• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.202-210
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• 2020

Fluoxetine is used widely as an antidepressant for the treatment of cancer-related depression, but has been reported to also have anti-cancer activity. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity of fluoxetine to human gastric adenocarcinoma cells; as shown by the MTT assay, fluoxetine induced cell death. Subsequently, cells were treated with 10 or 20 µM fluoxetine for 24 h and analyzed. Apoptosis was confirmed by the increased number of early apoptotic cells, shown by Annexin V- propidium iodide staining. Nuclear condensation was visualized by DAPI staining. A significant increase in the expression of cleaved PARP was observed by western blotting. The pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK was used to detect the extent of caspase-dependent cell death. The induction of autophagy was determined by the formation of acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs), which was visualized by acridine orange staining, and the increased expression of autophagy markers, such as LC3B, Beclin 1, and p62/SQSTM 1, observed by western blotting. The expression of upstream proteins, such as p-Akt and p-mTOR, were decreased. Autophagic degradation was evaluated by using bafilomycin, an inhibitor of late-stage autophagy. Bafilomycin did not significantly enhance LC3B expression induced by fluoxetine, which suggested autophagic degradation was impaired. In addition, the co-administration of the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine and fluoxetine significantly increased fluoxetine-induced apoptosis, with decreased p-Akt and markedly increased death receptor 4 and 5 expression. Our results suggested that fluoxetine simultaneously induced both protective autophagy and apoptosis and that the inhibition of autophagy enhanced fluoxetine-induced apoptosis through increased death receptor expression.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.829-836
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• 2003

Seogakjihwang-tang (SJT) was widely used to treat patients suffering from cerebral infarction. But scientific investigation has been carried out very little. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of SJT on the production of various cytokines in the patients with cerebral infarction (CI). We investigated interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-1 in the sera of 27 patients with cerebral infarction under consciousness disorders and 10 normal controls using an originally devised sensitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We found that plasma levels of IL-4 were slightly elevated in patients with cerebral infarction, whereas plasma levels of IL-10 (P<0.001) and TGF-1 were reduced. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) obtained from the patient with CI were cultured for 24 h in the presence or absence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). The amount of IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-1, in culture supernatant, was significantly increased in the LPS or PHA treated cells compared to unstimulated cells (P<0.05), We also show that increased cytokines IL-4, and IL-10 level was significantly inhibited by SJT in a dose-dependent manner. Maximal inhibition rate of IL-4 and IL-10 production by SJT was 45.63.3% and 614.7% for LPS-stimulated cell and 27.31.2% and 83.62% for PHA-stimulated cells, respectively (P<0.05). On the other hand, SJT significantly increased the LPS or PHA-induced TGF-1 production (P<0.05). These data suggest that SJT has a regulatory effect on the cytokines production, which might explain its beneficial effect in the treatment of CI.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.265-272
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• 2020

The body odor as well as the skin changes has become an important issue. Humans leave respective specific odors dependent on sex and age; The odor has been known to affect social relationship of human. In this study, we wanted to confirm the possibility as parameters to evaluate body odor into existing odor evaluation methods by experts. The 15 subjects, aged from 50 to 61 years wore cotton t-shirts for 72 hours and collected body odor. The cotton t-shirts containing body odor were used for sensory evaluation and EEG measurement by the odor experts. In order to evaluate body odors of each subject, an odor sensory evaluation and electroencephalogram (EEG) were conducted by odor exports and the correlation in between two assessments was analyzed. Pearson correlation analysis shows negative correlation of the sensory evaluation versus 'Excitement' in EEG parameter (r = - 0.649, p = 0.009) and positive correlation of the sensory evaluation versus 'Stress' in EEG parameter (r = 0.704, p = 0.003). In conclusion, it is considered that the evaluation of body odor through EEG measurement can be used as a method to complement the odor evaluation by experts.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.62 no.3
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• pp.259-274
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• 2017

Platycodon grandiflorum (Bell flower) is an important plant that has traditionally been used as herbal medicine for the treatment of cough, phlegm, sore throats, lung abscesses, chest pains, dysuria, and dysentery. The present study was initiated to investigate the feasibility of inducing shoot and root organogenesis in cultured explants of P. grandiflorum in a range of culture media and through use of various plant growth regulators (PGRs). The plantlets (Stem containing one node) were isolated and cultured on different concentrations of Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with PGRs. We found that proliferation and elongation of shoots and roots could be achieved on 1/4 MS for P. grandiflorum with wild and green petals and on 1/8 MS for P. grandiflorum with double petals. The highest levels of development and elongation of adventitious shoots and roots were observed when petal explants were cultured on 1/4 MS (pH 3.8) supplemented with 5% sucrose. Increasing the agar concentration reduced shoot growth and rooting potential; nevertheless, the highest number of shoots and roots was observed on 0.6% agar. In the case of growth regulators, 1/4 MS supplemented with $1mg\;L^{-1}$ 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) was found to be best for shooting, although higher concentrations of BA tended to reduce shoot and root elongation. The highest number of shoots was achieved on $0.5mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ thidiazuron (TDZ) from double petal explants grown on 1/8 MS. However, root and shoot elongation were found to decrease when TDZ concentrations were increased. Low concentrations of kinetin, naphthalene acetic acid, indole acetic acid, and 3-indole butyric acid induced shoot and root proliferation and elongation. Taken together, our study showed that low concentrations of PGRs induced the greatest root formation and elongation, showing that the optimal concentration of PGRs for shoot proliferation was species-dependent.

