• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.344-350
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• 2016

Background: Mountain-cultivated ginseng (MCG) and cultivated ginseng (CG) both belong to Panax ginseng and have similar ingredients. However, their pharmacological activities are different due to their significantly different growth environments. Methods: An ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS)-based approach was developed to distinguish MCG and CG. Multivariate statistical methods, such as principal component analysis and supervised orthogonal partial-least-squares discrimination analysis were used to select the influential components. Results: Under optimized UPLC-QTOF-MS/MS conditions, 40 ginsenosides in both MCG and CG were unambiguously identified and tentatively assigned. The results showed that the characteristic components of CG and MCG included ginsenoside Ra3/isomer, gypenoside XVII, quinquenoside R1, ginsenoside Ra7, notoginsenoside Fe, ginsenoside Ra2, ginsenoside Rs6/Rs7, malonyl ginsenoside Rc, malonyl ginsenoside Rb1, malonyl ginsenoside Rb2, palmitoleic acid, and ethyl linoleate. The malony ginsenosides are abundant in CG, but higher levels of the minor ginsenosides were detected in MCG. Conclusion: This is the first time that the differences between CG and MCG have been observed systematically at the chemical level. Our results suggested that using the identified characteristic components as chemical markers to identify different ginseng products is effective and viable.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.227-247
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• 2013

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of recently discovered non-coding small RNA molecules, on average approximately 21 nucleotides in length, which underlie numerous important biological roles in gene regulation in various organisms. The miRNA database (release 18) has 18,226 miRNAs, which have been deposited from different species. Although miRNAs have been identified and validated in many plant species, no studies have been reported on discovering miRNAs in Panax ginseng Meyer, which is a traditionally known medicinal plant in oriental medicine, also known as Korean ginseng. It has triterpene ginseng saponins called ginsenosides, which are responsible for its various pharmacological activities. Predicting conserved miRNAs by homology-based analysis with available expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences can be powerful, if the species lacks whole genome sequence information. In this study by using the EST based computational approach, 69 conserved miRNAs belonging to 44 miRNA families were identified in Korean ginseng. The digital gene expression patterns of predicted conserved miRNAs were analyzed by deep sequencing using small RNA sequences of flower buds, leaves, and lateral roots. We have found that many of the identified miRNAs showed tissue specific expressions. Using the insilico method, 346 potential targets were identified for the predicted 69 conserved miRNAs by searching the ginseng EST database, and the predicted targets were mainly involved in secondary metabolic processes, responses to biotic and abiotic stress, and transcription regulator activities, as well as a variety of other metabolic processes.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2016

The natives of the genus Corbicula have shown worldwide dispersion in recent times, which has caused great ecological and economic impacts on the introduced ecosystems. The species reported from the genus have been consumed as food and explored for medicine with pharmacological activity. Consequently, the demand of Corbicula sp. in the South Korean domestic market has increased and so also it's associated import to the country. However, due to the absence of identification keys of imported Corbicula, the market is facing confronting situations. We hypothesized that the mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I gene (CO-I) based molecular profiling could be a necessary technique for identification of Corbicula sp. in the South Korea domestic market. The genetic analysis identified both Corbicula japonica and Corbicula fluminea from the market foods. C. japonica and C. fluminea are inhabitants in Korea, but C. fluminea production has decreased in Seomjingang river basin. Therefore, C. fluminea identified from this study, is expected to be imported from China and would have a mixed sales in Seomjingang river side basin.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.406-413
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• 2014

to valproic acid (VPA) during pregnancy produces ASD-like core behavioral phenotypes as well as hyperactivity in offspring both in human and experimental animals, which makes it a plausible model to study ASD-related neurobiological processes. In this study, we examined the effects of two of currently available attention defecit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications, methylphenidate (MPH) and atomoxetine (ATX) targeting dopamine and norepinephrine transporters (DAT and NET), respectively, on hyperactive behavior of prenatally VPA-exposed rat offspring. In the prefrontal cortex of VPA exposed rat offspring, both mRNA and protein expression of DAT was increased as compared with control. VPA function as a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) and chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that the acetylation of histone bound to DAT gene promoter was increased in VPA-exposed rat offspring suggesting epigenetic mechanism of DAT regulation. Similarly, the expression of NET was increased, possibly via increased histone acetylation in prefrontal cortex of VPA-exposed rat offspring. When we treated the VPA-exposed rat offspring with ATX, a NET selective inhibitor, hyperactivity was reversed to control level. In contrast, MPH that inhibits both DAT and NET, did not produce inhibitory effects against hyperactivity. The results suggest that NET abnormalities may underlie the hyperactive phenotype in VPA animal model of ASD. Profiling the pharmacological responsiveness as well as investigating underlying mechanism in multiple models of ASD and ADHD may provide more insights into the neurobiological correlates regulating the behavioral abnormalities.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.323-330
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• 2016

Pinellia ternata Breitenbach, the natural medicinal plant of the Araceae family, is a perennial plant originated from the East Asia, but also widely distributed in Europe and North America. Its tuber is used as traditional medicine for treatment of various diseases such as vomiting, inflammation, and traumatic injury. Pharmacological studies revealed that P. ternata possesses anticonvulsant, anti-tumor, insecticidal, and cytotoxic activities. Despite being well-known as the useful medicinal plant, there is no reliable, standardized method for origin discrimination. Ultra performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector and quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry based metabolite-profiling was applied to explore significant metabolite for origin discrimination between Korean and Chinese P. ternata. One compound was isolated from Korean P. ternata using repeated ODS column chromatography by bioactivity guided fractionation, and determined as [6]-gingerol according to the results of spectroscopic data including nuclear magnetic resonance and MS. This compound was selected as cosmeceutical biomarker by fingerprints, and it was associated to melanin inhibitory effect determining its origin authenticity. Furthermore, the calibration curve of biomarker was prepared using validated method for the comparison of content between Korean and Chinese P. ternata. This is the report to address the selection and successful validation of the discriminant metabolite for confirmation of Korean P. ternata.