• 생명과학회지
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• 제24권12호
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• pp.1345-1355
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• 2014

약초 추출물을 이용한 혈관신생 억제는 많은 고형종양을 치료하기 위한 효과적인 방안으로 인식되어 왔다. 현재까지 가장 효과적으로 종양을 억제하는 방법은 VEGF-유도성 혈관형성 경로를 목표로 하는 것이다. 본 연구에서는 처음으로 복분자 온수추출물의 혈관형성 억제효과를 in vitro와 ex vivo 실험을 통해서 확인하였다. 복분자 온수추출물은 VEGF-유도성 혈관신생을 억제할 뿐만 아니라 ERK와 p38의 인산화, MMP의 활성화를 억제하였다. 또한, 복분자 온수추출물은 VEGF에 의해서 유도된 VEGFR2 인산화를 억제하였다. 이 결과들은 복분자 온수추출물이 VEGFR2의 인산화를 저해함으로써 혈관신생을 억제하고 이것은 혈관신생과 관련된 질병을 치료하는데 좋은 소재가 될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.196-203
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• 2013

Recent accumulating studies have reported that hypoxic preconditioning during ex vivo expansion enhanced the self-renewal or differentiation of various stem cells and provide an important strategy for the adequate modulation of oxygen in culture conditions, which might increase the functional bioactivity of these cells for cardiac regeneration. In this study, we proposed a novel priming protocol to increase the functional bioactivity of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) for the treatment of cardiac regeneration. Firstly, patient-derived c-$kit^+$ CPCs isolated from the atrium of human hearts by enzymatic digestion and secondly, pivotal target molecules identified their differentiation into specific cell lineages. We observed that hCPCs, in response to hypoxia, strongly activated ERK phosphorylation in ex vivo culture conditioning. Interestingly, pre-treatment with an ERK inhibitor, U0126, significantly enhanced cellular proliferation and tubular formation capacities of CPCs. Furthermore, we observed that hCPCs efficiently maintained the expression of the c-kit, a typical stem cell marker of CPCs, under both hypoxic conditioning and ERK inhibition. We also show that hCPCs, after preconditioning of both hypoxic and ERK inhibition, are capable of differentiating into smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and cardiomyocytes (CMs), but not endothelial cells (ECs), as demonstrated by the strong expression of ${\alpha}$-SMA, Nkx2.5, and cTnT, respectively. From our results, we conclude that the functional bioactivity of patient-derived hCPCs and their ability to differentiate into SMCs and CMs can be efficiently increased under specifically defined culture conditions such as short-term hypoxic preconditioning and ERK inhibition.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제11권6호
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• pp.383-389
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• 2011

Background: EY-6 is one of the newly synthesized indoledione derivatives to induce tumor cell-specific cell death. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of immunological death induced by EY-6 at mouse colon cancer cell as well as at the normal immune cell represented by dendritic cell. Methods: C57BL/6 mouse syngeneic colon cancer cell MC38 was treated with EY-6, and analyzed by MTT for viability test, flow cytometry for confirming surface expressing molecules and ELISA for detection of cytokine secretion. Normal myeloid-dendritic cell (DC) was ex vivo cultured from bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells of C57BL/6 mice with GM-CSF and IL-4 to analyze the DC uptake of dead tumor cells and to observe the effect of EY-6 on the normal DC. Results: EY-6 killed the MC38 tumor cells in a dose dependent manner (25, 50 and $100{\mu}M$) with carleticulin induction. And EY-6 induced the secretion of IFN-${\gamma}$ but not of TNF-${\alpha}$ from the MC38 tumor cells. EY-6 did not kill the ex-vivo cultured DCs at the dose killing tumor cells and did slightly but not significantly induced the DC maturation. The OVA-specific cross-presentation ability of DC was not induced by chemical treatment (both MHC II and MHC I-restricted antigen presentation). Conclusion: Data indicate that the EY-6 induced tumor cell specific and immunological cell death by modulation of tumor cell phenotype and cytokine secretion favoring induction of specific immunity eliminating tumor cells.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.61-67
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• 2011

