• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.72-78
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• 2020

The dynamics of nitrogen compounds and RNA-based functional genes were characterized in the nitrification-denitrification coupling process. For the removal of residual ammonium, intermittent aeration was introduced in the denitrification reactor. N₂O production was not observed in both reactors. In both reactors, the nitrifying genes (achaeal-amoA, bacterial-amoA and hor) and denitrifying genes (narG, nirK, norB and nosZ) had a copy number of 3.92 × 10²-7.25 × 10⁵ and 2.85 × 10²-3.06 × 10⁴ per ng of DNA, respectively. These results suggest that denitrification and nitrification reactions occur in both the nitrification and denitrification reactors, respectively. Therefore, the coupling process is a promising one for the conversion of ammonium to nitrogen without generating N₂O.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.384-390
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• 2021

A Gram-negative, aerobic, motile by gliding, and rod-shaped marine bacterium, designated CE67^T was isolated from the marine sponge Callyspongia elegans on Biyang-do in Jeju Island. The CE67^T strain grew optimally at 25℃, pH 7.5, and in the presence of 2-3% (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain CE67^T was related to the genus Aureivirga and had the highest 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the Aureivirga marina VIII.04^T type strain (96.3%). The primary fatty acids (>10%) of strain CE67^T were iso-C_15:0 (35.3%) and iso-C_17:0 3OH (21.8%). The polar lipid profile of strain CE67^T contained phosphatidylethanolamine, unidentified aminolipids, and unidentified lipids. The predominant menaquinone was MK-6. The DNA G+C content was 29.1 mol%. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic analysis, strain CE67^T was determined to be a representative novel species of the genus Aureivirga for which we propose the name Aureivirga callyspongiae sp. nov., whose strain type is CE67^T (=KCTC 42847^T=JCM 34566^T).

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.533-542
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• 2012

Objectives : We try to compared the efficacy of six herbal medicines, Rhizoma Alismatis (RA), Fructus Crataegi (FC), Fructus Lycii (FL), Radix Curcumae (RC), Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae (RSM), and Herba Artemisiae Scopariae (HAS), constituting KHchunggan-tang which was previously proven to be hepatoprotective on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with combined properties of cellular steatosis, ROS production, and cytoprotection. Methods : HepG2 cells were pretreated with aqueous extracts of the six herb medicines at concentrations of 1, 10, 50 and 100 ${\mu}g/ml$ each, and treated with 0.5 mM palmitate consecutively. After 21 hrs, cell viability was assessed using MTT assay, and the percentage of cells with sub-G1 DNA content was measured using fluorescence-activated cell sorting after propidium iodide staining. Results : The first three extracts, RA, FC, and FL restored cell viability reduced by palmitate in MTT assay, and RA, FC, FL and RC inhibited palmitate-induced apoptosis in sub-G1 analysis. FL showed relatively weak potential only at tested maximal dose, and RA showed the greatest higher efficacy on this experimental cellular model of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Conclusions : According to this comparative experiment, Rhizoma Alismatis seems to have the most powerful potential among the six herbs constituting KHchunggan-tang, and consecutive further study seems to be required for more standardized and effective clinical application of KHchunggan-tang for treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.276-286
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• 2017

Licorice, a traditional Korean medicinal plant, is recognized for its main active ingredient, glycyrrhizin. The level of glycyrrhizin in Chinese licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis) is lower than the reference level (2.5%) set by the Korean Pharmacopoeia, reducing its value as a medicinal herb. In this study, we aimed to overcome this problem by generating an interspecific licorice hybrid by crossing European licorice (G. glabra) with Chinese licorice, resulting in the production of 32 $F_1$ lines. A comparison of genetic traits revealed variations in glycyrrhizin content among lines, ranging from 1.5 to 5.6%, with a mean value of 3.2%; these values are higher than that of the parental plants. Additionally, 25 lines (78.1%) had a glycyrrhizin content greater than 2.5%, which is higher than the reference level set by the Korean Pharmacopoeia. Four of these lines had glycyrrhizin levels higher than the WHO recommended level of 4.0%. A comparison of phenotypic characteristics showed that the leaves of the hybrids possessed all of the characteristics of European and Chinese licorice; however, the stems of most hybrids had characteristics of European licorice. Finally, we determined the genetic distances of 34 samples of Glycyrrhiza plants (parents, 32 $F_1$ lines) by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD); the $F_1$ lines showed a close genetic distance. We plan to develop to a cultivar using five of these lines (glycyrrhizin content < 4.0%).

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.1057-1062
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• 1997

In the course of searching for anticancer agents from 32 mushrooms, it was found that methanol extract of Lycoperdon perlatum showed inhibitory effect on topoisomerase II-mediated DNA cleavage. This active methanol extract was sequentially fractionated with hexane, chloroform, n-buthanol and water. Among the solvent-fractionated extracts, $1\;{\mu}g/mL$ hexane fraction of L. perlatum inhibited on topoisomerase II-mediated DNA cleavage. The effect of hexane fraction of L. perlatum was dose- and reaction time-dependent. The hexane fraction of L. perlatum was found to have inhibitory activity on relaxation assay of DNA topoisomerase I. The hexane fraction of cultured L. perlatum, however, had no inhibitory effect on either type of topoisomerase.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.322-325
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• 2008

