• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.222-230
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• 2012

We evaluated the inhibitory effects of extracts and components of Geranium thunbergii on aldose reductase (AR) and galactitol formation in rat lenses with high levels of galactose as a part of our ongoing search of natural sources for therapeutic and preventive agents for diabetic complications. The inhibitory effects of water, methanol and ethanol extracts of G. thunbergii on rat lens AR (RLAR) were determined. Comparing inhibitory effects of various solvent extracts, ethanol extract showed RLAR inhibitory activity ($IC_{50}$ values, 5.24 and $6.39{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, respectively). The ethanol extract was fractionated to chloroform, ethyl acetate and water. Of these, the ethyl acetate fraction from ethanol extract of G. thunbergii exhibited RLAR inhibitory activity ($IC_{50}$ value, $2.64{\mu}g/m{\ell}$). In order to identify the bioactive components of ethyl acetate soluble fraction of ethanol extract from G. thunbergii, eight compounds, namely gallic acid (1), protocatechuic acid (2), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (3), brevifolin carboxylic acid (4), geraniin (5), ellagic acid (6), kaempferol-3-O-arabinofuranosyl-7-O-rhamnopyranoside (7), kaempferitrin (8) were isolated. The isolates were subjected to in vitro bioassays to evaluate their inhibitory activity on RLAR and galactitol formation in rat lenses. The ellagic tannins (5, 6) and flavonoid (7) exhibited strong inhibitory effects on RLAR. Also, these three compounds (5, 6 and 7) suppressed galactitol accumulation in rat lens under high galactose conditions, demonstrating the potential to prevent galactitol accumulation exo vivo. These results suggest that the extracts and components of G. thunbergii are a promising agent in the prevention or treatment of diabetic complications.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.124-129
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• 2009

The photocatalysis degradation of simazine, s-triazine type herbicide was carried out using circulating photo reactor systems. In order to search for the effective method to mineralize this compound into environmentally compatible products, this study compared the removal efficiencies of simazine by changing various parameters. First, under the photocatalytic condition, simazine was more effectively degraded than by photolysis and $TiO_2$ only condition. With photocatalysis, 5 mg/l simazine was degraded to approximately 90% within 30 min, and completely degraded after 150 min. Ionic byproducts such as ${NO_2}^-$, ${NO_3}^-$, and $Cl^-$ were detected from the photocatalysis of simazine, however, the recoveries were poor, indicating the presence of organic intermediates rather than the mineralization of simazine during photocatalysis. Two bioassays using V. fischeri and D. magna were employed to measure the toxicity reduction in the reaction solutions treated by both photocatalysis and photolysis. Simazine and its photocatalysis treated water did not exert any significant toxicity to V. fischeri, marine bacterium. However, the acute toxicity test using D. magna indicates that initial acute toxicity ($EC_{50}$ = 57.30%) was completely reduced ($EC_{50}$ = 100%) after 150 min under both photocatalysis and photoysis of simazine. This results indicates that photocatalysis and photolysis of simazine reduced the acute toxicity through mineralization.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.554-561
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• 2001

Immunostimulating exopolysaccharides with anticancer activity produced by Enterobacter sp. SSYL(KCTC 0687BP), isolated from Chinese elm(Ulmus sp.) were investigated. The exopolysaccharide contains molecular weight 100,000 to 1,000,000 Da and total carbohydrates 43.0 to 70.8%, total uronic acid 7.1 7o 12.4%, and total proteins 15.4 to 20.6%. Compositions and contents of sugars in the exopolysaccharides are 10-30% glucose, less than 1% fructose, 10-15% galactose, 8-12% fucose, and 40-70% glucuronic acid. The anticancer immunostimulating activities were examined and proved with regard to both in vitro and in vivo bioassays. In vivo assay, the glycoprotein at the concentration of 0.3 mg/kg showed the best result that median survival time in creased to ca. 138.1% in contrast to control groups.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.264-269
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• 1997

