• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.9
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• pp.984-992
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• 2015

Sanguinarine is a benzophenanthridine alkaloid originally isolated from the roots of Sanguinaria canadensis. It has multiple biological activities (e.g., antioxidant and antiproliferative) and immune-enhancing potential. In this study, we explored the proapoptotic properties and modes of action of sanguinarine in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells. Our results revealed that sanguinarine inhibited HepG2 cell growth and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The induction of apoptosis by sanguinarine was associated with the up-regulation of Fas and Bax, the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol, and the loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential. In addition, sanguinarine activated caspase-9 and -8, initiator caspases of the intrinsic and death extrinsic pathways, respectively, and caspase-3, accompanied by proteolytic degradation of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Sanguinarine also triggered the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The elimination of ROS by N-acetylcysteine reversed sanguinarine-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, sanguinarine induced the dephosphorylation of Akt and the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38. The growth inhibition was enhanced by the combined treatment of sanguinarine with a phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor and an ERK inhibitor but not JNK and p38 inhibitors. Overall, our data indicate that the proapoptotic effects of sanguinarine in HepG2 cells depend on ROS production and the activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways, which is mediated by blocking PI3K/Akt and activating the ERK pathway. Thus, our data suggest that sanguinarine may be a natural compound with potential for use as an antitumor agent in liver cancer.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.282-289
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• 2018

Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine mainly derived from T helper 17 cells and is known to be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cigarette smoke (CS) has been considered as a primary risk factor of COPD. However, the interaction between CS and IL-17A and the underlying molecular mechanisms have not been clarified. In the current study, we investigated the effects of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on IL-17A-induced IL-8 production in human bronchial epithelial cells, and sought to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms. IL-8 production was significantly enhanced following treatment with both IL-17A and CSE, while treatment with either IL-17A or CSE alone caused only a slight increase in IL-8 production. CSE increased the transcription of IL-17RA/RC and surface membrane expression of IL-17R, which was suppressed by an inhibitor of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway (LY294002). CSE caused inactivation of glycogen synthase $kinase-3{\beta}$ ($GSK-3{\beta}$) via the PI3K/Akt pathway. Blockade of $GSK-3{\beta}$ inactivation by overexpression of constitutively active $GSK-3{\beta}$ (S9A) completely suppressed the CSE-induced up-regulation of IL-17R expression and the CSE-induced enhancement of IL-8 secretion. In conclusion, inactivation of $GSK-3{\beta}$ via the PI3K/Akt pathway mediates CSE-induced up-regulation of IL-17R, which contributes to the enhancement of IL-17A-induced IL-8 production.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1652-1660
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• 2004

Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) is essential in atherogenesis, being a factor that modulates its early progression rather than a terminal event in the course of the disease. Various stimuli, including oxide lipoproteins, altered hemodynamic stress and free radical, can induced VSMCs apoptosis in vitro. The protective effects of Sophorae Radix (SR) on apoptotic cell death induced by H₂O₂ were investigated in VSMCs. The viability of VSMCs was markedly decreased by H₂O₂. Sophorae Radix protected the H202-induced apoptotic death of VSMCs, which was characterized as nuclear fragmentation and increase of sub-G0/G1 fraction .. Sophorae Radix decreased the activation of caspase-3 like protease induced by H₂O₂ and recovered control level from H202-induced PARP, Bak, Bcl-XL and mitochondrial membrane potential. These results suggest that Sophorae Radix protected VSMCs apoptotic death induced by H₂O₂ via inactivation of caspase-3 and modulation of mitochondrial function. Also, the expression profile of proteins by using two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis was screened. Future investigations will need to explore the use of an anti atherosclerotic therapy of Sophorae Radix, which relies on inhibition of the proapoptotic activation of the vascular smooth muscle cells.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.197-202
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• 2008

In our previous publication we compared the gene expression profiles on hepatotoxicants exposure to assess the comparability between in vivo and in vitro test systems. We investigated global gene expression from both mouse liver and mouse hepatic cell line treated with thioacetamide (TAA) and identified several common genes. In this study, we selected genes to validate them as potential biomarkers for hepatotoxicity on the relevance of in vitro and in vivo system. Three up-regulated, aquaporin 8 (Aqp8), glutathione peroxidase 1 (Gpx1), succinate-CoA ligase, GDP-forming, alpha subunit (Suclg1) and two down-regulated, DnaJ (Hsp40) homolog subfamily C member 5 (Dnajc5) and tumor protein D52 (Tpd52) genes were tested for their effects in vitro. For characterization of gene function, short interfering RNA (siRNA) for each gene was synthesized and transfected in mouse hepatic cell line, BNL CL.2. Cell viability, mRNA expression level and morphological alterations were investigated. We confirmed siRNA transfection against selected five genes induced down-regulation of respective mRNA expression. siRNA transfection in general decreased cell viability in different degrees and induced morphological changes such as membrane thickening and alterations of intracellular structures. This suggests that these genes could be associated with TAA-induced toxicity. Furthermore, these genes may be used in the investigation of hepatotoxicity for better understanding of its mechanism.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.259-264
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• 2010

