• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.46-52
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• 2014

In traditional Korean and Chinese medicine, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) for the treatment of central nervous system-related symptoms such as tremor, seizure, stroke and epilepsy. We investigated the effects of safflower could influence cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal and cognitive impairments. Administration of safflower for 1 day (200 mg/kg body weight, p.o.) increased the survival of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons after transient global brain ischemia. And neurological functions measured as short term memory. Post-treatment with safflower for 2 times decreased the induction/reduction - induced production of neuronal cell loss from global cerebral ischemia. Safflower markedly decreased neuronal cell death and also caused a decrease in the content of thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances (TBARS) ($55.2{\pm}9.4{\mu}mol\;mg^{-1}$) and significant improvement of activities of glutathione (GSH) ($27.2{\pm}5.0{\mu}mol\;mg^{-1}$) in hippocampus. We conclude that treatment with safflower attenuated learning and memory deficits, and neuronal cell loss induced by global cerebral ischemia. These results suggest that safflower may be a potential candidate for the treatment of vascular dementia.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.253-261
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• 2007

Lactadherin is a glycoprotein of human milk fat globule membrane that binds to mucin and butyrophilin forming the protein complex. Especially, mucin and lactadherin in human milk efficiently protect infants with poor immune functions right after birth from infections by microorganisms and play important roles for their early survival, growth and development. Lactadherin inhibits the propagation and growth of rotavirus that is a global pathogen causing infants' diarrhea. Recently this protein was known to promote neovascularization and its deficiency related to develop Alzheimer's disease. In this study, the basic biochemical and physiological aspects of lactadherin were investigated. Messenger RNAs were isolated from mammary tissues from Korean women patients to clone a 1.2 kb cDNA and sequenced its DNA to determine its amino acid sequences. The cDNA was cloned to express its 43 kD protein in E. coli, which was confirmed by Western blot. The recombinant protein was purified and injected to 2 rabbits to raise antibodies against it. The semi-purified milk fat globule membrane proteins from Korean women was analyzed by Western blot using the rabbit antibody to give 70, 55, 46, 30 kD bands. Also several polymorphism and SNPs of lactadherin gene from Korean women were observed compared with those of Caucasian women.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.277-290
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to develope a design prototype of 'Smart Battle Jacket' for the future soldier system. Future battle field is supposed to be the place where the information is the most important. Future soldiers are also supposed to get digital devices to have more possibility of survival in the battle field. To design the smart battle jacket that has digital devices inside, it's needed to forecast the body sizes and shape of the future soldiers, to research the human bodies and movements, and to study the functions of the digital devices and the relationship between the bodies and the devices. The usability of the 1st model for the Smart battle jacket had been tested, and the model had been corrected by the results from the test. After all, a smart battle jacket design prototype for the future soldier system has been developed.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.241-246
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• 2005

PDK-1 activates PI3-kinase/Akt signaling and regulates fundamental cellular functions, such as growth and survival. NF-${\kappa}B$ is involved in the induction of a variety of cellular genes affecting immunity, inflammation and the resistance to apoptosis induced by some anti-cancer drugs. Even though the crucial involvement of the PI3-kinase/Akt pathway in the anti-apoptotic activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ is well known, the exact role of PDK-1 as well as PI3-kinase/Akt in NF-vactivation is not understood. Here we demonstrate that PDK-1 plays a pivotal role in transcriptional activation of NF-${\kappa}B$ by dissociating the transcriptional co-repressor HDAC1 from the p65 subunit of NF-${\kappa}B$. The association of CBP with p65 was not directly modulated by PDK-1 or by PI3-kinase. Etoposide activated NF-${\kappa}B$ through PI3-kinase/Akt, and the transcription activation domain (TAD) of p65 was further activated by wild-type PDK-1. Overexpression of a dominant negative PDK-1 mutant decreased etoposide-induced NF-${\kappa}B$ transcription and further down-regulated the ectopic HDAC1-mediated decrease in NF-${\kappa}B$ transcriptional activity. Thus activation of PDK-1 relieves the HDAC1-mediated repression of NF-${\kappa}B$ that may be related to basal as well as activated transcription by NF-${\kappa}B$. This effect may also explain the role of the PI3-kinase/PDK-1 pathway in the anti-apoptotic function of NF-${\kappa}B$ associated with the chemoresistance of cancer cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.224-231
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• 2007