The aim of present study was to investigate the effects of kaempferol on cellular proliferation and cell cycle arrest and explore the mechanism for these effects in human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-453 cells. Cells were treated with kaempferol at various concentrations (ranging from 1 to $200\;{\mu}M$) for 24 and 48 hrs. Kaempferol significantly inhibited cancer cell growth in cells exposed to 50 and $10\;{\mu}M$ of kaempferol and incubated for 24 and 48 hrs, respectively. Exposure to kaempferol resulted in cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Of the G2/M-phase related proteins, kaempferol down-regulated CDK1 and cyclin A and B in cells exposed to kaempferol. In addition, small DNA fragments at the sub-G0 phase were increased by up to 23.12 and 31.90% at 10 and $50\;{\mu}M$ incubated for 24 and 48 hrs, respectively. The kaempferol-induced apoptosis was associated with the up-regulation of p53. In addition, the phosphorylation of p53 at the Ser-15 residue was observed with kaempferol. Kaempferol inhibits cell proliferation by disrupting the cell cycle, which is strongly associated with the induction of arrest at G2/M phase and may induce apoptosis via p53 phosphorylation in human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-453 cells.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1265-1271
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• 2008

Adlay bran is a waste product previously thought to have no commercial value, Its methanolic extract was fractionated using n-hexane (ABM-Hex), ethyl acetate (ABM-EtOAc), 1-butanol (ABM-BuOH), and water (ABM-$H_2O$). The ABM-EtOAc fraction exhibited a strongest inhibition against growth of human lung cancer cell A549 and human colorectal carcinoma cells HT-29 and COLO 205. Inhibition of cell cycle progression at $G_0/G_1$ transition, increase of cells at the sub-$G_1$ phase, and DNA ladders were observed in cells treated with ABM-EtOAc. The ABM-BuOH fraction showed the strongest inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-$\alpha$ and interlukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$ in stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Further, ABM-EtOAc and ABM-BuOH inhibited cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression in A549 and HT-29 carcinoma cells, while COX-l expression was not affected. These results reveal that both ABM-EtOAc and ABM-BuOH may aid the prevention of cancers and the applications in cancer chemotherapy.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.363-368
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• 2006

EGCG [(-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate], a major component of green tea has been considered as a major antioxidant constituent. In addition to having been considered for cancer treatment as a chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent, EGCG has recently been attributed an anti-proliferative effect. We re-examined the latter finding in this study and added specific focus on the ability of EGCG to induce apoptosis in human osteogenic sarcoma (HOS) cells. Antiproliferative action of EGCG $(IC_{50}=35.3{\pm}6.0{\mu}g/mL)$ appeared to be linked to apoptotic cell death based on morphological changes, chromosomal DNA degradation, and an increase in the $sub-G_1$ apoptotic cell population. Treatment of HOS cells with EGCG gradually activated caspase-3, an established inducer of apoptotic cell death.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.1012-1018
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• 2014

Sasa quelpaertensis Nakai (Korean name, Jeju-Joritdae) is one of the most abundant plants on Mt. Halla, Jeju Island, and it has long been used in traditional medicines. Recent studies have reported it as possessing various beneficial functions, including anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertension, anti-gastritis, anti-oxidant, and anti-cancer effects. However, the molecular mechanisms of its anti-cancer activity have not been clearly elucidated. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer effects and mechanism of S. quelpaertensis on human colon cancer HT-29 cells. Cell growth inhibition by S. quelpaertensis was determined by MTT assay. Apoptosis was performed by DNA fragmentation, flow cytometry with propidium iodide staining (PI), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to confirm the anti-apoptotic factors, such as inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family members. $NO^{\bullet}$ production was determined by Griess assay. S. quelpaertensis treatment resulted in the time- and dose-dependent inhibition of the cell viability of HT-29 cells by inducing apoptosis, as evidenced by the accumulation of the sub-G1 cell population stained by PI, as well as the ladder-like DNA fragmentation in a dose-dependent manner. S. quelpaertensis-inducing apoptosis was accompanied by the induction of S cell cycle arrests, increasing $NO^{\bullet}$ concentrations, and the down-regulation of IAPs, including X-chromosome-linked IAP (XIAP), cellular IAP-1 (cIAP-1), cIAP-2, and survivin. Taken together, these findings have important implications for future clinical developments of S. quelpaertensis in colon cancer treatment.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.253-259
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• 2010

The neuroprotective effects of extracts from various parts of peanut sprouts on glutamate-induced neurotoxicity in N18-RE-105 cells were investigated. This study was performed to evaluate the neuroprotective activity of methanolic extracts from the whole (WME), heads (HME), and stems (SME) of peanut sprouts. The neuroprotective effects of these extracts were measured by MTT reduction assay, LDH release assay, phase-contrast microscopy, and flow cytometric analysis on the N18-RE-105 cells. Among these extracts, the HME showed the greatest neuroprotective effects, and was further fractionated with hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and water, according to degree of polarity. Out of the fractionated extracts, the diethyl ether layer showed the highest activity on glutamate-induced cytotoxicity in N18-RE-105 cells. The sub-G1 DNA contents of the glutamate-induced severely apoptotic N18-RE-105s were measured by flow cytometric analysis to confirm the HME's anti-apoptotic activity. Interestingly, after incubation with 100 mg/ml of the HME, the proportion of sub-G1 cells of the glutamate-stressed N18-RE-105s had been greatly reduced, from 58.5% to 9.1%. These results imply that HME may have strong potential as a chemotherapeutic agent against neuronal diseases.