• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5437-5442
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• 2014

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most malignancies with a poor prognosis. The phospholipase $C{\varepsilon}$ gene (PLCE1) encodes a novel ras-related protein effector mediating the effects of R-Ras on the actin cytoskeleton and membrane protrusion. However, molecular mechanisms pertinent to ESCC are unclear. We therefore designed PLCE1-special small interfering RNA and transfected to esophageal squamous cell (EC) 9706 cells to investigat the effects of PLCE1 gene silencing on the cell cycle and apoptosis of ESCC and indicate its important role in the development of ESCC. Esophageal cancer tissue specimens and normal esophageal mucosa were obtained and assayed by immunohistochemical staining to confirm overexpression of PLCE1 in neoplasias. Fluorescence microscopy was used to examine transfection efficiency, while the result of PLCE1 silencing was examined by reverse transcription (RT-PCR). Flow cytometry and annexin V apoptosis assays were used to assess the cell cycle and apoptosis, respectively. Expression of cyclin D1 and caspase-3 was detected by Western-blotting. The level of PLCE1 protein in esophageal cancer tissue was significantly higher than that in normal tissue. After transfection, the expression of PLCE1 mRNA in EC 9706 was significantly reduced, compared with the control group. Furthermore, flow cytometry results suggested that the PLCE1 gene silencing arrested the cell cycle in the G0/G1 phase; apoptosis was significantly higher than in the negative control group and mock group. PLCE1 gene silencing by RNAi resulted in decreased expression of cyclin D1 and increased expression of caspase-3. Our study suggests that PLCE1 may be an oncogene and play an important role in esophageal carcinogenesis through regulating proteins which control cell cycling and apoptosis.

• 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.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5825-5831
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• 2013

Background/Objectives: Maintenance of cellular function in culture is vital for transfer and development following adoptive immunotherapy. Dual properties of IL-21 in activating T cells and reducing activation induced cell death led us to explore the mechanism of action of IL-21 enhanced proliferation and cytotoxic potential of CIK cells. Method: CIK cells cultured from PBMCs of healthy subjects were stimulated with IL-21 and cellular viability and cytotoxicity to K562 cells were measured. To elucidate the mechanism of action of IL-21, mRNA expression of cytotoxic factors was assessed by RT-PCR and protein expression of significantly important cytotoxic factors and cytokine secretion were determined through flow cytometry and ELISA. Western blotting was performed to check the involvement of the JAK/STAT pathway following stimulation. Results: We found that IL-21 did not enhance in vitro proliferation of CIK cells, but did increase the number of cells expressing the CD3+/CD56+ phenotype. Cytotoxic potential was increased with corresponding increase in perforin ($0.9831{\pm}0.1265$ to $0.7592{\pm}0.1457$), granzyme B ($0.4084{\pm}0.1589$ to $0.7319{\pm}0.1639$) and FasL ($0.4015{\pm}0.2842$ to $0.7381{\pm}0.2568$). Interferon gamma and TNF-alpha were noted to increase ($25.8{\pm}6.1ng/L$ to $56.0{\pm}2.3ng/L$; and $5.64{\pm}0.61{\mu}g/L$ to $15.14{\pm}0.93{\mu}g/L$, respectively) while no significant differences were observed in the expression of granzyme A, TNF-alpha and NKG2D, and NKG2D. We further affirmed that IL-21 signals through the STAT-3 and STAT-5b signaling pathway in the CIK cell pool. Conclusion: IL-21 enhances cytotoxic potential of CIK cells through increasing expression of perforin, granzyme B, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha. The effect is brought about by the activation of STAT-3 and STAT-5b proteins.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.95-105
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• 1997

Currently, the laboratory diagnosis for lyme disease have been performed with the detection of antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi. However there might be some difficulties in the interpretation of obtained results due to the usage of foreign isolates as an antigen in the test. Therefore the optimization of serological tests with Korean isolates of B. burgdorferi as an antigen would be needed to establish the standardized diagnostic method for the detection of antibodies against B. burgdorferi infection. In this study, the optimization of ELISA was investigated with experimentally challenged rabbit sera and sonicated B. burgdorferi antigens of Korean isolates. Of 217 human patient's sera with unknown fever, the mean seropositivities in ELISA, done under the optimized conditions obtained in this study, were found to be about 8％ against B. burgdorferi sensu late, showing the highest seropositivity of 14.3％ against B. afzelii. In immunoblotting assay with ELISA-positive human sera, the major reactive bands were 41kDa (flagellin) which might be the indication of early infection, and 27kDa, 31kDa (OspA), 34kDa (OspB) which are the characteristics of late infection. Obtained results in this study might strongly indicate the possibility of B. burgdorferi infections in Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1244-1251
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• 2008

