• BMB Reports
• /
• v.47 no.8
• /
• pp.424-432
• /
• 2014

The defining feature of Parkinson's disease is a progressive and selective demise of dopaminergic neurons. A recent report on Parkinson's disease animal model demonstrates that poly (ADP-ribose) (PAR) dependent cell death, also named parthanatos, is accountable for selective dopaminergic neuronal loss. Parthanatos is a programmed necrotic cell death, characterized by PARP1 activation, apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) nuclear translocation, and large scale DNA fragmentation. Besides cell death regulation via interaction with AIF, PAR molecule mediates diverse cellular processes including genomic stability, cell division, transcription, epigenetic regulation, and stress granule formation. In this review, we will discuss the roles of PARP1 activation and PAR molecules in the pathological processes of Parkinson's disease. Potential interaction between PAR molecule and Parkinson's disease protein interactome are briefly introduced. Finally, we suggest promising points of therapeutic intervention in the pathological PAR signaling cascade to halt progression in Parkinson's disease.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.240-249
• /
• 2020

Despite the therapeutic effect of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in ischemic diseases, pathophysiological conditions, including hypoxia, limited nutrient availability, and oxidative stress restrict their potential. To address this issue, we investigated the effect of melatonin on the bioactivities of MSCs. Treatment of MSCs with melatonin increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1α). Melatonin treatment enhanced mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in MSCs in a PGC-1α-dependent manner. Melatonin-mediated PGC-1α expression enhanced the proliferative potential of MSCs through regulation of cell cycle-associated protein activity. In addition, melatonin promoted the angiogenic ability of MSCs, including migration and invasion abilities and secretion of angiogenic cytokines by increasing PGC-1α expression. In a murine hindlimb ischemia model, the survival of transplanted melatonin-treated MSCs was significantly increased in the ischemic tissues, resulting in improvement of functional recovery, such as blood perfusion, limb salvage, neovascularization, and protection against necrosis and fibrosis. These findings indicate that the therapeutic effect of melatonin-treated MSCs in ischemic diseases is mediated via regulation of PGC-1α level. This study suggests that melatonin-induced PGC-1α might serve as a novel target for MSC-based therapy of ischemic diseases, and melatonin-treated MSCs could be used as an effective cell-based therapeutic option for patients with ischemic diseases.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.228-232
• /
• 2008

Antidiabetic effects of an aqueous and solvent extract prepared from the root, stem and fruit parts of Acanthopanax senticosus, were investigated in experimental Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats model. The n-butanol and water extracts of A. senticosus were orally administrated once a day for 6 days. The n-butanol extracts of fruit (FB) showed highest efficiency than other groups (water extracts of stem, root and fruit; butanol extracts of stem, root) on serum glucose values in the STZ-induced diabetic rats. We have studied gene expression of glucose transporter genes in C2C12 skeletal muscle cell line during differentiation treated by the n-butanol and water extracts of A. senticosus, SW, RW, FW, SB, RB and FB. The GLUT4 gene was high expressed by FB treatment. These findings suggest that FB of A. senticosus have GLUT4 gene expression activity for glucose homeostasis and may have beneficial effects on blood glucose lowering in the diabetic patients.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.40 no.6
• /
• pp.690-696
• /
• 1996

It has been known that many kinds of cancer are caused by continued proliferation or abnormal differentiation. Thus, recent approaches to anticancer therapy have been focused on developing drugs that induce differentiation of cancer cells to normal cells. A typical differentiation agent, all trans-retinoic acid, is unsuitable for anticancer drug because all trans-retinoic acid produces unfavorable side effects and cytotoxicity in normal cells. Therefore, we have screened some new differentiation-inducing compounds obtained from marine organisms using F9 teratocarcinoma stem cells as a model system. We observed that fatty acid. glycolipid, saponin, sphingosine and sterol compounds of marine organisms had differentiation-inducing activity in F9 cells, were determined by morphological changes and Northern blot analysis. The expression of differentiation marker genes, such as laminin B1, type IV collagen and retinoic acid receptor beta were induced by treatment with those compounds.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.16-23
• /
• 2010

Adipocyte differentiation in human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) is not as efficient as that in murine pre-adipocytes when induced by adipogenic agents including insulin, dexamethasone, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IDX condition). Therefore, the promotion of adipocyte differentiation in hBM-MSCs has been used as a cell culture model to evaluate insulin sensitivity for anti-diabetic drugs. In hBM-MSCs, $PPAR{\gamma}$ agonists or sulfonylurea anti-diabetic drugs have been added to IDX conditions to promote adipocyte differentiation. Here we show that troglitazone, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma ($PPAR{\gamma}$) agonist, significantly reduced the levels of anti-adipogenic $PGE_2$ in IDX-conditioned hBM-MSC culture supernatants when compared to $PGE_2$ levels in the absence of $PPAR{\gamma}$ agonist. However, there was no difference in the mRNA levels of cyclooxygenases (COXs) and the activities of COXs and prostaglandin synthases during adipocyte differentiation in hBM-MSCs with or without troglitazone. In hBM-MSCs, troglitazone significantly increased the mRNA level of 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (HPGD) which can act to decrease $PGE_2$ levels in culture. These results suggest that the role of $PPAR{\gamma}$ activation in promoting adipocyte differentiation in hBM-MSCs is to reduce anti-adipogenic $PGE_2$ levels through the up-regulation of HPGD expression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.7
• /
• pp.3025-3033
• /
• 2016

Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative hematopoietic stem cell disorder. Deregulated BCR-ABL fusion tyrosine kinase activity is the main cause of CML disease pathogenesis, making BCR-ABL an ideal target for inhibition. Current tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) designed to inhibit BCR-ABL oncoprotein activity, have completely transformed the prognosis of CML. Interruption of TKI treatment leads to minimal residual disease reside (MRD), thought to reside in TKI-insensitive leukaemia stem cells which remain a potential reservoir for disease relapse. This highlights the need to develop new therapeutic strategies for CML either as small molecule master TKIs or phytopharmaceuticals derived from nature to achieve chronic molecular remission. This review outlines the past, present and future therapeutic approaches for CML including coverage of relevant mechanisms, whether ABL dependent or independent, and epigenetic factors responsible for developing resistance against TKIs. Appearance of mutant clones along the course of therapy either pre-existing or induced due to therapy is still a challenge for the clinician. A proposed in-vitro model of generating colony forming units from CML stem cells derived from diagnostic samples seems to be achievable in the era of high throughput technology which can take care of single cell genomic profiling.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.94 no.5 s.162
• /
• pp.313-320
• /
• 2005

This study was performed in a 38-year-old Mongolian pine (Pinus sylvestris L. var. mongolica Litvin) plantation in northeast China. Data were collected from 5 sample trees with different canopy position ranging in DBH from 14.6 cm to 23.8 cm. Sawn speciments that included the biggest knot were taken from the stem below the living crown. Number and distribution of knots per whorl below the living crown were studied by relative height below living crown (RHBC). A linear model expressed as function of whorl age (AGE), whorl height ($H_k$) and the stem diameter at which the whorl was located ($D_k$) was developed to predict the knot diameter and angle. The number of annual rings in four periods and the width of respective zone alone stem were used as dependant variables to analyze the knot develop phases. In average, the number of years from branch birth to ceased forming rings was 7.8, the branches remained alive for 4.2 years without forming annual rings, and branches were occluded 14.4 years after their death. These results can provide abundance branch and knot information so as to describe current and past tree growth dynamic of Mongolian pine plantation.

• Development and Reproduction
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.155-161
• /
• 2009

It has been reported that ganglioside GT1b is expressed during neuronal cell differentiation from undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), which suggests that ganglioside GT1b has a direct effect on neuronal cell differentiation. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of exogenous addition of ganglioside GT1b to an in vitro model of neuronal cell differentiation from undifferentiated mESCs. The results revealed that a significant increase in the expression of ganglioside GT1b occurred during neuronal differentiation of undifferentiated mESCs. Next, we evaluated the effect of retinoic acid (RA) on GT1b-treated undifferentiated mESCs, which was found to lead to increased neuronal differentiation. Taken together, the results of this study suggest that ganglioside GT1b plays a crucial role in neuronal differentiation of mESCs.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.180-186
• /
• 2011

The objective of this research was to establish the estimation method of growth information on potato using Multi-Spectral Image Sensor (MSIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS). And growth estimation map for determining a prescription map over the entire field was generated. To determine the growth model, 10 ground-truth points of areas of $4m^2$ each were selected and investigated. The growth information included stem number, crop height and SPAD value. In addition, images information involving the ground-truth points were also taken by an unmanned helicopter, and reflectance value of Green, Red, and NIR bands were calculated with image processing. Then, growth status of potato was modeled by multi-regression analysis using these reflectance value of Green, Red, and NIR. As a result, potato growth information could be detected by analyzing Green, Red, and NIR images. Stem number, crop height and SPAD value could be estimated with $R^2$ values of 0.600, 0.657 and 0.747 respectively. The generated GIS map would describe variability of the potato growth in a whole field.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.28-37
• /
• 2022

Treatment options for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are currently limited; therefore, there has been significant interest in applying mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC)-based therapy to treat CKD. However, MSCs harvested from CKD patients tend to show diminished viability and proliferation due to sustained exposure to uremic toxins in the CKD environment, which limits their utility for cell therapy. The application of melatonin has been demonstrated to improve the therapeutic efficacy of MSCs derived from and engrafted to tissues in patients suffering from CKD, although the underlying biological mechanism has not been elucidated. In this study, we observed overexpression of hexokinase-2 (HK2) in serum samples of CKD patients and MSCs harvested from an adenine-fed CKD mouse model (CKD-mMSCs). HK2 upregulation led to increased production levels of methylglyoxal (MG), a toxic metabolic intermediate of abnormal glycolytic processes. The overabundance of HK2 and MG was associated with impaired mitochondrial function and low cell proliferation in CKD-mMSCs. Melatonin treatment inhibited the increases in HK2 and MG levels, and further improved mitochondrial function, glycolytic metabolism, and cell proliferation. Our findings suggest that identifying and characterizing metabolic regulators such as HK2 in CKD may improve the efficacy of MSCs for treating CKD and other kidney disorders.