• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.91-98
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• 2000

The water extract of Seongpungtang(SPT) has commonly been used for treatment of ischemic brain damage in Oriental traditional medicine. However, little is known about the mechanism by which the water extract of SPT rescues brain cells from ischemic damage. To elucidate the protective mechanism of ischemic induced cytotoxicity, the regulation of Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and PMA (phobol-12-myristate-13-acetate) induced iNOS expression in microglial cells was investigated. LPS and PMA treatment for 48 hr in microglial cells markedly induced nitric oxide (NO), but treatment of the cells with the water extract of SPT decreased nitrite formation. In addition, LPS and PMA treatment for 48 hr induced severe cell death in microglial cells. However treatment of the cells with the water extract of SPT did not induce significant changes compared to the control cells. Furthermore, NO production was markedly decreased by treatment of nuclear factor kappa B(NF-kB) inhibitor, pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate(PDTC). According to the above results, it is suggested that the protective effects of the water extract of SPT against ischemic brain damage may be mediated by regulation of iNOS during ischemic condition.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 1983

The effect of protein constituents of six-year old fresh Panax ginseng root on chick embryonic brain, spinal cord and skeletal muscle dissociation cultures was studied. The protein constituents showed the enhancing effect on cultured brain, spinal cord and skeletal muscle cells. The neurite formation from brain and spinal cord cells and the outgrowth of neurite seemed to be enhanced by almost all of the protein constituents employed for this study. The maturation of skeletal muscle cells was stimulated by the protein constituents. This enhancing effect of the protein constituents was more vivid when brain, spinal cord and skeletal muscle cells were cultured with a medium which did not contain chick embryonic extracts known as an essential component for primary cell culture. The protein fraction having molecular weight range of 1,000 to 5,000 out of all the protein fractions employed for this study showed the most stimulatory effect on cultured brain, spinal cord and skeletal muscle cells.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.325-329
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• 1991

Effects of Lycii Fructus on primary cultured chicken embryonic brain cells were studied by microscopic observation, determination of the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC), and syntheses of protein, RNA and DNA. The brain cells were prepared from the brains or 10-day-old chicken embryos and cultured with a deficient medium. The activity of PDHC in the brain cells cultured with a deficient medium was increased to 1.8 times by the addition of $30\;{\mu}g/ml$ of the total methanol extract of Lycii Fructus. To seek the active fraction, total methanol extract was further fractionated by the polarity. The survival rate of neuronal cells was significantly increased by the addition of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ of the buthanol or aqueous fraction. At this concentration, the significant increase of the syntheses of protein and RNA, but not of DNA, indicates that the fractions may act on the neuronal cells which are known to be non-dividing cells.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 1998

Substantial evidence has accumulated that Alzheimer's disease is associated with a local inflammatory reaction in senile plaques which may be immunemediated, and includes extensive Brain Neuroglial invasion, lymphocytic infiltration, cytokine deposition. Tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a) is a cytokine which plays an important immunoenhancing role in the local acute and chronic inflammatory response in response to a variety of stimuli. The neuropeptide, substance P, can stimulate secretion of TNF-a from Brain Neuroglial cells. Neuroglia have substance P receptors in the central nervous system. WQ investigated whether RADIX ASPARAGI inhibits secretion of TNF-a from primary cultures of Brain Neuroglial cells containing both astrocyte (∼90%) and microglia (∼10%). RADIX ASPARAGI dose-dependently inhibited the TNF-a secretion induced by substance P plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In cultures enriched for micoglia (>95% pure). LPS stimulated the secretion of TNF-a but substance P caused no enhancement. Because there was no synergism between substance P and LPS in the microglial cultures it is resonable to substance P madiated enhancement of TNF-a secretion. IL-1 is a modulator of TNF-a secretion in the immune system. Also IL-1 has been shown to elevate TNF- a secretion from LPS-stimulated Brain Neuroglial cells while having no effect on Brain Neuroglial cells in the absence of LPS. We therfore investigated whether IL-1 mediates the RADIX ASPARAGI inhibition of TNF-a secretion form primary Brain Neuroglial cells. Treatment of RADIX ASPARAGI to mixed cultures stimulated with both substance P and LPS decreased TNF-a secretion to the level observed with LPS alone. These results indicate that RADIX ASPARAGI possess strong antiinflammatory activity in the cental nervous system by inhibition of inflammatory cytokines secretion from Brain Neuroglial cells.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.415-424
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• 2023

Therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is determined by biodistribution and engraftment in vivo. Compared to intravenous infusion, biodistribution of locally transplanted MSCs are partially understood. Here, we performed a pharmacokinetics (PK) study of MSCs after local transplantation. We grafted human MSCs into the brains of immune-compromised nude mice. Then we extracted genomic DNA from brains, lungs, and livers after transplantation over a month. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction with human Alu-specific primers, we analyzed biodistribution of the transplanted cells. To evaluate the role of residual immune response in the brain, MSCs expressing a cytosine deaminase (MSCs/CD) were used to ablate resident immune cells at the injection site. The majority of the Alu signals mostly remained at the injection site and decreased over a week, finally becoming undetectable after one month. Negligible signals were transiently detected in the lung and liver during the first week. Suppression of Iba1-positive microglia in the vicinity of the injection site using MSCs/CD prolonged the presence of the Alu signals. After local transplantation in xenograft animal models, human MSCs remain predominantly near the injection site for limited time without disseminating to other organs. Transplantation of human MSCs can locally elicit an immune response in immune compromised animals, and suppressing resident immune cells can prolong the presence of transplanted cells. Our study provides valuable insights into the in vivo fate of locally transplanted stem cells and a local delivery is effective to achieve desired dosages for neurological diseases.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.8
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• pp.18-18
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• 2004

