• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.7-7
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• 2017

Unfavorable weather and soil conditions reduce rice yield and land and water productivity, aggravating existing encounters of poverty and food insecurity. These conditions are foreseen to worsen with climate change and with the unceasing irrational human practices that progressively debilitate productivity despite global appeals for more food. Our understanding of plant responses to abiotic stresses is advancing and is complex, involving numerous critical processes - each controlled by several genetic factors. Knowledge of the physiological and molecular mechanisms involved in signaling, response and adaptation, and in some cases the genes involved, is advancing. Moreover, the genetic diversity being unveiled within cultivated rice and its wild relatives is providing ample resources for trait and gene discovery, and this is being scouted for rice improvement using modern genomics and molecular tools. Development of stress tolerant varieties is now being fast-tracked through the use of DNA markers and advanced breeding strategies. Large numbers of drought, submergence and salt tolerant varieties were commercialized over recent years in South and Southeast Asia and more recently in Africa. These varieties are making significant changes in less favorable areas, transforming lives of smallholder farmers - progress considered incredulous in the past. The stress tolerant varieties are providing assurance to farmers to invest in better management of their crops and the ability to adjust their cropping systems for even higher productivity and more income, sparking changes analogous to that of the first green revolution, which previously benefited only favorable irrigated and rainfed areas. New breeding tools using markers for multiple stresses made it possible to develop more resilient, higher yielding varieties to replace the aging and obsolete varieties still dominating these areas. Varieties with multiple stress tolerances are now becoming available, providing even better security for farmers and lessening their production risks even in areas affected by complex and overlapping stresses. The progress made in these less favorable areas triggered numerous favorable changes at the national and regional levels in several countries in Asia, including adjusting breeding and dissemination strategies to accelerate outreach and enabling changes at higher policy levels, creating a positive environment for faster progress. Exploiting the potential of these less productive areas for food production is inevitable, to meet the escalating global needs for more food and sustained production systems, at times when national resources are shrinking while demand for food is mounting. However, the success in these areas requires concerted efforts to make use of existing genetic resources for crop improvement and establishing effective evaluation networks, seed production systems, and seed delivery systems to ensure faster outreach and transformation.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.281-288
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• 2009

Seed germination is the important stage to express many genes for regulation of energy metabolism, starch degradation and cell division from seed dormancy state. For the functional analysis of seed germination mechanisms, we were analyzed the rice cDNA clones (Oryzasativa cultivar Ilpum) obtained from seed imbibition during 48 hours. Total number of 18,101 Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) were clustered using SeqMan program. Among them, 8,836 clones were identified as unique clones. We identified the chitinase gene specifically expressed in seed germination and amylase gene involved to starch degradation from the full length cDNA analysis, and several genes were registered to NCBI GeneBank. To analyzed the commonly expressed genes between inmature seed and germinated seed, 25,66 inmature ESTs and 18,101 germinated ESTs were clustered using SeqMan program and identified 2,514 clones as commonly expressed unigene. Among them, alpha-glubulin and alcohol dehydrogenase I were supposed to LEA genes only expressed in the immature and germinated seed stages. For the clustering of orthologous group genes, we further analyzed the 8,836 EST clones from germinating seeds using NCBI clusters of orthologous groups database. Among the clones, 5,076 clones were categorized into information storage and processing, cellular processes and signaling, metabolism and poorly characterized genes, proportioning 783 (14.29%), 1,484 (27%), 1,363 (24.8%) and 1,869 (34%) clones to the previous four categories, respectively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6115-6120
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• 2013

Introduction: Some non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumor cells are insensitive to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) -based therapy. This study was conducted to examine the effect of embelin on the sensitivity of the A549 NSCLC cell line to TRAIL receptor2 (TRAILR2) monoclonal antibodies and to investigate the potential mechanisms. Materials and Methods: A549 cells were treated with embelin, TRAILR2 mAb or a combination of both. Cell viability was measured using ATPlite assay and apoptosis rates were determined by flow cytometry with AnnexinV-FITC and propidium iodide staining, with the expression levels of proteins analyzed by Western blotting. Results: The cell survival rate of separate treatments with 100 ng/ml TRAILR2 antibody or 25 uM embelin were $81.5{\pm}1.57%$ and $61.7{\pm}2.84%$, respectively. Their combined use markedly decreased cell viability in A549 cells to $28.1{\pm}1.97%$ (P<0.05). The general caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK could inhibit the embelin-enhanced sensitivity of A549 cells to TRAILR2 mAb ($75.97{\pm}3.17%$)(P<0.05). Both flow cytometry and cell morphological analysis showed that embelin was able to increase TRAIL-induced apoptosis in A549 cells. Combined treatment with embelin and TRAILR2 mAb augmented the activation of initiator caspases and effector caspase. In addition, A549 cells showed increasing levels of TRAILR2 protein and decreasing levels of Bcl-2, survivin and c-FLIP following the treatment with embelin+TRAILR2 mAb. Conclusions: Embelin could enhance TRAIL-induced apoptosis in A549 cells. The synergistic effect of the combination treatment might be due to modulation of multiple components in the TRAIL receptor-mediated apoptotic signaling pathway, including TRAILR2, XIAP, survivin, Bcl-2 and c-FLIP.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.51-68
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• 2017