Four strains of Bacillus thuringiensis were isolated froin the dead larvae of mulberry longicorn beetle (Apriong germari) and dung beetle (Aphodius apicalis). One nf four B. thuringiensis isolates turned out to be subspecies darinstadiensis but the remains were not identified using 33 B. thuringiensts flgellar ( H ) antibodies. Furthermore. bioassays of spore-parasporal inclusion protein mixture conducted against third instar larvae of A. gerrntrri or A. apicalis, second instar larvae of Bombyx mori, and third instar larvae of Cu1ex pipiens pullens showed that the isolates were non-toxic. To further confirm, four isolates were characterized and analysed by SDS-PAGE and agarose gel electrophoresis. The results revealed that parasporal protein and plasmid DNA patterns of four isolates are different from those of darmstadiensis and 20 known non-toxic B. thuringiensis strains, suggesting that the four isolates are novel non-toxic B. thuringiensis.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.156-160
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• 2012

This study was carried out to investigate the biological activities, including the total polyphenolic contents, antioxidant activities, and tyrosinase inhibition activities, of various cultivars of unripe peaches (Prunus persica L. Batsch). The results indicate that the total polyphenolic content (gallic acid equivalent mg/g) was the highest in Yumefuji among six-cultivars (Takinosawa Gold, Kawanakawase Hakuto, Madoka, Yumefuji, Nagasawa Hakuho, and Hong Bak) of unripe peaches, whereas it was the lowest in Madoka. Antioxidant effects of unripe peaches were determined in three different in vitro bioassays measuring DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging, and reducing power activity. In the results, antioxidant activity was also higher in Yumefuji than other cultivars. Tyrosinase inhibition activity ranged from 4.65% to 8.58%, and Hong Bak displayed the highest tyrosinase inhibition activity, although the difference was not significant. This study will provide information on antioxidant and tyrosinase inhibition activities for the development of natural compounds as functional cosmetics.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.289-300
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• 2016

Non-genotoxic carcinogens are substances that induce tumorigenesis by non-mutagenic mechanisms and long term rodent bioassays are required to identify them. Recent studies have shown that transcription profiling can be applied to develop early identifiers for long term phenotypes. In this study, we used rat liver expression profiles from the NTP (National Toxicology Program, Research Triangle Park, USA) DrugMatrix Database to construct a gene classifier that can distinguish between non-genotoxic carcinogens and other chemicals. The model was based on short term exposure assays (3 days) and the training was limited to oxidative stressors, peroxisome proliferators and hormone modulators. Validation of the predictor was performed on independent toxicogenomic data (TG-GATEs, Toxicogenomics Project-Genomics Assisted Toxicity Evaluation System, Osaka, Japan). To build our model we performed Random Forests together with a recursive elimination algorithm (VarSelRF). Gene set enrichment analysis was employed for functional interpretation. A total of 770 microarrays comprising 96 different compounds were analyzed and a predictor of 54 genes was built. Prediction accuracy was 0.85 in the training set, 0.87 in the test set and increased with increasing concentration in the validation set: 0.6 at low dose, 0.7 at medium doses and 0.81 at high doses. Pathway analysis revealed gene prominence of cellular respiration, energy production and lipoprotein metabolism. The biggest target of toxicogenomics is accurately predict the toxicity of unknown drugs. In this analysis, we presented a classifier that can predict non-genotoxic carcinogenicity by using short term exposure assays. In this approach, dose level is critical when evaluating chemicals at early time points.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1023-1035
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of colon cancer stem cells (CSCs) during chemically-induced rat multi-step colon carcinogenesis with or without the treatment with a specific cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor drug (celecoxib). Two experiments were performed, the first, a short term 12 week colon carcinogenesis bioassay in which only surrogate markers for colon cancer, aberrant crypt foci (ACF) lesions, were formed. The other experiment was a medium term colon cancer rat assay in which tumors had developed after 32 weeks. Treatment with celecoxib lowered the numbers of ACF, as well as the tumor volumes and multiplicities after 32 weeks. Immunohistochemical proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) labeling indexes LI (%) were downregulated after treatment by celecoxib. Also different cell surface antigens known to associate with CSCs such as the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), CD44 and CD133 were compared between the two experiments and showed differential expression patterns depending on the stage of carcinogenesis and treatment with celecoxib. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the numbers of CD133 cells were increased in the colonic epithelium after 12 weeks while those of CD44 but not CD133 cells were increased after 32 weeks. Moreover, aldehyde dehydrogenase-1 activity levels in the colonic epithelium (a known CSC marker) detected by ELISA assay were found down-regulated after 12 weeks, but were up-regulated after 32 weeks. The data have also shown that the protective effect of celecoxib on these specific markers and populations of CSCs and on other molecular processes such as apoptosis targeted by this drug may vary depending on the genetic and phenotypic stages of carcinogenesis. Therefore, uncovering these distinction roles of CSCs during different phases of carcinogenesis and during specific treatment could be useful for targeted therapy.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.239-246
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• 2010