The majority of chronic gingival ulcerative lesions are known to be due to autoimmune disease such as oral lichen planus, benign mucous membrane pemphigoid or pemphigus vulgaris. Topical or systemic corticosteroids are mainly used and adjuvant drugs like immunosuppressant, anti-inflammatory drugs, antimalarials or antimetabolites can also be prescribed. Because systemic corticosteroids causes various side effects, such as gastrointestinal disturbance, osteoporosis, diabetes or adrenal suppression. So, topical steroid therapy is main treatment for chronic gingival ulcerative lesion confined to small area. However, there's also limitation of topical corticosteroids. The effect of the corticosteroids decreases due to salivary flow and the movement of the tongue, lips, or buccal mucosa. When the lesions are widely distributed or positioned deeply in oral cavity, it is hard to apply the medication on patients' own. Moreover, it can be applied to unaffected mucosa. Although occlusive steroid therapy using stent was reported to minimize taking steroid and overcome the faults of applying topical steroids, it has been used less frequently in the clinical field. Therefore, this report is going to find out the usefulness and the way to utilize clinically through the case which acted satisfactorily by performing topical steroid therapy using stent on chronic ulcerative gingival lesions.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.509-526
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• 2017

Background and objectives : Soeumin Bojungykgi-tang (seBYTE) has been used to supplement qi in Korean medicine. It has been demonstrated to possess various biological functions such as anti-cancer, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory effects. The present study evaluated the protective roles of seBYTE in hepatotoxic in vitro and in vivo model. Methods : To investigate cytoprotective effect of seBYTE, HepG2 cells were pretreated with seBYTE and then subsequently exposed to $10{\mu}m$ AA for 12 h, followed by $5{\mu}m$ iron. Cell viability was examined by MTT assay, and expression of apoptosis-related proteins was evaluated by immunoblot analysis. For responsible molecular mechanisms, ROS production, GSH contents, and mitochondrial membrane potential were measured. In addition, hepatoprotective effect of seBYTE in vivo was assessed in $CCl_4$-induced animal model. Results : seBYTE prevented AA + iron-induced cytotoxicity in concentration dependent manner. In addition, ROS production, GSH depletion, and mitochondrial dysfunction induced by AA + iron were significantly reduced by seBYTE pretreatment. Furthermore, seBYTE recovered expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins such as PARP and pro-caspase-3. In animal experiment, plasma ALT and AST levels were significantly elevated in $CCl_4$ treatment, but seBYTE significantly decreased the ALT and AST levels. Moreover, seBYTE alleviated the numbers of histological activity index, percentages of degenerative regions, degenerated hepatocytes, infiltrated inflammatory cells, nitrotyrosine- and 4-hydroxynonenal-positive cells in liver. Conclusions : These results showed that hepatoprotective effect of seBYTE against on $CCl_4$-induced hepatic damages is partly due to antioxidative and anti-apoptotic process.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.116-116
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• 1997

Complex formation of practically insoluble dexamethasone dipropionate (DDP) with ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (${\beta}$-CD), dimethyl-${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (DMCD), trimethyl-${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (TMCD), 2-hydroxypropyl-${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (HPCD) and sulfobutyl ether ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin (SBCD) in water was investigated by solubility method at various temperatures. Water solubility of DDP was found to be 1.78 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ at 37$^{\circ}C$. Propylene glycol (PG)-water cosolvent increased the solubility of DDP, but the solubilization was not sufficient (8.93 $\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ in 20% PG). The addition of CD markedly increased the solubility of DDP in water, and A$\sub$L/ type phase solubility diagrams were obtained with ${\beta}$-CD, TMCD, HPCD and SBCD, where the apparent stability constants of the soluble complexes at 25$^{\circ}C$ were determined to be 1388, 216, 1054, and 1992 M$\^$-1/, respectively. However, DMCD remarkably increased the solubility of DDP, and showed an A$\sub$P/ type diagram, suggesting that DMCD forms a soluble complex of high order with DDP. The stability constant for the DDP-DMCD complex at 25$^{\circ}C$ was determined to be 19132 M$\^$-1/. The thermodynamic parameters were calculated for the inclusion complex formation in aqueous solution. CD (1${\times}$10$\^$-2/M) remarkably decreased the partition coefficients of DDP between isopropyl myristate/water in the order of TMCD < ${\beta}$-CD < HPCD < SBCD < DMCD, and in squalane/water system in the order of HPCD < TMCD < ${\beta}$-CD < DMCD < DMCD $\leq$ SBCD. This finding represents that, in a o/w type cream, cyclodextrin complexation with DDP may result in high concentration of DDP in aqueous phase. The permeation of DDP through a cellophane membrane was highly suppressed by the addition of CD, and the degree of suppression was different among CDs, indicating that CD may control the skin permeation of DDP. The dissolution rates of solid dispersions with CDs were much faster than those of drugs alone and corresponding physical mixtures. All DDP-CD solid dispersions exceeded the equilibrium solubility. Consequently these results suggest that complex formation of DDP with CDs may provide useful means to markedly enhance the solubility, and CDs are useful in the semi-solid preparations such as creams and gels for topical application.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.323-331
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• 1995