$H_2O_2$, as an example of oxidative stress, induces cardiac myocyte apoptosis. Bcl-2 family proteins are key regulators of the apoptotic response while their functions can be regulated by post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, dimerization or proteolytic cleavage. In this study, we examined the role of various protein kinases in regulating total BAD protein levels in adult rat cardiac myocytes undergoing apoptosis. Stimulation with 0.1 mM $H_2O_2$, which induces apoptosis, resulted in a marked down-regulation of BAD protein, which is attributed to cleavage by caspases since it can be restored in the presence of a general caspase inhibitor. Inhibition of PKC, p38-MAPK, ERK1/2 and PI-3-K did not influence the reduced BAD protein levels observed after stimulation with $H_2O_2$. On the contrary, inhibition of PKA or specifically $PKC{\delta}$ resulted in up-regulation of BAD. Decreased caspase 3 activity was observed in $H_2O_2$ treated cells after inhibition of PKA or $PKC{\delta}$ whereas inhibition of PKA also resulted in improved cell survival. Furthermore, addition of okadaic acid to inhibit selected phosphatases resulted in enhanced BAD cleavage. These data suggest that, during oxidative stress-induced cardiac myocyte apoptosis, there is a caspase-dependent down-regulation of BAD protein, which seems to be regulated by coordinated action of PKA, $PKC{\delta}$ and phosphatases.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.250-257
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• 2016

Abiotic stresses such as drought and low temperature critically restrict plant growth, reproduction, and productivity. Higher plants have developed various defense strategies against these unfavorable conditions. CaPUB1 (Capsicum annuum Putative U-box protein 1) is a hot pepper U-box E3 Ub ligase. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants that constitutively expressed CaPUB1 exhibited drought-sensitive phenotypes, suggesting that it functions as a negative regulator of the drought stress response. In this study, CaPUB1 was over-expressed in rice (Oryza sativa L.), and the phenotypic properties of transgenic rice plants were examined in terms of their drought and cold stress tolerance. Ubi:CaPUB1 T3 transgenic rice plants displayed phenotypes hypersensitive to dehydration, suggesting that its role in the negative regulation of drought stress response is conserved in dicot Arabidopsis and monocot rice plants. In contrast, Ubi:CaPUB1 progeny exhibited phenotypes markedly tolerant to prolonged low temperature ($4^{\circ}C$) treatment, compared to those of wild-type plants, as determined by survival rates, electrolyte leakage, and total chlorophyll content. Cold stress-induced marker genes, including DREB1A, DREB1B, DREB1C, and Cytochrome P450, were more up-regulated by cold treatment in Ubi:CaPUB1 plants than in wild-type plants. These results suggest that CaPUB1 serves as both a negative regulator of the drought stress response and a positive regulator of the cold stress response in transgenic rice plants. This raises the possibility that CaPUB1 participates in the cross-talk between drought and low-temperature signaling pathways.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.59-69
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• 2019

Purpose - Unlike in the past, individualistic thought is more dominant than groupism where members prioritize organizations. Such changes run counter to the direction of the survival of the companies, which calls for companies to explore strategies to address thems. As one of the solutions, many people highlights social capital. However, since most studies have been conducted on the definition and characteristics of social capital, there is not enough prior factor research on the formation of social capital. So the current situation require researches on the formation of social capital. Research design, data, and methodology - To achieve the purpose, the literature and the empirical studies were combined. Deriving workplace democracy and servant leadership as factors affecting the formation of social capital through the literature, and this factors have modeled assumptions about the impact on social capital, and have established hypotheses to verify them. The survey which is conducted to verify the hypothesis and questionnaires are derived base on the variables used in the previous studies. The survey was conducted 447 respondents in Korea. Results - As a result, we found that the workplace democracy is positively functioning with the formation of social capital. It means that the democracy functions as a universal element to enhance the quality of social capital at the workplace. The evidence also shows that the positive impacts of the servant leadership on the formation of social capital. And the survey shows that groups with high level servant leadership had a higher impact on the formation of social capital than those with low levels leadership. Conclusions - At present, the social capital has become an important factor for the companies pursuing high performance workplaces. We found that the workplace democracy and the servant leadership affect the formation of social capital. It means that to increase the employees' sense of community and solidarity, it is need to form democratic environment with the servant leadership. Therefore, based on the results of this study, the workplace democracy and the servant leadership can present strategic implications that can increase the social capital.