Objectives : Oxidative stress due to excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the risk factors for the development of several chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Methods : In the present study, we investigated the protective effects of cheongnoemyeongsin-hwan (CNMSH) against oxidative stress‑induced cellular damage and elucidated the underlying mechanisms in neuronal-derived SH-SY5Y cells. Results : Our results revealed that treatment with CNMSH prior to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) exposure significantly increased the SH-SY5Y cell viability, indicating that the exposure of the SH-SY5Y cells to CNMSH conferred a protective effect against oxidative stress. CNMSH also effectively attenuated H2O2‑induced comet tail formation, and decreased the phosphorylation levels of the histone ${\gamma}H2AX$, as well as the number of apoptotic bodies and Annexin V‑positive cells. In addition, CNMSH exhibited scavenging activity against intracellular ROS generation and restored the mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) loss that were induced by H2O2, suggesting that CNMSH prevents H2O2‑induced DNA damage and cell apoptosis. Moreover, H2O2 enhanced the cleavage of caspase-3 and degradation of poly (ADP-ribose)-polymerase, a typical substrate protein of activated caspase-3, as well as DNA fragmentation; however, these events were almost totally reversed by pretreatment with CNMSH. Furthermore, CNMSH increased the levels of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which is a potent antioxidant enzyme, associated with the induction of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). According to our data, CNMSH is able to protect SH-SY5Y cells from H2O2-induced apoptosis throughout blocking cellular damage related to oxidative stress through a mechanism that would affect ROS elimination and activating Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. Conclusions : Therefore, we believed that CNMSH may potentially serve as an agent for the treatment and prevention of neurodegenerative diseases caused by oxidative stress.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2011

Previously, we have shown that Bcl2l10 as a member of Bcl-2 family, key regulators of the apoptotic process, is dominantly expressed in oocytes of ovary but several member of the Bcl-2 family are not expressed in oocytes. Recent our studies had been processed about roles and regulatory mechanisms of Bcl2l10 in oocytes. Microinjection of Bcl2l10 RNAi into the cytoplasm of germinal vesicle oocytes resulted in metaphase I (MI) arrest and exhibited abnormalities in their spindles and chromosome configurations (Yoon et al., 2009). The present study was conducted to elucidate the downstream genes regulated by Bcl2l10 and signaling networks in Bcl2l10 RNAi microinjected oocytes by using microarray analysis. Surprisingly, we found that a large proportion of genes regulated by Bcl2l10 RNAi were involved in the cell cycle and actin skeletal system regulation as important upstream genes of Bcl2l10. Among the transcripts with highly significant fold changes more than 2-fold, Tpx2 and Cep192 are 16.1- and 8.2-fold down regulated respectively by Bcl2l10 RNAi. Tpx2 and Cep192 are known as cofactors that control Aurora A kinase activity and localization. Therefore, we concluded that Bcl2l10 may have important roles during oocyte meiosis as functional upstream regulator of Tpx2 and Cep192.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.323-328
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• 2017

Angiogenesis is a process including members of the angiogenic factors. In particular, fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) is considered the most potent angiogenic factor because it promotes cell proliferation and tube formation. A recent study reported that fucoidan derived from marine plant potentiated FGF-2 induced tube formation in human endothelial cells. On the other hand, the molecular mechanisms involved in the angiogenic activity of fucoidan and FGF2 are unknown. In this study, a fucoidan treatment promoted angiogenesis induced by FGF2. The effects of fucoidan on FGF2-induced angiogenesis were confirmed by a proliferation assay using a CellTiter96 Aqueous One solution after a treatment with fucoidan and FGF2. The tube formation and wound healing assay for the angiogenic activity were also confirmed. Reverse transcription PCR showed a change in the mRNA of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), matrix metallopeptidase9 (MMP9), and the signal transducer and activator of transcription3 (STAT3). In summary, the Fucoidan/FGF2 treatment induced an increase in cell proliferation, improved the tube formation and wound healing activity, and altered the STAT3, VEGF-A, ICAM-1, and MMP9 mRNA expression levels. Further research will be needed to provide a scientific explanation in terms of cell-signaling and confirm the present findings.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2016

It has been generally accepted that obesity and overweight are associated with metabolic diseases and cancer incidence. In fact, obesity increased risks of cancers i.e. breast, liver, pancreatic and prostate. Celastrol is a pentacyclic triterpenoid isolated from Thunder god vine, was used as a Chinese traditional medicine for treatment of inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, lupus erythematosus and Alzheimer's disease. Also, celastrol has various biological properties of chemo-preventive, neuro-protective, and anti-oxidant effects. Recent studies demonstrated that celastrol has anti-proliferation effects in different type of obesity-related cancers and suppresses tumor progression and metastasis. Anticancer effects of celastrol include regulation of $NF-{\kappa}B$, heat shock protein, JNK, VEGF, CXCR4, Akt/mTOR, MMP-9 and so on. For these reasons, celastrol has shown to be a promising anti-tumor agent. In this review, we will address the anticancer activities and multiple mechanisms of celastrol in obesity-related cancers.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1641-1651
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• 2011