The aim of the present study was to delineate the expression and secretion of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system components by pig liver cells. Hepatocytes were prepared from 3-wk-old weanling piglets following a two-step collagenase perfusion procedure, after which the cells were incubated for 24 or 48 h at a density of $2{\pm}10^5$ cells per 35-mm dish in 2-ml Williams' medium E. The cells were found to express the genes encoding IGF-I, IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs)-2 and -3 and acid-labile subunit (ALS) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) following the culture. However, IGF-I was localized to hepatocytes by immunohistochemical analysis, whereas IGFBP-3 was localized to endothelial cells, but not to hepatocytes. This indicated that the IGFBP-3 gene expression detected by RT-PCR was likely to have been contributed by unidentified non-parenchymal cells that had not been removed during the hepatocyte preparation. The conditioned culture medium (CCM) of the cells contained immunoreactive IGF-I and IGF-II, with the latter being seven-fold more abundant than the former. The CCM also contained 43-, 40-, 34-, 31-kDa doublet and 26-kDa IGFBPs as examined by Western ligand blotting. The 40-, 34- and 31-kDa doublet IGFBPs were approximately three-fold as abundant as the 43- and 26-kDa IGFBPs. Moreover, the 43- and 40-kDa doublet and the 34-kDa IGFBPs were immunoprecipitable with IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-2 antibodies, respectively. Overall, these results are similar to those known in the rat, which suggests that the IGF system components are likely to be expressed and secreted in pig liver in a manner similar to that in rat liver.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.1837-1847
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the pancreatic differentiation potential of α-1,3-galactosyltransferase knockout (GalTKO) pig-derived bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) using epigenetic modifiers with different pancreatic induction media. Methods: The BM-MSCs have been differentiated into pancreatic β-like cells by inducing the overexpression of key transcription regulatory factors or by exposure to specific soluble inducers/small molecules. In this study, we evaluated the pancreatic differentiation of GalTKO pig-derived BM-MSCs using epigenetic modifiers, 5-azacytidine (5-Aza) and valproic acid (VPA), and two types of pancreatic induction media - advanced Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (ADMEM)-based and N2B27-based media. GalTKO BM-MSCs were treated with pancreatic induction media and the expression of pancreas-islets-specific markers was evaluated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunofluorescence. Morphological changes and changes in the 5'-C-phosphate-G-3' (CpG) island methylation patterns were also evaluated. Results: The expression of the pluripotent marker (POU class 5 homeobox 1 [OCT4]) was upregulated upon exposure to 5-Aza and/or VPA. GalTKO BM-MSCs showed increased expression of neurogenic differentiation 1 in the ADMEM-based (5-Aza) media, while the expression of NK6 homeobox 1 was elevated in cells induced with the N2B27-based (5-Aza) media. Moreover, the morphological transition and formation of islets-like cellular clusters were also prominent in the cells induced with the N2B27-based media with 5-Aza. The higher insulin expression revealed the augmented trans-differentiation ability of GalTKO BM-MSCs into pancreatic β-like cells in the N2B27-based media than in the ADMEM-based media. Conclusion: 5-Aza treated GalTKO BM-MSCs showed an enhanced demethylation pattern in the second CpG island of the OCT4 promoter region compared to that in the GalTKO BM-MSCs. The exposure of GalTKO pig-derived BM-MSCs to the N2B27-based microenvironment can significantly enhance their trans-differentiation ability into pancreatic β-like cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1637-1642
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• 2015

Background: RhoGTPase-activating proteins (RhoGAPs) regulate RhoGTPases in cells, but whether individual reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulate RhoGAPs is unknown. Our previous published papers have shown that deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) inhibits cancer cell migration by its RhoGAP activity. The present study was designed to explore the role of $H_2O_2$ in regulation of DLC1. Materials and Methods: We treated cells with $H_2O_2$ for 24h and phenotypic changes were analyzed by MTT, RT-PCR, Western blotting, immunofluorescence staining and wound healing assays. Results: $H_2O_2$ downregulated cyclin D1 and cyclin E to inhibit proliferation, and upregulated BAX to induce apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Compared with non-tumorigenic cells, $H_2O_2$ increased expression of DLC1 and reduced activity of RhoA in cancer cells. Stress fiber production and migration were also suppressed by $H_2O_2$ in MDA-MB-231 cells. Conclusions: Our study suggests that $H_2O_2$ inhibits proliferation through modulation of cell cycle and apoptosis-related genes, and inhibits migration by decreasing stress fibers via DLC1/RhoA signaling.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.83-92
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• 2012