The confocal laser scanning microscopy and two-photon microscopy was implemented based on a single laser source and an objective lens. We imaged and compared the morphology of identical sites of ex vivo human skin using both microscopes. The back-scattering emission from the sample provided the contrast for the confocal microscopy. The intrinsic autofluorescence and the second harmonic generation were used as the luminescence source for the two-photon microscopy. The wavelength of the Ti:Sapphire laser was tuned at 710 nm, which corresponds to the excitation peak of NADH and FAD in skin tissue. The various cell layers in the epidermis and the papillary dermis were clearly distinguished by both imaging modalities. The two-photon microscopy more clearly visualized the intercellular region and the nucleus of the cell compared to the confocal microscopy. The fibrous structures in the dermis were more clearly resolved by the confocal microscopy. Numerous cells in papillary dermal layer, as deep as $100\;{\mu}m$, were observed in both CLSM and two-photon microscopy. While most previous studies focused on fibrous structure imaging (collagen and elastin fiber) in the dermis, we demonstrated that the combined imaging with the CLSM and two-photon microscopy can be applied for the non-invasive study of the population, distribution and metabolism of papillary dermal cells in skin.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.255-262
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• 2022

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide produced primarily in the hypothalamus and plays an important role in the regulation of mammalian birth and lactation. It has been shown that oxytocin has important cardiovascular protective effects. Here we investigated the effects of oxytocin on vascular reactivity and underlying the mechanisms in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro and in rat aorta ex vivo. Oxytocin increased phospho-eNOS (Ser 1177) and phospho-Akt (Ser 473) expression in HUVECs in vitro and the aorta of rat ex vivo. Wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), inhibited oxytocin-induced Akt and eNOS phosphorylation. In the rat aortic rings, oxytocin induced a biphasic vascular reactivity: oxytocin at low dose (10^-9-10^-8 M) initiated a vasorelaxation followed by a vasoconstriction at high dose (10^-7 M). L-NAME (a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor), endothelium removal or wortmannin abolished oxytocin-induced vasorelaxation, and slightly enhanced oxytocin-induced vasoconstriction. Atosiban, an oxytocin/vasopressin 1a receptor inhibitor, totally blocked oxytocin-induced relaxation and vasoconstriction. PD98059 (ERK1/2 inhibitor) partially inhibited oxytocin-induced vasoconstriction. Oxytocin also increased aortic phospho-ERK1/2 expression, which was reduced by either atosiban or PD98059, suggesting that oxytocin-induced vasoconstriction was partially mediated by oxytocin/V1aR activation of ERK1/2. The present study demonstrates that oxytocin can activate different signaling pathways to cause vasorelaxation or vasoconstriction. Oxytocin stimulation of PI3K/eNOS-derived nitric oxide may participate in maintenance of cardiovascular homeostasis, and different vascular reactivities to low or high dose of oxytocin suggest that oxytocin may have different regulatory effects on vascular tone under physiological or pathophysiological conditions.

• 한국산업융합학회 논문집
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.365-378
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• 2022

Complete blood cell count(CBC) is a technique that counts leukocytes for each type of blood cell being analyzed. The principle is that laser is incident to ex vivo flowing leukocytes in a microcapillary tube and scattered light occurs by laser and leukocytes. By collecting the scattered light, we can count the types of cells because different cells generate different light-scattering patterns. However, the technique has an intrinsic limitation, scattering pattern is shown in a wide range region in the resulting, which makes it difficult to accurate analyze and use fluorescent dyes. To overcome this limitation, a new design of CBC with a dual laser, which irradiates with orthogonal angles for collecting quad-scattering information was proposed. Before development, the scattering difference depending on wavelength must be investigated to only catch up to the scattered signal by angles. Some studies, which focused on simple particles, have been conducted to theoretically and experimentally investigate different scatterings by wavelength. In this study, we propose an optical system for measuring scattered light and investigate a complex particle. As a result, the green laser made strong scattering signals in both the forward and side direction: 10% and 30%, respectively.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제25권6호
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• pp.693-702
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• 2015

