• 대한약학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한약학회 2003년도 Proceedings of the Convention of the Pharmaceutical Society of Korea Vol.2-2
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• pp.148.1-148.1
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• 2003

Ceramide is an important lipid messenger involved in mediating a variety of cell functions including apoptosis. Previously, we have shown that ceramide induces Bax translocation which is associated with cytochrome c release from the mitochondria. In this study, we show that p38 MAP kinase is involved in ceramide-induced Bax translocation. In human leukemic cells, ceramide stimulated the phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase. Preincubation of cells with SB203580, a specific inhibitor of p38 inhibited DNA fragmentation induced by cell-permeable ceramide. (omitted)

• 대한약학회:학술대회논문집
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• 대한약학회 2002년도 Proceedings of the Convention of the Pharmaceutical Society of Korea Vol.2
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• pp.338.2-338.2
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• 2002

Ceramide is a lipid second messenger that is involved in apoptotic cell death. In this study, we show that p38 MAPK plays an important role in the regulation of ceramide-induced apoptosis. We found that SB203580, a p38 kinase inhibitor, blocked the effects of ceramide to induce Bax translocation to mitochondria, activation of caspase-3, and DNA fragmentation. Furthermore. expression of a dominant negative form of p38 MAPK suppressed ceramide-induced Bax translocation, suggesting that p38 kinase activity is essential for Bax translocation. (omitted)

• BMB Reports
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.217-222
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• 2009

Controlled gene expression in specific cells is a valuable tool for gene therapy. We attempted to determine whether the lentivirus-mediated Tet-On inducible system could be applied to cancer gene therapy. In order to select the genes that induce cancer cell death, we compared the ability of the known pro-apoptotreic genes, Bax and tBid, and a cell cycle inhibitor, p21cip1/waf1, and determined that Bax was the most effective. For the cancer cell-specific expression of $rtTA2^S$-M2, we tested the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) promoter and determined that it is highly expressed in cancer cell lines, including SNU475 cells. The co-transduction of two lentiviruses that contain sequences for TRE-Bax and $rtTA2^S$-M2, the expression of which is controlled by the MMP-2 promoter, resulted in the specific cell death of SNU475, whereas other cells with low MMP-2 expression did not evidence significant cell death. Our data indicate that the lentivirus-mediated Tet-On system using the cancer-specific promoter is applicable for cancer gene therapy.

• 동의생리병리학회지
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.124-129
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• 2005

Resveratrol, a phytoalexin found at high levels in grapes and in grape products such as red wine, has been reported to possess a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities including anti-oxident, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic, and anti-carcinogenic effects, but its molecular mechanism is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effects of resveratrol on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced growth inhibitory activity and cell growth-regulatory gene products in astroglioma C6 cells to elucidate its possible mechanism for anti-cytotoxicity. It is shown that LPS induced time-dependent growth inhibition and morphological changes of C6 cells, which were recovered by pre-treatment with resveratrol. The anti-proliferative effect of LPS was associated with the induction of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) expression assessed by RT-PCR and Western blot analysis in time-dependent manner in C6 cells. In addition, the pro-apoptotic Bax expression was also up-regulated in LPS-treated C6 cells without alteration of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL expression. However, resveratrol significantly inhibited LPS-induced p53, p21 and Bax levels, suggesting that the modulation of p53, p21 and Bax levels could be one of the possible pathways by which resveratrol functions as anti-cytotoxic agent.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권11호
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• pp.5031-5035
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• 2016

