• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2943-2948
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• 2012

Arsenic exposure is a serious health hazard worldwide. We have previously established that it may result in immune suppression by upregulating Th2 cytokines while downregulating Th1 cytokines and causing lymphocytic death. Treatment modalities for arsenic poisoning have mainly been restricted to the use of chelating agents in the past. Only recently have combination therapies using a chelating agent in conjunction with other compounds such as anti-oxidants, micronutrients and various plant products, been introduced. In the present study, we used T11TS, a novel immune potentiating glycopeptide alone and in combination with the sulfhydryl-containing chelator, mono-iso-amyl-dimarcaptosuccinic acid (MiADMSA) as a therapeutic regimen to combat arsenic toxicity in a mouse model. Results indicated that Th1 cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$, $IFN{\gamma}$, IL12 and the Th2 cytokines such as IL4, IL6, IL10 which were respectively downregulated and upregulated following arsenic induction were more efficiently restored to their near normal levels by T11TS alone in comparison with the combined regimen. Similar results were obtained with the apoptotic proteins studied, FasL, BAX, BCL2 and the caspases 3, 8 and 9, where again T11TS proved more potent than in combination with MiADMSA in preventing lymphocyte death. The results thus indicate that T11TS alone is more efficient in immune re-establishment after arsenic exposureas compared to combination therapy with T11TS+MiADMSA.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.279-286
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• 2020

Purple loosestrife-Lythrum anceps (Koehne) Makino is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the Lythraceae family. It has been used for centuries in Korea and other Asian traditional medicine. It has been showed pharmacological effects, including anti-oxidant and anti-microbial effects. However, the mechanisms underlying its anti-cancer effect are not yet understood. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of apoptosis signaling pathways by ethanol extract of Lythrum anceps (Koehne) Makino (ELM) in human leukemia U937 cells. Treatment with ELM significantly inhibited cell growth in a dose-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis, as evidenced by the formation of apoptotic bodies (ApoBDs), DNA fragmentation and increased populations of sub-G1 ratio. Induction of apoptosis by ELM was connected with up-regulation of death receptor (DR) 4 and DR5, pro-apoptotic Bax protein expression and down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein, and inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family proteins, depending on dosage. This induction was associated with Bid truncation, mitochondrial dysfunction, proteolytic activation of caspases (-3, -8 and -9) and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase protein. Therefore, our data indicate that ELM suppresses U937 cell growth by activating the intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways, and thus may have applications as a potential source for an anti-leukemic chemotherapeutic agent.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.238-243
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• 2009

We examined ethanol extracts prepared from 23 Korean local plants obtained in Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do for their inhibitory effects on recombinant human AKR 1 B10 (rhAKR1B10) in vitro. To do this, rhAKR1B10 was first expressed in E. coli as a biological active form and purified by using Ni-affinity chromatography followed by gel permeation chromatography. Then, rhAKR1B10 was used for screening out 23 Korean local plant extracts having an inhibitory activity against itself. Among them, six extracts showed more than 50% inhibition of rhAKR1B10 activity at the concentration of $10{\mu}g$/ml. Especially, the extracts of Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai and Rhus trichocarpa Miq. were the most potent because their $IC_{50}$ values were 2.94 and $2.00{\mu}g$/ml, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.25-32
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• 2001

Potatoes have been recognized for a long time as one of the major food crops as well as horticultural crops. Potato production as a table food has been decreased in developed countries, while it has been steadily increased in the third world countries for it importance as food source. It is a new trend to look for the food, not only as a feeding crop but also healthy food. It is also time for the potato producers to look for the potato having high economic value as found in medicinal plants. There are great diversities in potato species, indicating that valuable compounds can be found in different amounts, depending on potato species. We screened the cultivars, breeding clones, and germplasms based on the vitamin C, Vitamin E, antioxidant compounds, diverse sugar types, important amino acids, and other valuable compounds. We could select the breeding clones KC003, 98Wl17, 99j717, and Vally 8 (A group) due to their high levels of antioxidant compounds, and it can be said that most of the red and purple colored potato clones belong to the A group. In the contents of essential amino acids, ‘Taebook Valley’,‘Summer Valley’ and other breeding clones were found to be high in amount. We also made crosses between breeding clones with high biological function and low agronomic traits and low biological function with high quality in agronomic characteristics . The patterns of genetic trends of these offsprings in comparison with their parents will be reported as well. And the potential of using potato as antibody production of anti-cancer will be discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.94 no.6
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• pp.397-401
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• 2005

Homoharringtonine isolated from the plumyew tree (Cephalotaxus koreana) is currently considered as one of the most promising chemotherapeutic agents for anti-cancer. Variation of homoharringonine contents from eight natural populations of Korean native plumyew trees was determined by HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography), and compared with the variation among populations, the variation of the different parts(needle, root, stem and seed), and the variation according to their ages and growth features. Homoharringonine contents among populations were significantly different with Mt. South Dukyu ($1,048{\mu}g/g$) having the highest and Mt. Obong having the lowest. The analyses of plant pans showed that the homoharringtonine contents were highest in plant needles ($874{\mu}g/g$), and followed by roots, stems and seeds. Homoharringtonine contents of the plumyew trees decreased about 30% in increment with their ages and growth.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.249-255
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• 2015