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL/Apo2L) is a recently identified member of the TNF ligand family that can initiate apoptosis through the activation of their death receptors. TRAIL has been paid attention as a potential anti-cancer drug, because it selectively induces apoptosis in tumor cells in vitro and in vivo but not in most normal cells. However, recent studies have shown that some cancer cells including malignant renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma, are resistant to the apoptotic effects of TRAIL. Therefore, single treatment with TRAIL may not be sufficient for the treatment of various malignant tumor cells. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of TRAIL resistance and identification of sensitizers capable of overcoming TRAIL resistance in cancer cells is needed for the establishment of more effective TRAIL-based cancer therapies. Chemotherapeutic drugs induce apoptosis and the upregulation of death receptors or activation of intracellular signaling pathways of TRAIL. Numerous chemotherapeutic drugs have been shown to sensitize tumor cells to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis. In this study, we summarize biological agents and drugs that sensitize tumors to TRAIL-mediated apoptosis and discuss the potential molecular basis for their sensitization.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.227-239
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study was to develop the simulator which can analyze the anti-inflammatory effects of herbs based on e-cell, or the virtual cell. Method : We have ensured the medical herbs and its active compounds by investigating the oriental medicine records and NBCI(Biomedicine database). Also we have developed the web-based search system for confirming database related to anti-inflammation. We have researched the cell signal pathway related with inflammatory response control and established the mathematical model of herb interaction on selected signal pathway in e-cell. Finally we have developed the prototype which can confirm the result of this model visibly. Results : We constructed the database of 62 cases of anti-inflammatory active compounds in 61 cases of medical herbs which have been known anti-inflammation effects in the paper, 16 cases of inflammatory factors, 10 cases of signal pathways related with inflammatory response and 6,834 cases of URL(Uniform Resource Locator) of referenced papers. And we embodied the web-based research system, which can research this database. User can search basic and detailed information of medical plants related with anti-inflammatory by using information system. And user can acquire information on an active compounds, a signal pathway and a link URL of related paper. Among investigated ten pathways, we selected NF-${\kappa}B$, which plays important role in activation of immune system, and we searched the mechanisms of actions of proteins which could be components of this pathway. We reduced total network into IKK-$I{\kappa}B$ - NF-${\kappa}B$, and completed mathematic modeling by using ordinary differential equations and response variables of $I{\kappa}B-NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling model network which is suggested by Baltimore Group. We designed OED(Ordinary Differential Equation) for response of IKK, $I{\kappa}B$, $NF-{\kappa}B$ in e-cell's cytoplasm and nucleus, and measured whether an active compound of medicinal plants which is inputted by an user would have a anti-inflammation effects in obedience to change in concentration over time. The proposed model was verified by using experimental results of the papers which are listed on NCBI.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.193-202
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• 2004

Distraction osteogenesis(DO) is defined as a gradual mechanical process of mechanical stretching two vascularized bone surface apart with a critical rate and rhythm such that new bone forms within the expanding gap, reliably bridges the gap, and ultimately remodels to normal structure. DO has become a mainstay in bone tissue engineering and has significantly improved our armamentarium for reconstructive craniomaxillofacial procedures. But the molecular and biological mechanisms that regulate the formation of new bone during distraction osteogenesis are not completely understood. BMPs are potent osteoinductive agents. Our hypothesis was that BMPs, especially BMP-2 and BMP-4, might play an importent role in the signaling pathways that link the mechanical forces created by distraction to biological responses and in promting new bone formation. Using a rabbit's mandible, we investigated the expression of BMP-2, -4 at different time points during distraction osteogenesis. The purpose of this study is to research the pattern of expression of BMP-2, -4 in new bone formation during distraction osteogenesis of the rabbit mandible. The experimental group was applied gradual distraction (0.7mm a day by twice a day, 4.9mm in total, for 7 days) and the control group was carried out osteotomy alone. They were examined clinically, histologically, and by RT-PCR analysis. On 3 days after osteotomy, the high level of expression of BMP-2, -4 was detected. But, the expression of BMP-4 was decreased during latency period. As distraction was started, its expression was increased and maintained till postoperative 28days. In control group, the expression of BMP-4was remarkably decreased till postoperative 14 days. On the other hand, the expression of BMP-2 was no difference between experimental group and control group. The expression of BMP-4 was maintanined at high level during the entire experimental period in both group. These findings suggested that excellent bone formation during distraction osteogenesis is associated with enhanced expression of BMP-4 genes by mechanical tension stress.