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7201-7205
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• 2014

Chemokine and chemokine receptor expression by tumor cells contributes to tumor growth and angiogenesis and thus these factors may be considered as tumor markers. Here we aimed to characterize cells directly extracted from glioma, meningioma, and secondary brain tumors as well as non-tumoral cells in vitro. Cells were isolated from brain tissues using 0.2% collagenase and characterized by flow cytometry. Expression of SDF-1, CXCR4, CXCR7, RANTES, CCR5, MCP-1 and IP-10 was defined using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR methods. Brain tissue isolated cells were observed as spindle-shaped cell populations. No significant differences were observed for expression of SDF-1, CXCR4, CXCR7, RANTES, CCR5, and IP-10 transcripts. However, the expression of CXCR4 was approximately 13-fold and 110-fold higher than its counterpart, CXCR7, in meningioma and glioma cells, respectively. CXCR7 was not detectable in secondary tumors but CXCR4 was expressed. In non tumoral cells, CXCR7 had 1.3-fold higher mRNA expression than CXCR4. Flow cytometry analyses of RANTES, MCP-1, IP-10, CCR5 and CXCR4 expression showed no significant difference between low and high grade gliomas. Differential expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in brain tumors derived cells compared to non-tumoral samples may have crucial impacts on therapeutic interventions targeting the SDF-1/CXCR4/CXCR7 axis.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.365-373
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• 1990

The effects of the protein fraction of Panax ginseng on primary cultured chicken embryonic brain cells and DRG cultured with a deficient medium were studied. The protein fraction was further fractionated into four groups according to the molecular weight; larger than 10,000 dalton(fraction A), between 5,000 and 10,000 daltons(fraction B), between 1,000 and 5,000 daltons(fraction C), between 500 and 1,000 daltons(fraction D). All four protein fractions at the concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ significantly increased the number of the brain cells which promoted the neurite outgrowth. The activity of PDHC in the brain cells was elevated significantly by the protein fraction B at the concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$. It was noted that $100\;{\mu}g/ml$ protein fraction C and D significantly enhanced the synthesis of protein in the brain cells. At the concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$, the protein fraction B enhanced RNA synthesis and the protein fraction A significantly enhanced DNA synthesis in the brain cells. The protein fractions B, C, and D significantly promoted the neurite outgrowth of DRG at the concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/ml$.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.121-125
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• 2005

Objective : Many recent reports have shown that the mature mammalian brain harbors multipotent stem cells, rendering the brain capable of generating new neurons and glia throughout life. Harvested stem cells from an adult rat are transplanted in order to evaluate the cell survival and differentiation. Methods : Using a percoll gradient with a high speed centrifugation method, we isolate neural stem/progenitor cells were isolated from the subventricular zone[SVZ] of a syngeneic adult Fisher 344 rats brain. For 14days expansion, the cultured cells comprised of a heterogeneous population with the majority of cells expressing nestin and/or GFAP. After expanding the SVZ cells in the presence of basic fibroblast growth factor-2, and transplanting then into the hippocampus of normal rats, the survival and differentiation of those cells were examined. For transplantation, the cultured cells were labeled with BrdU two days prior to use. In order to test their survival, the cells were transplanted into the dorsal hippocampus of normal adult Fisher 344 rats. Results : The preliminary data showed that at 7days after transplantation, BrdU+ transplanted cells were observed around the injection deposition sites. Immuno-fluorescent microscopy revealed that the cells co-expressed BrdU+ and neuronal marker ${\beta}$-tubulin III. Conclusion : The data demonstrate that the in vitro expanded SVZ cells can survive in a heterotypic environment and develop a neuronal phenotype in the neurogenic region. However more research will be needed to examine the longer survival time points and quantifying the differentiation in the transplanted cells in an injured brain environment.

• BMB Reports
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2022

Stem cell-based therapy is a promising approach for treating a variety of disorders, including acute brain insults and neurodegenerative diseases. Stem cells such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete extracellular vesicles (EVs), circular membrane fragments (30 nm-1 ㎛) that are shed from the cell surface, carrying several therapeutic molecules such as proteins and microRNAs. Because EV-based therapy is superior to cell therapy in terms of scalable production, biodistribution, and safety profiles, it can be used to treat brain diseases as an alternative to stem cell therapy. This review presents evidences evaluating the role of stem cell-derived EVs in stroke, traumatic brain injury, and degenerative brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson' disease. In addition, stem cell-derived EVs have better profiles in biocompatibility, immunogenicity, and safety than those of small chemical and macromolecules. The advantages and disadvantages of EVs compared with other strategies are discussed. Even though EVs obtained from native stem cells have potential in the treatment of brain diseases, the successful clinical application is limited by the short half-life, limited targeting, rapid clearance after application, and insufficient payload. We discuss the strategies to enhance the efficacy of EV therapeutics. Finally, EV therapies have yet to be approved by the regulatory authorities. Major issues are discussed together with relevant advances in the clinical application of EV therapeutics.