Schisandrae fructus [Schizandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baillon] is a medicinal herb widely used for treating various inflammatory and immune diseases in East Asian countries. The Schisandrae Semen essential oil (SSeo) from this plant has pharmacological activities, including antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antitumoral activities. Nevertheless, the biological activities and underlying molecular mechanisms of the potential anti-cancer effects of this oil remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the potential inhibition of apoptosis signaling pathways by SSeo in human leukemia U937 cells and evaluated the underlying molecular mechanism. Exposure to SSeo resulted in a concentration-dependent growth inhibition due to apoptosis, which was verified by DNA fragmentation, the presence of apoptotic bodies, and an increase in the sub-G1 ratio. Induction of apoptotic cell death by SSeo was correlated with the down-regulation of members of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family (including X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP), cIAP-1, and surviving) and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2, and with up-regulation of death receptor (DR) 4 and DR5, depending on dosage. SSeo treatment also induced Bid truncation, mitochondrial dysfunction, proteolytic activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9, and concomitant degradation of activated caspase-3 target proteins such as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase. Taken together, these findings suggest that SSeo may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for use in the control of human leukemia cells. Further studies are needed to identify its active compounds.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.309-315
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• 2008

The methanol extract from the aerial parts of Aceriphyllum rossii was fractionated into ethyl acetate, n-BuOH and $H_2O$ layers through solvent fractionation. Repeated silica gel column chromatography of EtOAc and n-BuOH layers afforded five flavonol glycosides. They were identified as astragalin (1), kaempferol 3-O-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1${\rightarrow}$6)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (2), rutin (3), kaempferol 3-O-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1${\rightarrow}$4)-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl 1${\rightarrow}$6)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (4), and quercetin 3-O-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1${\rightarrow}$4)-${\alpha}$-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1${\rightarrow}$6)-${\beta}$-D-glucopyranoside (5) on the basis of spectroscopic data. All of them showed an inhibition in farnesyl protein tranferase (FPTase) activity, and rutin (3) inhibited the growth of rat H-ras cell and the cell migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.408-412
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• 2009

The Artemisia capillaris THUNB is a perennial herb that belongs to the family Compositae spp. and probably the most common plant among the various herbal folk remedies being used in the treatment of abdominal pain, hepatitis, chronic liver disease, jaundice and coughing in Korea. This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of Artemisia capillaris extracts on the amounts of splenocytes-derived cytokine ($TNF-{\alpha},\;IL-1{\beta}$ and IL-10). In in vivo experimental tests using 210 ICR mice with Hepa-1c1c7 or sarcoma 180 cancer line, splenocytes derived cytokine contents were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in the Hepa-1c1c7 and Sarcoma 180 inoculated vehicle controls, HP and SP, compared to those of the intact vehicle control on both the $28^{th}$ day and the $42^{nd}$ day, respectively. However, these decreases of $TNF-{\alpha},\;IL-1{\beta}$ and IL-10 levels induced by tumor inoculations were significantly (p < 0.01, p < 0.05) inhibited by mACH (Artemisia capillaris methanol extracts) treatment regardless of the type of experiments and tumor cells inoculated. The results suggest that Artemisia capillaris methanol extracts have prominent anti-inflammation effects on the cancer cell lines Hepa-1c1c7 and Sarcoma 180.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2014

The moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) plant is used as food and as an anti-allergic agent. In this study, we studied the inhibitory effect of moringa root extract on the expression of PMA-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), which is the main factor implicated in the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells in MCF-7 cells. At first, various moringa extracts were examined in the MCF-7 cells. Both moringa root extract and leaf extracts inhibited PMA-induced MMP-9 activity, but the root extract suppressed PMA-induced MMP-9 activity to a greater extent than the leaf extract. The moringa root extract also inhibited PMA-induced MMP-9 protein expression and cell invasion. According to RT-PCR, the treatment of the MCF-7 cells with moringa root extract decreased levels of PMA-induced MMP-9 mRNA expression, but not the expression of TIMP-1 and -2, indicating that moringa root extract prevents the transcription of MMP-9 in response to PMA. In addition, moringa root extract specifically suppressed the phosphorylation of ERK/JNK, but not p38. We suggest that moringa root extract abolishes MMP-9 activity/expression through ERK/JNK. In conclusion, moringa root extract suppressed PMA-induced MMP-9 activity/expression by inhibiting the phosphorylation of ERK/JNK in MCF-7 cells. These results indicate that moringa root extract may be a potential antimetastatic and anti-invasive agent. Future clinical research is needed on the anticancer properties of moringa root extract.

• Food Engineering Progress
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2017

Caesalpinia sappan L. is an oriental medicinal plant distributed in the Asia Pacific region including India, Malaysia, and China. The dried heartwood of Caesalpinia sappan has been traditionally used as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug. In this study, the effects of extract methods of C. sappan on contents of total polyphenols and flavonoids, antioxidant activity, and cytotoxic activity were evaluated. As a result, hot water extract from C. sappan (CSWE) significantly exhibited contents of total polyphenols and flavonoids (22.6 mg GAE/g and 14.5 mg QE/g) higher than 70% ethanol extract (CSEE) (17.6 mg GAE/g and 13.2 mg QE/g). However, CSEE showed greater antioxidant activity than CSWE in both DPPH and ABTS. Also, the cytotoxicity of C. sappan against three kinds of cancer cell lines was higher in CSEE than in CSWE. These results show that ethanol extract is a better extract method than hot water method to maintain antioxidant and anti-cancer activities.