• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.217-222
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• 2013

We reported that ailanthoidol, a neolignan from Zanthoxylum ailanthoides and Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, inhibited inflammatory reactions by macrophages and protected mice from endotoxin shock. We examined the anti-inflammatory activity of six synthetic ailanthoidol derivatives (compounds 1-6). Among them, compound 4, 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-(3-hydroxypropenyl)-7-methoxybenzofuran, had the lowest $IC_{50}$ value concerning nitric oxide (NO) release from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Compound 4 suppressed the generation of prostaglandin (PG) $E_2$ and the expression of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 induced by LPS, and inhibited the release of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines from RAW264.7 cells. The underlying mechanism of compound 4 on anti-inflammatory action was correlated with the down-regulation of mitogen-activated protein kinase and activator protein-1 activation. Compound 4 is potentially an effective functional chemical candidate for the prevention of inflammatory diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.225-234
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• 2018

Adenosine is a naturally occurring breakdown product of adenosine triphosphate and plays an important role in different physiological and pathological conditions. Adenosine also serves as an important trigger in ischemic and remote preconditioning and its release may impart cardioprotection. Exogenous administration of adenosine in the form of adenosine preconditioning may also protect heart from ischemia-reperfusion injury. Endogenous release of adenosine during ischemic/remote preconditioning or exogenous adenosine during pharmacological preconditioning activates adenosine receptors to activate plethora of mechanisms, which either independently or in association with one another may confer cardioprotection during ischemia-reperfusion injury. These mechanisms include activation of $K_{ATP}$ channels, an increase in the levels of antioxidant enzymes, functional interaction with opioid receptors; increase in nitric oxide production; decrease in inflammation; activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) channels; activation of kinases such as protein kinase B (Akt), protein kinase C, tyrosine kinase, mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinases such as ERK 1/2, p38 MAP kinases and MAP kinase kinase (MEK 1) MMP. The present review discusses the role and mechanisms involved in adenosine preconditioning-induced cardioprotection.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.159-164
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• 2011

Alcohol abuse and its medical and social consequences are a major health problem in many areas of the world. Korean red ginseng (KRG) has been traditionally used for the treatment of liver disease. This study was conducted to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of KRG against hepatotoxicity in Sprague- Dawley rats treated with ethanol (EtOH). Administration of EtOH for 20 days induced significant changes in serum biochemical parameters (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine transaminase, and glucose) accompanied by histological changes in the liver tissue. Treatment with KRG prior to administration of EtOH inhibited the EtOH-induced biochemical and histological changes of the liver. In perfused rat livers, administration of EtOH caused an increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release into the perfusate and activated the pro-apoptotic Bax protein but inhibited the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein. Pretreatment with KRG prior to administration of EtOH decreased the EtOH-induced LDH release and inhibition of Bcl-2 protein. These results suggest that KRG exerts anti-apoptotic effects and alleviated EtOH-induced liver injury in rats.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.435-438
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• 2018

Acanthamoeba culbertsoni is the causative agent of granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), a condition that predominantly occurs in immunocompromised individuals and which is typically fatal. A mannose-binding protein (MBP) among lectins was shown to have strong A. castellanii pathogenic potential when correlated with major virulence proteins. In this study, protective effects were analyzed using the monoclonal antibody to A. culbertsoni MBP by quantification and were also compared with other free-living amoebae. For the amoebial cytotoxicity to the target cell, amoeba trophozoites were incubated with Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. For the protective effects of antibodies, amoebae were pre-incubated with them for 4 h and then added to the target cells. After 24 h, the supernatants were collected and examined for host cell cytotoxicity by measuring lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release. The cytotoxicity of A. culbertsoni to the CHO cells showed about 87.4%. When the monoclonal antibody was pre-incubated with A. culbertsoni, the amoebial cytotoxicity was remarkably decreased as shown at LDH release (1.858 absorbance), which was represented with about 49.9%. Taken together, it suggested that the monoclonal antibody against MBP be important to inhibit the cytotoxicity of A. culbertsoni trophozoites to the target cell. The antibody will be applied into an in vivo functional analysis, which would help to develop therapeutics.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.251-260
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• 1998

Cromakalim (BRL 34915), known as an airway smooth muscle relaxant, inhibited the releases of mediators in the antigen-induced mast cell activation. It has been suggested that cromakalim, in part, inhibited mediator releases by inhibiting the initial increase of 1,2-diacylglycerol (DAG) produced by the activation of the other phospholipase system which is different from phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase D pathway. The aim of this study is to further examine the inhibitory mechanism of cromakalim on the mediator release in the mast cell activation. Guinea pig lung mast cells were purified by using enzyme digestion and percoll density gradient. In purified mast cells prelabeled with $[^3H]PIP_2$, phospholipase C (PLC) activity was assessed by the production of $[^3H]$insitol phosphates. Protein kinase C (PKC) activity was assessed by measuring the protein phosphorylated from mast cells prelabeled with $[{\gamma}-32P]ATP$, and Phospholipase $A_2\;(PLA_2)$ activity by measuring the lyso-phosphatidylcholine produced from mast cell prelabeled with 1-palmitoyl-2-arachidonyl $phosphatidyl-[^{14}C]choline$. Histamine was assayed by fluorometric analyzer, and leukotrienes by radioimmunoassay. The PLC activity was increased by activation of the passively sensitized mast cells. This increased PLC activity was decreased by cromakalim pretreatment. The PKC activity increased by the activation of the passively sensitized mast cells was decreased by calphostin C, staurosporine and cromakalim, respectively. The $PLA_2$ activity was increased in the activated mast cells. The pretreatment of cromakalim did not significantly decrease $PLA_2$ activity. These data show that cromakalim inhibits histamine release by continuously inhibiting signal transduction processes which is mediated via PLC pathway during mast cell activation, but that cromakalim does not affect $PLA_2$ activity related to leukotriene release.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.260-266
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• 2005