Aphids are one of the major pests in agricultural crops. A number of synthetic pesticides have been used for control of aphids in agriculture, but increasing public concerns over their adverse effects on the environment have required more environmentally-friendly methods for pest management. In this study, we examined plant oil formulations for the control of green peach aphid (Myzus persicae). Oil formulations were prepared by hydrolyzing the plant oils in ethanolic KOH solution and diluted at the rate of 1:500 for aphid control. The oil formulations showed aphid mortalities ranging from 24.44 to 43.33% in vitro. Significantly increased aphid mortalities were observed by the treatment of oil formulations combined with low-dosed imidacloprid. No significant difference in the aphid mortality was observed between the oil formulations. Mass spectrometry analyses of aphids treated with the low dosedimidacloprid plus the plant oil formulations detected similar concentrations of imidacloprid between the treatments. In field trial bioassays against aphids, significantly decreased aphid population were observed in the pepper plants treated with soybean oil formulation combined with the low-dosed imidacloprid, while aphid population dramatically increased in the pepper plants treated with the low-dosed imidacloprid alone. These results suggested that the plant oil formulations can be used as an environmentally-friendly method for enhancing the insecticidal effectiveness, which may play a role in reducing the use of synthetic pesticide in agriculture.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.205-211
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• 2007

The fruits and stems of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten have been reported to exhibit a variety of pharmacological actions, including antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-ulcer effects. In the present study, we evaluated effects of the butanol fraction (SK OFB901) prepared from the 50% ethanol extract of the stems on various types of neuronal injuries induced by oxidative stress, excitotoxins, and amyloid ${\beta}\;(A_{\beta})$ in primary cultured rat cortical cells. Its antioxidant and radical scavenging activities were also evaluated by cell-free bioassays. We found that SK OFB901 strongly inhibited the oxidative neuronal damage induced by $H_2O_2$ or xanthine/xanthine oxidase. In addition, it exhibited marked inhibition of the excitotoxic neuronal damage induced by glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartic acid, or kainate. Furthermore, the $A_{\beta(25-35)}$-induced neurotoxicity was also significantly attenuated by SK OFB901. It was found to inhibit lipid peroxidation initiated by $Fe^{2+}$ and L-ascorbic acid in rat brain homogenates and scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radicals. These results indicate that the butanol fraction prepared from the stems of Opuntia ficus-indica var. saboten exerts potent antioxidant and neuroprotective effects through multiple mechanisms, implying its potential applications for the prevention or management of neurodegenerative disorders associated with oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and $A{\beta}$.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.221-226
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• 1990

This experiment was performed to identify and isolate a growth inhibiting compound from Aralia continentalis. In order to isolate the growth inhibiting compound from Aralia continentalis the bioassay test of lettuce seed germination and rice seedling growth were used. Through these bioassays the growth inhibiting compound which was spotted at $R_f$ 0.51 on Tlc was isolated. This compound inhibited the lettuce growth by 79% at the concentration of 1000ppm. When sprayed with $FeCl_3$ reagent, it developed a bule spot. It had UV-absorbance at 217 nm and 342 nm, and $OH^-$ of $3600cm^{-1}$, C=O of $1700cm^{-1}$, C=C of $1600cm^{-1}$, and C-O of $1200cm^{-1}$ on IR spectrum. Through HPLC analysis this compound was identified as a ferulic acid ($C_{10}H_{10}O_4$) having 25 min. retention time.