is a component of various protein supercomplexes and is involved in a variety of cellular activities, including chromatin remodeling, DNA damage repair, and mitotic spindle assembly however, the developmental significance of this protein is unknown and needs detailed investigation. We investigated the developmental significance of Ruvbl1 in multiciliated cells of the Xenopus laevis epidermis since ruvbl1 is expressed in the multiciliated cells and pronephros during X. laevis embryogenesis. The knockdown of ruvbl1 significantly impaired cilia-driven fluid flow and basal body polarity in the X. laevis epidermis compared to control embryos, but did not affect cilia morphology. Our results suggest that Ruvbl1 plays a significant role in embryonic development by regulating ciliary beating; however, further investigation is needed to determine the mechanisms involved.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.310-316
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• 2009

Some environmental chemicals have been shown to cause liver-toxicity as the result of bioaccumulation. Particularly, fungicides have been shown to cause varying degrees of hepatictoxicity and to disrupt steroid hormone homeostasis in in vivo models. The principal objective of this study was to evaluate the liver-toxic responses of environmental chemicals-in this case selected fungicides and parasiticides-in order to determine whether or not this agent differentially affected its toxicogenomic activities in hepatic tumor cell lines. To determine the gene expression profiles of 3 fungicides (triadimefon, myclobutanil, vinclozolin) and 1 parasiticide (dibutyl phthalate), we utilized a modified HazChem human array V2. Additionally, in order to observe the differential alterations in its time-dependent activities, we conducted two time (3 hr, 48 hr) exposures to the respective IC20 values of four chemicals. As a result, we analyzed the expression profiles of a total of 1638 genes, and we identified 70 positive significant genes and 144 negative significant genes using four fungicidic and parasiticidic chemicals, using SAM (Significant Analysis of Microarray) methods (q-value<0.5%). These genes were analyzed and identified as being related to apoptosis, stress responses, germ cell development, cofactor metabolism, and lipid metabolism in GO functions and pathways. Additionally, we found 120 genes among those time-dependently differentially expressed genes, using 1-way ANOVA (P-value<0.05). These genes were related to protein metabolism, stress responses, and positive regulation of apoptosis. These data support the conclusion that the four tested chemicals have common toxicogenomic effects and evidence respectively differential expression profiles according to exposure time.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.178-183
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• 2008

To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on regions remote from the application, we measured cellular, enzymatic, and transcriptional activities in various internal tissues of healthy rats. The EA was applied to the well-identified acupoint ST36 of the leg. After application, we measured the activity of natural killer cells in the spleen, gene expression in the hypothalamus, and the activities of antioxidative enzymes in the hypothalamus, liver and red blood cells. The EA treatment increased natural killer cell activity in the spleen by approximately 44%. It also induced genes related to pain, including 5-Hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 3a (Htr3a) and Endothelin receptor type B (Ednrb) in the hypothalamus, and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase in the hypothalamus, liver, and red blood cells. These findings indicate that EA mediates its effects through changes in cellular activity, gene expression, and enzymatic activity in multiple remote tissues. The sum of these alterations may explain the beneficial effects of EA.