• Proceedings of the Korean Biophysical Society Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.39-39
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• 2003

In our previous study, WEHI-231, an immature B cell line, showed intractable increase in [C $a^{2+}$]$_{c}$ after the B-cell receptor (BCR) ligation and treatment with 2-aminoethoxydiphenylborate (2-APB), which was never observed in Bal-17, a mature B cell line (Nam et al., 2003, FEBS Lett). In this study, a whole cell voltage clamp study revealed a specific expression of a novel type of $K^{+}$ current, namely voltage-independent background-type $K^{+}$ channels (IK-bg), in WEHI-231 cells. IK-bg was dramatically increase by the application of 2-APB (50 $\square$M), which induced severe hyperpolarization of WEHI-231 from -45 ㎷ to -90 ㎷, When dialyzed with $Mg^{2+}$ and ATP-free pipette solution, a spontaneous development of IK-bg and membrane hyperpolarization were observed. IK-bg was insensitive to classical $K^{+}$ channel blockers (TEA, glibenclamide, $Ba^{2+}$(1 mM)), whereas blocked by quinine and quinidine in a voltage-dependent manner ($IC_{50}$/=6~9 $\square$M at +60㎷). Phorbol myrstate, a PKC activator, decreased the amplitude of IK-bg. Extracellular acidification (pH 6.5) slightly inhibited IK-bg. Arachidonic acid, riluzole, or hyposmotic stress could not affect the IK-bg after the full development by the intracellular dialysis with Mg-ATP-free solution. In a cell-attached mode of single channel recording from WEHI231, we found two types of voltage-independent $K^{+}$ channels with unitary conductance of 300 pS and 120 pS, respectively. Both channels showed very short mean open times and their open probabilities were increase by the application of 2-APB. In Bal-17 cells, no such $K^{+}$ current was observed in 50 cells tested. In summary, WEHI-231 immature B cells express background $K^{+}$ channels. The pharmacological properties and the large unitary conductance suggest that novel types of two-pore domain $K^{+}$ channels (2-P-K channels) might be expressed in WEHI-231, which may provide an intriguing targets of signal transduction in the immature B lymphocytes.e B lymphocytes.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.198-205
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• 2004

Cytochrome P4501B1(CYP1B1) is known to be inducible by xenobiotic compounds such as policyclic aromatic hydrocarbon(PAH) and dioxins such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-dibenzo-p-dioxin(TCDD). And these induction of CYP1B1 is also regulated by many categories of chemicals. In order to investigate the effects of several chemicals on CYP1B1 gene expression in Hepa-I and MCF-7 cells, 5' flanking DNA of human CYP1B1 was cloned into pGL3 basic vector containing luciferase gene, and then transfected into these cells. After treatment of chemicals, the luciferase activity was measured. CYP1B1 enzyme metabolize PAHs and estradiol. CYP1B1 metabolize estradiol to 4-hydrozyestradiol that is considered as carcinogenic metabolite. Recent industrialized industrialized society, human has been widely been exposed to widespread environmental contaminants such as PAHs(polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) that are originated from the imcomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. PAHs are known to be ligands of the AhR(aryl hydrocarbon receptor). Induction of cytochrome P4501B1(CYP1B1) in cell culture is widely used as a biomarker for PAHs. Therefore we have studied the effect of PAHs in the human breast cancer cells MCF-7 to evaluate bioactivity of PAHs. We have used the United State of America EPA selected 13 different PAHs, PAHs mixtures and extracts from environmental samples to evaluate the bioassay system. We examined effects of PAHs on the CYP1B1-luciferase reporter gene and CYP1B1 mRNA level. Benzo(k)fluoranthene and dibenzo(a, h)anthracene showed strong response to CYP1B1 promoter activity stimulation, and also CYP1B1 mRNAs increase in MCF-7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. RT-PCR analysis indicated that PAHs significantly up-regulate the level of CYP1B1 mRNA. Some flavonoids such as genistein, daidzein, chrysin, naringenin and morin were also investigeted. These flavonoids decreased B(k)F infuced luciferase activity at low concentration. But, these flavonoids exhibited stimulatory effect at high concentration.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.433-441
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• 2019