Monocyte/macrophage infiltration is the well known initial features associated with the development of glomerular disease including non-immune mediated nephropathy. Tumor necrosis factor ${\alpha}(TNF{\alpha})$, a cytokine produced primarily by monocyte/macrophage, exhibits similar effects as observed at the initial stages and during the progression of glomerular injury. Because the mesangial cells are target cells for glomerular injury, the present study examined the effect of $TNF{\alpha}$ on glomerular mesangial cell membrane lipid peroxidation as an index of cytotoxicity attributing to $TNF{\alpha}$. Primary culture of rat mesangial cell was established by incubation of glomeruli isolated from male Sprague-Dawley rat kidneys utilizing a standard sieving method. The levels of lipid peroxides in the mesangial cells were quantitated by malondialdehyde- thiobarbituric acid adduct formation. During an 8 hour incubation at $37^{\circ}C$, $TNF{\alpha}$ at 10 to 10,000 units/ml increased the levels of lipid peroxides dose dependently. Western blot analysis demonstrated that a short thermal stress induced heat shock response and the synthesis of heat shock protein 70(hsp70) in this mesangial cells. Further, this induction of hsp 70 prevented increase of lipid peroxides in the mesangial cells exposed to $TNF{\alpha}$. These data suggest that $TNF{\alpha}-induced$ lipid peroxidation in the mesangial cells may have pathophysiological relevance to glomerular injury and prior induction of heat shock response may play a role in the cellular resistance against $TNF{\alpha}-induced$ glomerular injury.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.12-26
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• 1985

The generation of $O^{-}_{2}{\cdot}$ and its toxic effects were studied with rat brain mitochondria. The production of $O^{-}_{2}{\cdot}$ from mitochondria in the presence of succinate and antimycin was demonstrated by SOD-inhibitable reduction of NBT. Although succinate can support the $O^{-}_{2}{\cdot}$ formation, the highest rate needs antimycin indicating that blockade of electron flow in the respiratory chain augments the univalent reduction of molecular oxygen. Under this condition, $H_2O_2$ was also observed to be produced. But its formation appears to be derived from the dismutation of the primary product, $O^{-}_{2}{\cdot}$ since the rate of $H_2O_2$ production was markedly decreased by NBT and ferricytochrome c. The $O^{-}_{2}{\cdot}$ and $H_2O_2$ produced were able to cause toxic actions to mitochondrial and extra-mitochondrial components as shown by lipid peroxidation of mitochondrial membrane, and inactivation and lysis of isocitrate dehydrogenase and erythrocytes added to the medium, respectively. In all the toxic actions observed, $Fe^{++}$ was required. It appears that in the toxic actions $OH{\cdot}$ generated from the iron-catalyzed Haber-Weiss reaction acts as a mediator. This was supported by the finding that mitochondria in the presence of succinate and antimycin produced ethylene from methional, and $Fe^{++}$ added increased the ethylene production. The observed toxic actions of mitochondrial $O^{-}_{2}{\cdot}$ may provide evidence supporting a potential role of mitochondria as a source of oxygen radicals to cause tissue damage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1345-1354
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• 2014

Copy number variations (CNVs), important genetic factors for study of human diseases, may have as large of an effect on phenotype as do single nucleotide polymorphisms. Indeed, it is widely accepted that CNVs are associated with differential disease susceptibility. However, the relationships between CNVs and gene expression have not been characterized in the horse. In this study, we investigated the effects of copy number deletion in the blood and muscle transcriptomes of Thoroughbred racing horses. We identified a total of 1,246 CNVs of deletion polymorphisms using DNA re-sequencing data from 18 Thoroughbred racing horses. To discover the tendencies between CNV status and gene expression levels, we extracted CNVs of four Thoroughbred racing horses of which RNA sequencing was available. We found that 252 pairs of CNVs and genes were associated in the four horse samples. We did not observe a clear and consistent relationship between the deletion status of CNVs and gene expression levels before and after exercise in blood and muscle. However, we found some pairs of CNVs and associated genes that indicated relationships with gene expression levels: a positive relationship with genes responsible for membrane structure or cytoskeleton and a negative relationship with genes involved in disease. This study will lead to conceptual advances in understanding the relationship between CNVs and global gene expression in the horse.