신생혈관형성을 억제하는 것은 최근들어 많은 고형암의 치료에 있어서 매우 유용한 접근 방법이다. 현재까지 가장 잘 알려진 접근 방법은 신생혈관형성의 핵심인자인 혈관내피세포성장인자(VEGF)를 표적으로 하는 방법이다. 다양한 화학예방 물질들을 포함하는 많은 자연의 생산물들이나 추출물들은 그들의 항신생혈관형성 성질을 통하여 악성종양의 성장을 억제하고 있다. 황백은 항종양, 항균, 항염증 및 그외 다른 생물학적 작용을 가지고 있는, 오래전부터 널리 사용되어온 한국 전통 약재이다. 우리는 종양의 성장, 침투, 전이에 있어서 매우 중요한 과정인 신생혈관형성에 미치는 황백 온수추출물의 효과를 연구하였다. 황백 온수추출물의 항신생혈관형성 효과를 확인하기 위해서 혈관 내피세포의 성장, 이동, 침투, 관형성 그리고, 자이모그램 분석을 수행하였으며, 흰쥐 대동맥 주변 미세혈관 발아실험을 진행하였다. 그 결과, 황백 온수추출물은 혈관내피세포성장인자(VEGF)에 의해 유도되는 혈관내피세포의 성장, 이동, 침투, 관형성 그리고, 대동맥의 혈관발아를 억제하는 효과를 in vitro와 ex vivo 실험을 통해서 확인하였다. 또한, 황백 추출물은 VEGF에 의해 유도되는 기질금속단백질분해효소 (MMP)-2와 -9의 활성화를 저해하였다. 본 연구 결과들은 황백 온수추출물의 신생혈관형성 억제작용이 암과 같은 혈관신생과 관련된 질병을 치료하는데 좋은 소재가 될 수 있음을 시사한다

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제38권11호
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• pp.998-1006
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• 2015

Retinols are metabolized into retinoic acids by alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (Raldh). However, their roles have yet to be clarified in hepatitis despite enriched retinols in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Therefore, we investigated the effects of retinols on Concanavalin A (Con A)-mediated hepatitis. Con A was injected into wild type (WT), Raldh1 knockout ($Raldh1^{-/-}$), $CCL2^{-/-}$ and $CCR2^{-/-}$ mice. For migration study of regulatory T cells (Tregs), we used in vivo and ex vivo adoptive transfer systems. Blockade of retinol metabolism in mice given 4-methylpyrazole, an inhibitor of ADH, and ablated Raldh1 gene manifested increased migration of Tregs, eventually protected against Con A-mediated hepatitis by decreasing interferon-${\gamma}$ in T cells. Moreover, interferon-${\gamma}$ treatment increased the expression of ADH3 and Raldh1, but it suppressed that of CCL2 and IL-6 in HSCs. However, the expression of CCL2 and IL-6 was inversely increased upon the pharmacologic or genetic ablation of ADH3 and Raldh1 in HSCs. Indeed, IL-6 treatment increased CCR2 expression of Tregs. In migration assay, ablated CCR2 in Tregs showed reduced migration to HSCs. In adoptive transfer of Tregs in vivo and ex vivo, Raldh1-deficient mice showed more increased migration of Tregs than WT mice. Furthermore, inhibited retinol metabolism increased survival rate (75%) compared with that of the controls (25%) in Con A-induced hepatitis. These results suggest that blockade of retinol metabolism protects against acute liver injury by increased Treg migration, and it may represent a novel therapeutic strategy to control T cell-mediated acute hepatitis.