IgE-dependent histamine releasing factor (HRF), previously known as P23/P21 or translationally controlled tumor protein (TCTP), induces the degranulation of histamine in mast cell and basophil. Yeast two hybrid results showed that HRF interacts with the alpha subunit of Na, K-ATPase, suggesting that HRF is a regulator for governing the activity of Na, K-ATPase. In this study, we examined the interaction of HRF and Wa,K-ATPase after treatments of various PKC isotype inhibitors. Membrane fractionation, pull-down assay and immunoprecipitation results showed that PKC $\alpha,\;PKC\;\beta,\;\delta$ subunits are involved in the phosphorylation of HRF. However, these results did not correlate with the results of histamine release assay since histamine release assay results suggested that some PKC isotype inhibitors induced the histamine release in RBL-2H3 cell.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.171-176
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• 2008

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) serve as molecular chaperones and play a role in cell protection from damage in response to stress stimuli. The aim of this article is to investigate whether HSP22 affects IL-8 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and which cellular factors are involved in the HSP-mediated IL-8 induction in that cell type in terms of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and transcription element. Exposure of aortic smooth muscle cells (AoSMCs) to HSP22 not only enhanced IL-8 release but also induced IL-8 transcript via promoter activation. HSP22 activated ERK and p38 MAPK in AoSMCs. HSP22-induced IL-8 release was inhibited by U0126, but not by SB202190. A mutation in the IL-8 promoter region at the binding site of NF-${\kappa}$ B, but not AP-1 or C/EBP, impaired promoter activation in response to HSP22. Delivery of I ${\kappa}$ B, but not dominant negative c-Jun, lowered HSP22-induced IL-8 release from AoSMCs. These results suggest that HS P22 induces IL-8 in VSMCs via ERK1/2, and that transcription factor NF-kB may be required for the HSP22-induced IL-8 up-regulation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.33-38
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• 1999

The effects of eicosapentaenoic (EPA, 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA, 22:6n-3) on the phospholipase $A_2$ ($PLA_2$)-mediated release of arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n-6) were studied in kidney microsomes from rats fed diets containing sunflower oil (SO) or fish oil (FO) concentrate for 11 months. The amounts of AA released by the endogenous $PLA_2$ enzyme were significantly lower by 38% in the FO, compared to the SO-fed rats (23.2 nmol versus 60.7 nmol AA released/mg protein/h in the FO- and SO-treated groups, respectively). The FO-derived microsomes released less linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6) and adrenic acid (22:4n-6), but larger amounts of the n-3 fatty acids, including EPA, DHA, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5n-3), and 20:4n-3 than the SO-derived microsomes. A similar replacement of the AA and adrenic acid with the n-3 fatty acids including EPA and DHA was also observed in the microsomal phospholipid fraction from the FO-fed rats relative to the SO-treated group. The results suggest that the $PLA_2$-mediated release of AA is reduced and that of EPA is increased in compensation for AA decline in kidney microsomes from FO-fed rats (0.7 nmol EPA/mg protein/h versus 22.7 nmol EPA/mg protein/h for the SO and FO-treated groups). Replacement of the n-6 with n-3 fatty acids may explain the reduced synthesis of the AA-derived prostaglandins and the concomitant rise in the EPA-derived prostaglandins observed in kidneys of FO-treated rats.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.251-255
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• 2005

In the present study, we tried to investigate whether protein kinase C (PKC) activator, phorbol 12-Myristate 13-Acetate (PMA), and PKC inhibitors, $G\"{o}-6976$, Ro-31-8220 and rottlerin significantly affect basal mucin relesed from cultured airway goblet cells. Confluent primary hamster tracheal surface epithelial (HTSE) cells were metabolically radiolabeled with $^3H$-glucosamine for 24 hr and chased for 30 min in the presence of each agent to assess the effects on $^3H$-mucin release. The results were as follows: (1) PMA increased mucin release from cultured HTSE cells, during 30 min of treatment period; (2) However, $G\"{o}-6976$, Ro-31-8220 and rottlerin did not significantly affect mucin release, during 30 min of treatment period. This finding suggests, at least in part, that PKC might playa minor role in the signaling pathways involved in basal - physiological or constitutive - mucin release from airway goblet cells, although further studies are needed.

• BMB Reports
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.445-453
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• 2004

We identified apoptosis as being a significant mechanism of toxicity following the exposure of HeLa cell cultures to abrin holotoxin, which is in addition to its inhibition of protein biosynthesis by N-glycosidase activity. The treatment of HeLa cell cultures with abrin resulted in apoptotic cell death, as characterized by morphological and biochemical changes, i.e., cell shrinkage, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, the occurrence of hypodiploid DNA, chromatin condensation, nuclear breakdown, DNA single strand breaks by TUNEL assay, and phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization. This apoptotic cell death was accompanied by caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, as indicated by the cleavage of caspase substrates, which was preceded by mitochondrial cytochrome c release. The broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone (zVAD-fmk), prevented abrin-triggered caspase activation and partially abolished apoptotic cell death, but did not affect mitochondrial cytochrome c release. These results suggest that the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c, and the sequential caspase-9 and caspase-3 activations are important events in the signal transduction pathway of abrin-induced apoptotic cell death in the HeLa cell line.