• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.591-598
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• 2012

Aim and background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of naturally occurring small noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression, cell growth, differentiation and apoptosis by targeting mRNAs for translational repression or cleavage. The present study was conducted to study miRNAs in Egyptian breast cancer (BC) and their relation to metastasis, tumor invasion and apoptosis in addition to their association with the ER and PR statuses. Methods: Real Time RT-PCR was performed to identify the miRNA expression level of eight miRNAs and eight metastatic-related genes in 40 breast cancer samples and their adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. The expression levels of each miRNA relative to U6 RNA were determined using the $^{2-{\Delta}}CT$ method. Also, miRNA expression profiles of the BC and their corresponding ANT were evaluated. Results: The BC patients showed an up-regulation in miRNAs (mir-155, mir-10, mir-21 and mir-373) with an upregulation in MMP2, MMp9 and VEGF genes. We found down regulation in mir-17p, mir-126, mir-335, mir-30b and also TIMP3, TMP1 and PDCD4 genes in the cancer tissue compared to the adjacent non-neoplastic tissues. Mir -10b, mir -21, mir-155 and mir373 and the metastatic genes MMP2, MMP9 and VEGF were significantly associated with an increase in tumor size (P < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between any of the studied miRNAs regarding lymph node metastasis. Mir-21 was significantly over-expressed in ER-/PR-cases. Conclusion: Specific miRNAs (mir-10, mir-21, mir-155, mir-373, mir-30b, mir-126, mir-17p, mir-335) are associated with tumor metastasis and other clinical characteristics for BC, facilitating identification of individuals who are at risk.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.494-498
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• 2007

Pleiotrophin or osteoblast-specific factor 1(HOSF-1) is a growth-associated protein present in bone matrix. This study was designed to study pleiotrophin expression in osteoblastic cells. Pleiotrophin was expressed by osteoblast-like cell line. Pleiotrophin expression increased following the proliferative phase and was minimal at the terminal phases of the induced differentiation of cultured MC3T3-E1 cells. Pleiotrophin expression represents another autocrine factor that may contribute to the physiologic control of induced bone formation. In this study, induced osteogenesis will be examined in the context of the osteoblast expression of and regulation by PTN. I hypothesized that PDGF-BB stimulation of PTN expression represents an important paracrine signal during the induced osteogenesis associated with periodontal and implant surgeries. The possible mediation by PTN of anabolic effects attributed to PDGF-BB stimulation was examined in cell culture models of osteoblast differentiation. These studies will contribute fundamental insights to osteoblast biology and insights regarding the potential use of factors such as PTN in the clinical environment.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.500-506
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• 2004

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of aqueous extract from the healthful decoction utilizing Phellinus linteus (HDPL) on the growth of human lung carcinoma A549 cells. HDPL treatment declined the cell viability of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner and the anti-proliferative effects by HDPL treatment were associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. HDPL treatment did not affect the distribution of the cell cycle. Western blot analysis and RT-PCT data revealed that the levels of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21WAF1/CIP1 in HDPL-treated A549 cells were remained unchanged. However, HDPL treatment inhibited the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA and protein in a concentration-dependent fashion. Additionally, the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), a main determinant of the telomerase enzymatic activity, was progressively down-regulated by HDPL treatment. Taken together, these findings suggest that HDPL-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation is associated with the inhibition of several major growth regulatory gene products, such as COX-2 and hTERT, and HDPL may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.690-696
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• 2006

Houttuynia cordata Thunb, well known as 'E-Sung-Cho' in Korea, is a traditional medicinal plant generally used in Oriental medicine therapy. In the present study, we investigated the effect of water extract of H. cordafa (WEHC) on the growth of human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells. Exposure of MCF-7 cells to WEHC resulted in growth inhibition and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay and fluorescent microscope. The anti-proliferative effect of WEHC was associated with a dose-dependent up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 in a p53-independent fashion. We found WEHC decreased the levels of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthease (iNOS) expression without significant changes in the expression of COX-1 , which was correlated with a decrease in prostaglandin $E_2{\;}(PGE_2)$ synthesis. Taken together, these findings provide important new insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the anti-cancer activity of H. cordata.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1449-1455
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• 2004

Bufonis venenum (dried toad venom; Chinese name, Chan su) is a traditional Chinese medicine obtained from the skin venom gland of the toad. It has long been used in treating arrhythmia and other heart diseases in China and other Asian countries. Additionally, Bufonis venenum has been reported to selectively inhibit the growth of various lines of human cancer cells. In the present study, it was examined the effects of extract of Bufonis venenum (EBV) on the growth of human bladder carcinoma cell line T24 in order to investigate the anti-proliferative mechanism and induction of apoptosis by EBV. Treatment of T24 cells to EBV resulted in the growth inhibition, morphological change and induction of apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that EBV treatment caused G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle and down-regulation of cyclin A, cyclin B1 and Cdc2, which was associated with a marked up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) in a p53-independent manner. The Cdc25C expression was also significantly inhibited by EBV treatment, however Wee1 kinase expression was not affected. The induction of apoptotic cell death by EBV was connected with down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-XS/L expression without alteration pro-apoptotic Bax expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that EBV may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human bladder carcinorma cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds that confer the anti-cancer activity of EBV.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.187-193
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• 2006