This study describes a preliminary evaluation of the anti-inflammatory activity and anti-atopic activity of Phormium tenax leaf extracts. P. tenax leaf was extracted using 70% ethanol and then fractionated sequentially with n-hexane, methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, n-butanol. In order to effectively screen for anti-inflammatory agents, we first investigated the inhibitory effects of P. tenax leaf crude extracts and solvent fractions on production of pro-inflammatory factors[nitric oxide(NO), prostaglandin $E_2(PGE_2)$, inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2)] and pro-inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}(TNF-{\alpha})$, interleukin-6(IL-6) and $interleukin-1{\beta}(IL-1{\beta})$] in lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, we also evaluated of their inhibitory effect on the atopic dermatitis-like inflammatory markers such as macrophage-derived chemokine(MDC) and thymus and activation-regulated chemokine(TARC) in HaCaT cells. Among the five solvent fractions of P. tenax, methylene chloride and ethyl acetate fractions inhibited production of pro-inflammatory factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines in a dose dependent manner, respectively. These fractions were also showed inhibitory activity for MDC and TARC expression levels in $IFN-{\gamma}-stimulated$ HaCaT cells, respectively. These results suggest that P. tenax have significantly effects of anti-inflammatory activity and anti-atopic activity that might be beneficial for the topical treatment of inflammatory skin disorders.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.272-277
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• 2019

The effects of medium-chain enriched diacylglycerol (MCE-DAG) oil on hepatic cholesterol homeostasis were investigated. HepG2 hepatocytes were treated with either 0.5, 1.0, or $1.5{\mu}g/mL$ of MCE-DAG for 48 h. There was no evidence of cytotoxicity by MCE-DAG up to $1.5{\mu}g/mL$. The level of proteins for cholesterol uptake including CLATHRIN and LDL receptor increased by MCE-DAG in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.05). Furthermore, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9, an inhibitor of LDLR, was dose-dependently diminished (p<0.05), indicating cholesterol clearance raised. MCE-DAG significantly increased 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase and acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase2 (p<0.05), required for cholesterol synthesis, and their transcriptional regulator sterol regulatory element-binding protein2 (p<0.05). These findings suggest that given conditions of prolonged sterol fasting in the current study activated both hepatic cholesterol synthesis and clearance by MCE-DAG. However, total intracellular level of cholesterol was not altered by MCE-DAG. Taken together, MCE-DAG has the potential to prevent hypercholesterolemia by increasing hepatic cholesterol uptake without affecting intracellular cholesterol level.

• Journal of Marine Life Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.145-153
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• 2022

Mercury (Hg) is a major concern in marine environment because of their bioaccumulation and biomagnification properties, and adverse effects to aquatic organisms at even a trace amount. However, little information on the effects of Hg, compared to other heavy metals, is available in marine small crustaceans. Here, we investigated the transcriptional modulation of metabolism-related genes in the brackish water flea, Diaphanosoma celebensis after exposure to sublethal concentration (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 ㎍/l) of HgCl₂ for 48 h. Relative mRNA expression levels of five detoxification enzyme-coding genes (cytochrome P450; cyp360A1, cyp361A1, cyp4AP3, cyp4C122, and cyp370C5) and six digestive enzyme-coding genes [alpha amylase (AMY), alpha amylase related protein (AMY-like), trypsin (TRYP), chymotrypsin-like protein (CHY), lipase (LIP), pancreatic lipase-related protein (PLRP)] were analyzed using quantitative real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). As results, Hg increased the mRNA level of cyp370C5 (clan2) and cyp4AP3 (clan4) in a concentration dependent manner. A significant increase in TRYP mRNA was also concentration-dependently observed after exposure to Hg. These findings suggest that cyp370C5 and cyp4AP3 play a key role in Hg detoxification in D. celebensis, and Hg can affect energy metabolism by modulating the transcription of digestive enzyme. This study will provide better understanding the molecular effects of Hg in marine small crustacean.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.326-341
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• 2023

Background and Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease that leads to the progressive destruction of articular cartilage. Current clinical therapeutic strategies are moderately effective at relieving OA-associated pain but cannot induce chondrocyte differentiation or achieve cartilage regeneration. We investigated the ability of wedelolactone, a biologically active natural product that occurs in Eclipta alba (false daisy), to promote chondrogenic differentiation. Methods and Results: Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemical staining, and immunofluorescence staining assays were used to evaluate the effects of wedelolactone on the chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). RNA sequencing, microRNA (miRNA) sequencing, and isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation analyses were performed to explore the mechanism by which wedelolactone promotes the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. We found that wedelolactone facilitates the chondrogenic differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived MSCs and rat bone-marrow MSCs. Moreover, the forkhead box O (FOXO) signaling pathway was upregulated by wedelolactone during chondrogenic differentiation, and a FOXO1 inhibitor attenuated the effect of wedelolactone on chondrocyte differentiation. We determined that wedelolactone reduces enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2)-mediated histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation of the promoter region of FOXO1 to upregulate its transcription. Additionally, we found that wedelolactone represses miR-1271-5p expression, and that miR-1271-5p post-transcriptionally suppresses the expression of FOXO1 that is dependent on the binding of miR-1271-5p to the FOXO1 3'-untranscribed region. Conclusions: These results indicate that wedelolactone suppresses the activity of EZH2 to facilitate the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs by activating the FOXO1 signaling pathway. Wedelolactone may therefore improve cartilage regeneration in diseases characterized by inflammatory tissue destruction, such as OA.