• BMB Reports
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.335-340
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• 2020

Since cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, there is an urgent need to understand the mechanisms underlying cancer progression and the development of cancer inhibitors. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a major transcription factor that regulates the proliferation and survival of various cancer cells. Here, dual-specificity phosphatase 3 (DUSP3) was identified as a regulator of STAT3 based on an interaction screening performed using the protein tyrosine phosphatase library. DUSP3 interacted with the C-terminal domain of STAT3 and dephosphorylated p-Y705 of STAT3. In vitro dephosphorylation assay revealed that DUSP3 directly dephosphorylated p-STAT3. The suppressive effects of DUSP3 on STAT3 were evaluated by a decreased STAT3-specific promoter activity, which in turn reduced the expression of the downstream target genes of STAT3. In summary, DUSP3 downregulated the transcriptional activity of STAT3 via dephosphorylation at Y705 and also suppressed the migratory activity of cancer cells. This study demonstrated that DUSP3 inhibits interleukin 6 (IL-6)/STAT3 signaling and is expected to regulate cancer development. Novel functions of DUSP3 discovered in IL-6/STAT3 signaling regulation would help expand the understanding of cancer development mechanisms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1644-1652
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• 2012

Iron plays a key role in host-pathogen interactions. Microbial pathogens require iron for survival and virulence, whereas mammalian hosts sequester and withhold iron as a means of nutritional immunity. We previously identified two paralogous genes, CFT1 and CFT2, which encode homologs of a fungal iron permease, Cft1 and Cft2, respectively, in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. Cft1 was shown to play a role in the high-affinity reductive iron uptake system, and was required for transferrin utilization and full virulence in mammalian hosts. However, no role of Cft2 has been suggested yet. Here, we identified the third gene, CFT3, that produces an additional fungal iron permease homolog in C. neoformans, and we also generated the cft3 mutant for functional characterization. We aimed to reveal distinct functions of Cft1, Cft2 and Cft3 by analyzing phenotypes of the mutants lacking CFT1, CFT2 and CFT3, respectively. The endogenous promoter of CFT1, CFT2 and CFT3 was replaced with the inducible GAL7 promoter in the wild-type strain or in the cft1 mutant for gain-of-function analysis. Using these strains, we were able to find that CFT2 is required for growth in low-iron conditions in the absence of CFT1 and that overexpression of CFT2 compensates for deficiency of the cft1 mutant in iron uptake and various cellular stress conditions. However, unlike CFT2, no clear phenotypic characteristic of the cft3 mutant and the strain overexpressing CFT3 was observed. Overall, our data suggested a redundant role of Cft2 in the high-affinity iron uptake and stress responses in C. neoformans.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.463-468
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• 2012

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is caused by dysregulation of the immune system in the pancreatic islets, which eventually leads to insulin-producing pancreatic ${\beta}$-cell death and destabilization of glucose homeostasis. One of the major characteristics of T1D pathogenesis is the production of inflammatory mediators by macrophages that result in destruction or damage of pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells. In this study the inflammatory microenvironment of T1D was simulated with RAW264.7 cells and MIN6 cells, acting as macrophages and pancreatic ${\beta}$-cells respectably. In this setting, peroxiredoxin-1, an anti-oxidant enzyme was knocked down to observe its functions in the pathogenesis of T1D. RAW264.7 cells were primed with lipopolysaccharide and co-cultured with MIN6 cells while PRX-1 was knocked down in one or both cell types. Our results suggest that hindrance of PRX-1 activity or the deficiency of this enzyme in inflammatory conditions negatively affects pancreatic ${\beta}$-cell survival. The observed decrease in viability of MIN6 cells seems to be caused by nitric oxide production. Additionally, it seems that PRX-1 affects previously reported protective activity of IL-6 in pancreatic ${\beta}$ cells as well. These results signify new, undiscovered roles for PRX-1 in inflammatory conditions and may contribute toward our understanding of autoimmunity.