Docetaxel, recognized as a stabilizing microtubule agent, is frequently administrated as a first line treatment for prostate cancers. Due to high side effects of monotherapy, however, combinations with novel adjuvants have emerged as an alternative strategy in cancer therapy protocols. Here, we investigated the combined effects of stattic and docetaxel on the DU145 prostate cancer cell line. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by MTT assay. To understand molecular mechanisms of stattic action, apoptotic related genes including Bcl-2, Mcl-1, Survivin and Bax were evaluated by real-time RT-PCR. Alteration in the expression of pro-apoptotic Bax and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 genes and Bax/Bcl-2 ratio were investigated via the $2^{{\Delta}{\Delta}CT}$ method. The $IC_{50}$ values for docetaxel and stattic were $3.7{\pm}0.9nM$ and $4.6{\pm}0.8{\mu}M$, respectively. Evaluation of key gene expression levels revealed a noticeable decrease in antiapoptotic Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 along with an increase in pro-apoptotic Bax mRNA levels (p<0.05). Our results suggest that combination of a STAT3 inhibitor with doctaxel can be considered as a potent strategy for induction of apoptosis via increasing Bax mRNA expression.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.83-87
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• 2015

Genetic transformation was affected by material of explant, age of callus, and medium of regeneration. Two rice seed cultivars (Ilpum and Baekjinju) and mediums were investigated in this study for enhancing regeneration of transgenic rice expressed AtBI-1 gene encoding the Arabidopsis thaliana Bax inhibitor. Regeneration rate of Ilpum rice transformant in gelrite of 5 and 8 g were 27.4% and 18.0%, respectively. In Baekjinju, regeneration rate of transformant was 5.4% and 4.3% in 5 and 8 g gelrite, respectively. The highest number of transformant plant in this study was regenerated from Ilpum cultivar on MS medium (30.4%) and was applied for the subsequent experiment. The callus regeneration rate of transformant were 40.7% in callus infection of up-side, it was higher regeneration then in the down-side (3.9%). The regeneration rate of callus of 25 days and 35 days were 14.7% and 38.6%, respectively. The most important application of this work is in genetic transformation of rice, particularly for improvement transgenic plant tissue culture protocol with high frequency of plant regeneration.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제18권9호
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• pp.1590-1598
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• 2008

Cell proliferation and differentiation are critical processes in a developing fetal rat brain, during which programmed cell death (PCD) also plays an important role. One of the decisive factors for PCD is Bcl-2 family proteins, where Bax induces cell death, whereas Bcl-2 acts as an inhibitor of PCD. As maternal drinking is known to cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or malformation of the fetal brain during pregnancy, the objective of the present study was to investigate whether maternal ethanol exposure alters the PCD-related Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression during fetal brain development. Pregnant female rats were orally treated with 10% ethanol and the subsequent expressions of the Bax and Bcl-2 proteins examined in the fetal brain, including the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain, from gestational day (GD) 15.5 to GD 19.5, using Western blots, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry. With regard to the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax proteins (Bcl-2/Bax), the Bax protein was dominant in the forebrain and midbrain of the control GD 15.5 fetuses, except for the hindbrain, when compared with the respective ethanol-treated groups. Moreover, Bcl-2 became dominant in the midbrain of the control GD 17.5 fetuses when compared with the ethanol-treated group, representing an alternation of the natural PCD process by ethanol. Furthermore, a differential expression of the Bcl-2 and Bax proteins was found in the differentiating and migrating zones of the cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and cerebellum. Thus, when taken together, the present results suggest that ethanol affects PCD in the cell differentiation and migration zones of the prenatal rat brain by modulating Bax and Bcl-2 expression in an age- and area-dependent manner. Therefore, this is the first evidence that ethanol may alter FAS-associated embryonic brain development through the alteration of Bax and Bc1-2 expression.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.169-175
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• 2005

Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene)은 포도와 같은 식물에서 각종 감염균으로부터 자신의 몸을 보호하기 위하여 생성되는 물질인 phytoalexin의 일종으로 강력한 항산화작용, 암예방 효과 및 항암 작용을 포함한 각종 약리작용을 가진 것으로 보고 되어져 오고 있다. Alzheimer 환자의 뇌에 축적되어 뇌 신경세포를 죽이는 amyloid plaque의 주 성분은 $amyloid-\beta$의 축적에 의한 것인데, $amyloid-\beta$는 정상적인 단백질 신진대사 과정의 결과로 체내 모든 세포들로부터 생성되는 물질이다. 본 연구에서는 resveratrol의 세포독성 보호효과에 관한 효능을 검증하기 위하여 C6 신경교세포에서 $amyloid-\beta-peptide$ (fragment 31-35)에 의한 세포독성 및 세포성장 조절관련 주요 유전자들의 발현에 미치는 resveratrol의 영향을 조사하였다. $Amyloid-\beta$가 처리된 C6세포는 처리 농도의존적으로 증식이 억제되었으며, 형태적 변형도 유발 되었으나 resveratrol의 전처리에 의하여 효과적으로 차단되었다. RT-PCR 및 Western blot analysis에 의한 결과에서 $amyloid-\beta$ 처리에 의한 세포증식 억제는 종양억제유전자 p53 및 Cdk 억제제인 p21 (WAF1/CIP1) 발현이 증가되었다. 또한 apoptosis 유발에 매우 중요한 역할을 수행하는 Bax의 발현도 $amyloid-\beta$가 처리된 C6 세포에서 발현이 증가되었으나 apoptosis 유발억제에 관여하는 Bcl-2및 $Bcl-X_{L}$ 발현에는 큰 영향을 미치지 못하였다. 그러나 resveratrol이 전처리된 세포에서는 처리 농도 의존적으로 $amyloid-\beta$에 의해 유도되는 p53, p21 및 Bax의 발현이 정상수준으로 회복되었다.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.473-481
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• 2020

Axl receptor tyrosine kinase has been implicated in cancer progression, invasion, and metastasis in various cancer types. Axl overexpression has been observed in many cancers, and selective inhibitors of Axl, including R428, may be promising therapeutic agents for several human cancers, such as breast, lung, and pancreatic cancers. Here, we examined the cell growth inhibition mediated by R428 and auranofin individually as well as in combination in the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 to identify new advanced combination treatments for human breast cancer. Our data showed that combination therapy with R428 and auranofin markedly inhibited cancer cell proliferation. Isobologram analyses of these cells indicated a clear synergism between R428 and auranofin with a combination index value of 0.73. The combination treatment promoted apoptosis as indicated by caspase 3 activation and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. Cancer cell migration was also significantly inhibited by this combination treatment. Moreover, we found that combination therapy significantly increased the expression level of Bax, a mitochondrial proapoptotic factor, but decreased that of the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein. Furthermore, the suppression of cell viability and induction of Bax expression by the combination treatment were recovered by treatment with N-acetylcysteine. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that combined treatment with R428 and auranofin synergistically induced apoptosis in human breast cancer cells and may thus serve as a novel and valuable approach for cancer therapy.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제14권6호
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• pp.407-412
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• 2010

3-Deazaadenosine (DZA), a potent inhibitor of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase, was previously proposed to induce intrinsic apoptosis in human leukemic cells. In the present study, we analyzed the mechanism underlying the DZA-induced intrinsic apoptotic pathway. DZA activated typical caspase-dependent apoptosis in HL-60 cells, as demonstrated by an accumulation of hypo-diploidic cells, the processing of multiple procaspases and an inhibitory effect of z-VAD-Fmk on this cell death. During DZA-induced apoptosis, cytochrome c (cyt c) was released into the cytosol. This was neither prevented by z-VAD-Fmk and nor was it associated with the dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential (${\Delta}{\Psi}_m$). Prior to the release of cyt c, BAX was translocated from the cytosol to mitochondria and underwent oligomerization. Finally, the overexpression of BCL-XL protected HL-60 cells from apoptosis by blocking both the cyt c release and BAX oligomerization. Collectively, these findings suggest that DZA may activate intrinsic apoptosis by stimulating BAX activation and thereby the release of cyt c.