Background : Normal cell proliferation and viability is strongly depends on the availability of metabolic energy and the maintenance of the appropriate adenylate-nucleotide pools. Hypothetically, changes in adenylate kinase (AK) expression could therefore be associated with adaptation to altered growth characteristics or inversely altered growth characteristics of proliferating cells could drive the changes in the metabolic profile. This study investigated whether the expression of either AK1 or a Mycobacterium tuberculosis adenylate kinase mutant which has the same catalytic activity of AK1 could affect the growth rate of slow-growing BCG. Method : Recombinant BCGs, which were cloned the human muscle-type adenylate kinase synthetic gene (AK1) and adenylate kinase mutation gene (AKmtDM) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis into the Mycobacterium/E.coli expression vectors, were constructed. Recombinant BCGs and wild-type BCG were cultured in 7H9 media and the optical density at 600nm was measured at intervals of 2-3 days. Result : There wasn't the growth rate change induced by AK1 or AKmtDM expression in recombinant BCGs. Conclusion : The expression of AK1 or Mycobacterium tuberculosis adenylate kinase mutant in BCG does not affect the growth rate of BCG.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.15 no.3 s.70
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• pp.486-491
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• 2005

Physical activity can improve sensorimotor recovery after peripheral nerve injury. Growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43) is highly correlated with neuronal development and axonal regeneration and present in large quantities in the axonal growth cone. Using immunofluorescene staining and anterograde and retorgrade techniques, we identified enhanced axonal regrowth in distal stump of the sciatic nerve 3-14 days after crush injury in rats with treadmill training. We also carried out western blot to investigate GAP-43 protein expression in injured sciatic nerve. GAP-43 protein levels were highly induced in the injured sciatic nerve 3, 7 and 14 days compared with sedentary group. Thus, the present data provide a new evidence that treadmill training promoted axonal re-growth after injury and increased GAP-43 protein levels in the regenerating nerve.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.845-852
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• 2014

Among various abiotic stress factors, soil salinity decreases the photosynthetic rate, growth, and yield of plants. Recently, many genes have been reported to enhance salt tolerance. The objective of this study was to characterize the Brassica rapa Salt Stress Resistance (BrSSR) gene, of which the function was unclear, although the full-length sequence was known. To characterize the role of BrSSR, a B. rapa Chinese cabbage inbred line ('CT001') was transformed with pSL94 vector containing the full length BrSSR cDNA. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis showed that the expression of BrSSR in the transgenic line was 2.59-fold higher than that in the wild type. Analysis of phenotypic characteristics showed that plants overexpressing BrSSR were resistant to salinity stress and showed normal growth. Microarray analysis of BrSSR over-expressing plants confirmed that BrSSR was strongly associated with ERD15 (AT2G41430), a gene encoding a protein containing a PAM2 motif (AT4G14270), and GABA-T (AT3G22200), all of which have been associated with salt tolerance, in the co-expression network of genes related to salt stress. The results of this study indicate that BrSSR plays an important role in plant growth and tolerance to salinity.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.53-59
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• 2023

Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) has no effect on normal cells, but selectively can induce apoptosis in tumor cells. Gartanin, a xanthone compound in mangosteen, has been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth by arresting the cell cycle and inducing autophage. In this study, we revealed that gartanin can sensitize TRAIL-induced human liver cancer cell death. We also found that gartanin enhances DR5 expression, a death receptor for TRAIL. This effect appears to be related to CHOP activation associated with the response of endoplasmic reticulum stress. Gartanin treatment also inhibited p62 protein expression and cleaved LC3 to activate autophagy flux, which is related with TRAIL-induced cell death. Pretreatment with autophagy flux inhibitor, LY294002, inhibited gartanin-induced DR5 expression. In summary, our results reveal that the combined treatment of gartanin and TRAIL can be a valuable tool for cancer treatment.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.124-129
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• 2005

Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found at high levels in grapes and in grape products such as red wine, has been reported to possess a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities including anti-oxident, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-carcinogenic effects, but its molecular mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effects of resveratrol on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced growth inhibitory activity and cell growth-regulatory gene products in astroglioma C6 cells to elucidate its possible mechanism for anti-cytotoxicity. It is shown that LPS induced time-dependent growth inhibition and morphological changes of C6 cells, which were recovered by pre-treatment with resveratrol. The anti-proliferative effect of LPS was associated with the induction of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) expression assessed by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis in time-dependent manner in C6 cells. In addition, the pro-apoptotic Bax expression was also up-regulated in LPS-treated C6 cells without alteration of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL expression. However, resveratrol significantly inhibited LPS-induced p53, p21 and Bax levels, suggesting that the modulation of p53, p21 and Bax levels could be one of the possible pathways by which resveratrol functions as anti-cytotoxic agent.