Objectives : The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Hwangryunhaedok-tang (HHT) and Gungangbuja-tang (GBT) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse model of inflammation. HHT and GBT are one of the representative prescriptions of cold drug and one of the representative prescriptions of hot drug, respectively. For experimental evaluation of their efficacy, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of HHT and GBT on LPS-induced inflammation and the mechanisms of their action. Methods : ICR mice were given a HHT (50, 500 mg/kg), GBT (100, 1000 mg/kg) extract orally on three consecutive days. On the third day, they were administered LPS intraperitoneally (35 mg/kg), 1 h after the last sample administration. Blood and liver samples were taken 6 h after the LPS challenge. Cytokine expression and inflammation-related protein factor analyses were performed by Western blotting. Results : Oral administration of HHT significantly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, and interferon (IFN)-${\gamma}$ in the serum. While GBT inhibited an increase of IL-6, IFN-${\gamma}$ was not affected. Immunoblot analysis showed that LPS-induced NF-${\kappa}b$ activation was inhibited by GBT, meanwhile HHT only inhibited NF-${\kappa}b$ expression at high does (500 mg/kg). In addition, HHT and GBT inhibited LPS-induced phosphorylation of Erk1/2, Jnk and p38 MAPKs. GBT also significantly inhibited i-Nos and Cox-2 expression, and HHT inhibited only i-Nos expression. Conclusions : Both of HHT and GBT showed anti-inflammatory effects against LPS-induced endotoxemia. However, HHT significantly decreased inflammatory cytokine levels, such as IL-6 and IFN-${\gamma}$ more than GBT, while GBT significantly inhibited inflammatory proteins, including NF-${\kappa}b$, MAP Kinases, i-Nos and Cox-2, more than HHT. These results suggest that HHT and GBT regulate the different mechanisms of action and pathways, presumably by regulating cytokine levels (IL-6, IFN-${\gamma}$), NF-${\kappa}b$ activation, and several pro-inflammatory gene expression, although both of HHT and GBT have anti-inflammatory effects.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

Objectives : The fruit of Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc. has been used as an alternative medicine and functional food in Korea and Japan for preventive and therapeutic purposes. However, its molecular actions and mechanism on anti-inflammatory activity have not been clearly investigated. The aim of this study was to clarify the anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanol extract of P. mume fruit (EEPM) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, and sought to understand the associated molecular mechanisms. Methods : Cytotoxicity was assessed by an MTT assay. The amount of nitric oxide (NO) production was determined by nitrite assay. The mRNA expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was analyzed by RT-PCR. In addition, expression levels of iNOS, nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein were detected by Western blotting. Results : Our data indicated that EEPM inhibited NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. At the mRNA and protein levels, EEPM suppressed LPS-induced iNOS expression. On the other hand, EEPM markedly enhanced HO-1 expression, which was associated with an induction and nuclear translocation of Nrf2. Moreover, the inhibitory effect of EEPM against LPS‑induced NO production was significantly enhanced by hemin, a HO-1 inducer; however, EEPM's effect on the production of NO was abolished by zinc protoporphyrin IX, a HO-1 inhibitor. Conclusion : The results suggest that EEPM can act as a suppressor agent on NO production through an activation of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, and may be a promising candidate for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.69-87
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• 2017

Objectives : Cheongnoemyeongsin-hwan (CNMSH) is a herb medicine to treat cognitive impairment. This study was investigated the effects of CNMSH on learning and memory impairment induced by cerebral hypoperfusion. Cerebral hypoperfusion was produced chronically by permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) in rats. Methods : CNMSH was administered orally once a day (250 mg/kg) for 28 days starting at 4th week after the BCCAO. The acquisition of learning and the retention of memory were tested on 9th week after the BCCAO using the Morris water maze. In addition, effect of CNMSH on neuronal apoptosis and ${\beta}-amyloid$ accumulation in the hippocmapus was evaluated with immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Results : 1. CNMSH and ChAL significantly shortened the escape latencies on the 2nd day of acquisition training trials. 2. ChAL significantly prolonged the swimming time spent in the target and peri-target zones and CNMSH also significantly prolonged the swimming time spent in the peri-target zone. 3. CNMSH and ChAL significantly increased the number of target heading in the retention test. 4. ChAL significantly shortened the time of the 1st target heading in the retention test, but CNMSH insignificantly shortened the time of that. 5. CNMSH and ChAL significantly increased the memory score in the retention test. 6. CNMSH and ChAL significantly attenuated the reduction of CA1 neurons, but insignificantly attenuated the reduction of CA1 thickness. 7. CNMSH and ChAL significantly attenuated the up-regulation of Bax expression in the CA1 of hippocampus. 8. CNMSH and ChAL significantly attenuated the up-regulation of cascapse-3 expression in the CA1 of hippocampus. 9. CNMSH and ChAL significantly attenuated the ${\beta}-amyloid$ accumulation in the CA1 of hippocampus. 10. CNMSH and ChAL significantly attenuated the up-regulation of APP expression in the CA1 of hippocampus. 11. CNMSH and ChAL significantly attenuated the up-regulation of BACE-1 expression in the CA1 of hippocampus. Conclusions : The results show that CNMSH attenuates neuronal apoptosis and ${\beta}-amyloid$ accumulation in the hippocampus and alleviates the impairment of learning and memory produced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. These results suggest that CNMSH may be a beneficial medicinal herb to treat cognitive impairment associated with neurodegenerative diseases.