• 한국식품위생안전성학회지
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

피부를 대상으로 한 살균을 목적으로 하는 외용소독제의 경우 식품 취급자에 오염된 미생물의 사멸 또는 제거를 목적으로 활용될 수 있으며, 최근 개인위생에 대한 관심 증가에 따라 제품 소비 증가와 제품 다양화가 두드러지게 나타나고 있다. 살균 효능은 소독제의 핵심 품질 평가 요소로서 수행 절차 및 조건에 따라 상이한 결과가 나타날 수 있기 때문에 시험법의 효율성과 정확성을 높이기 위한 연구가 필요하다. 이에 본 총설논문에서는 주요 제형별(겔형, 액제형, 와이프형) 시험법 개발 현황을 파악하고 시험법별 특장점 분석 결과와 최근 관련 연구를 통하여 제시된 시사점을 기반으로 향후 효능 평가 체계의 발전 방향을 제시하고자 하였다. 인체 대상 시험법의 경우 시험 유형에 따라 소독제를 시험 대상 피부 표면에 처리하는 조건이 다양화되어 있어 시험법 간 동등성에 대한 평가를 통해 소독제 제품의 성분이나 특성에 따라 최적의 시험 유형을 파악하고 그에 대응되는 적절한 평가 체계 및 관련 규제의 표준화의 필요성을 시사하였다. 특히 와이프형 소독제의 경우 처리 방식이 미생물 제거 및 살균에 직접적으로 영향을 미침에도 불구하고 피부에 노출하는 손 대상 처리를 위한 사용 패턴의 표준화 사례가 부족 하였다. 한편 [전처리 - 소독제 노출 - 미생물 회수] 등 각 시험 절차별로 결과에 영향을 미치는 주요 결정 요인을 발굴하는 연구의 지속 수행을 통해 기존 시험법을 개선하고 신규 시험법을 개발하고자 하는 노력이 요구된다. 최근 활발하게 개발되고 있는 ex vivo 시험법은 인체 시험의 제한적인 연구 재현성과 같은 한계를 극복하면서도 인간 피부 환경을 구현하기 위한 기술의 적용을 통해 연구 결과의 신뢰도를 확보할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다. 한편 손 피부를 대상으로 한 균총 연구 등 소독제 처리 전후 미생물의 특성과 분포 분석 관련 연구가 최근 다수 보고되고 있어 이를 활용한 미생물 군집 단위의 소독제 효능 평가 시험법의 확립이 기대된다. 본 연구를 통해 제시된 소독제 효능 시험법의 현황 기반 발전 전략은 보다 효과적인 개인위생 관리 확립을 통해 손을 통해 교차 오염되는 미생물에 의한 감염성 질병 발생을 최소화하여 공중보건 및 식품 안전성 향상에 기여할 수 있다.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• 제40권3호
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• pp.175-180
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• 2010

Albumin-modification has been viewed as one of the most effective ways of extending the short in vivo lifetimes of peptide drugs by delaying glomerular filtration. In this study, we describe a new type 2 anti-diabetic exendin-4 (Ex4) peptide derivative with significant binding ability to human serum albumin (HSA). This exendin-4 derivative consists of a 4-branched polyethylene glycol $(PEG)_{5k}$ (Mw: 20 kDa) modified with three stearylamines ($C_{18}-NH_2$) and one exendin-4 on its branches. PEG and stearylamine were selected to provide functionality to increase molecular size and bind to albumin, respectively. This derivative ($3C_{18}-4PEG_{5k}$-Ex4) was shown to have larger molecular size (Ca. 152 kDa) than actual (25.0 kDa) when subjected to size-exclusion chromatography, and the fluorescein-tagged $3C_{18}-4PEG_{5k}$-Ex4 displayed significant binding to the HSA-immobilized Sepharose CL-4B resin using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Furthermore, $3C_{18}-4PEG_{5k}$-Ex4 was found to have acceptable anti-hyperglycemic efficacy via three consecutive oral glucose tolerance testings (OGTT) in fasted type 2 diabetic db/db mice. The $HD_{total}$ value ($57.6{\pm}12.3%$) of $3C_{18}-4PEG_{5k}$-Ex4 at a 50 nmol/kg dose was 2-fold greater than that ($31.0{\pm}8.7%$) of native exendin-4 in non-fasted db/db mice. Especially, the blood glucose levels in the mice group treated with $3C_{18}-4PEG_{5k}$-Ex4 did not rebound to ~150 mg/dL until 24 h after the injection, which obviously shows the extended hypoglycemia. We believe that this derivative has great pharmaceutical potential as a novel long-acting type 2 anti-diabetic injection treatment.