• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2007

Background: Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is known to modulates the cellular functions, including cell proliferation and apoptosis. It is known that a high level of HO-1 expression is found in many tumors, and HO-1 plays an important role in rapid tumor growth on account of its antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects. Cisplatin is a widely used anti-cancer agent for the treatment of lung cancer. However, the development of resistance to cisplatin is a major obstacle to its use in clinical treatment. We previously demonstrated that inhibiting HO-1 expression through the transcriptional activation of Nrf2 induces apoptosis in A549 cells. The aim of this study was to determine of the inhibiting HO-1 enhance the chemosensitivity of A549 cells to cisplatin. Materials and Methods: The human lung cancer cell line, A549, was treated cisplatin, and the cell viability was measured by a MTT assay. The change in HO-1, Nrf2, and MAPK expression after the cisplatin treatment was examined by Western blotting. HO-1 inhibition was suppressed by ZnPP, which is a specific pharmacologic inhibitor of HO activity, and small interfering RNA (siRNA). Flow cytometry analysis and Western blot were performed in to determine the level of apoptosis. The level of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) generation was monitored fluoimetrically using 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate. Results: The A549 cells showed more resistance to the cisplatin treatment than the other cell lines examined, whereas cisplatin increased the expression of HO-1 and Nrf2, as well as the phosphorylation of MAPK in a time-dependent fashion. Inhibitors of the MAPK pathway blocked the induction of HO-1 and Nrf2 by the cisplatin treatment in A549 cells. In addition, the cisplatin-treated A549 cells transfected with dither the HO-1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) or ZnPP, specific HO-1 inhibitor, showed in a more significantly decrease in viability than the cisplatin-only-treated group. The combination treatment of ZnPP and cisplatin caused in a marked increase in the ROS generation and a decrease in the HO-1 expression. Conclusion: Cisplatin increases the expression of HO-1, probably through the MAPK-Nrf2 pathway, and the inhibition of HO-1 enhances the chemosensitivity of A549 cells to cisplatin.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2005

Purpose: Bisphosphonates (BPs) are the analogues of endogenous pyrophosphates: they have been used in the treatment of skeletal diseases such as Paget's disease, osteoporosis, and tumorinducing ostelysis, and are used in treatment of osteolytic metastasis of breast cancer recently. They are also used as one of the therapeutic agents for metastasis of prostatic cancer of which metastasis makes the mixed nature of osteolysis and ostegenesis. Although the action mechanism of BPs are well known for diseases with excessive osteoclastic bone resorption, the direct effect of BPs has not been known yet. This study was intended to see the tumor suppression capability of Zoledronic acid(ZOL) using nude mouse with osteosarcoma. Materials and Methods: MG-63 and HOS osteosarcoma cell lines were used and the transforemed MG-63-GFP and HOS-GFP cells, which were made for detection under fluorescent light, were subcutaneously injected to make osteosarcoma. The five 6-week male mice were used for the experiment at each group. After the injection, mice were cultivated until tumor pieces grow up to $3{\times}3{\times}3$ $mm^3$ and ZOL of 120 ug/kg was subcutaneously injected twice a week. Sizes of tumor were measured twice a week and photographed under fluorescent light. Results: In in vivo test with HOS osteosarcoma cell lines, mean size of tumors was 2,520 $mm^3$ in control group and was 131 $mm^3$ in ZOL group, which showed 94% of reduction comparing with the control ; with MG-63 osteosarcoma cell lines, mean size of tumors was 2,866 $mm^3$ in control group and was 209 $mm^3$ in test group with 72% of reduction (p<0.05). Conclusion: In in vivo tests with nude mice, we suggest that ZOL has direct effect on osteosarcoma cells and it would be used as one of the therapeutic agents for osteosarcoma, especially to ZOL-sensitive osteosarcoma cells.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1558-1564
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• 2011

Cytochrome P450 2J2 (CYP2J2) plays important roles in the metabolism of endogenous metabolites such as arachidonic acid as well as therapeutic drugs. CYP2J2 is overexpressed in human cancer tissues and cancer cell lines, as well as in epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and CYP2J2-mediated metabolites, and prevent apoptosis of cancer cells. This study aimed to screen marketed drugs for inhibitory potential on CYP2J2 isoforms using human liver microsomes. The initial screen isolated 4 compounds, from 120 marketed drugs, that inhibited the CYP2J2-mediated astemizole O-demethylation more than 50% in the following the order: haloperidol (75%) > terfenadine (56%) > aripiprazole (55%) > miconazole (52%). Miconazole strongly inhibited CYP2J2-mediated ebastine hydroxylation ($IC_{50}$=11.2 ${\mu}M$) and terfenadine hydroxylation ($IC_{50}$=2.2 ${\mu}M$), and terfenadine also inhibited CYP2J2-mediated ebastine hydroxylation ($IC_{50}$=13.6 ${\mu}M$) in a dose dependent manner. The present data suggest that these drugs are potential candidates for further evaluation for their anti-cancer activities.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2001

Background: Inactivation of tumor suppressor genes is believed to be important in the development of many human malignancies. Recently, several lines of evidence have indicated that the wild type p53 gene located at 17p13.3, may function as a tumor suppressor gene and that a mutant p53 gene could promote transformation by inactivating normal p53 function in a dominant negative fashion. These broad spectrum of p53 mutation in human cancers provide that mutant p53 and their protein may be potential targets of tumor diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Method: Colony formation was performed to investigate growth suppressional ability. p53 expression pattern was examined by western blot and p53-mediated transactivation ability was assessed by CAT activity. SNU C2A cells were observed in apoptotic aspects induced by etoposide and $H_2O_2$ treatment, detecting sensitivity on agent, DNA fragmentation through agarose gel, chromatin condensation by fluorescence microscope, and cell cycle distribution by FACS. Result: 1) p53 mutant his179arg ($histidine{\rightarrow}arginine$) detected in SNU C2A cells lost transcriptional activity and growth suppression ability, showing dominant negative effect on its wild type p53. 2) Etoposide-treated SNU C2A cells induced apoptosis, exhibiting dramatic reduction of cell growth, DNA fragmentation, nuclear condensation formation of apoptotic body and increment of sub-G1 cell fraction. 3) Etoposide and $H_2O_2$-treated SNU C2A cells have no high increase of p53 expression and overexpressed p53 protein changed localization, from cytoplasm to nucleus. Also, p53-mediated transcriptional activity was increased by agents-treatment. Conclusion: SNU C2A cells coexpress wild-type and mutant p53 protein induced apoptosis in the condition on DNA damage, through localizational shift from cytoplasm to nucleus of p53 protein rather than the induction of p53 protein. SNU C2A cells derived mutant p53 his179arg abrogated both the growth supression ability and transactivational activity, showing inhibition effect on transcriptional activity of wild type p53, but did not repress the activity of wild type p53 in SNU C2A cells owing to dominant activity of wild type. These cell condition may provide new gene therapeutic implications leading effective antiproliferation of cell when mutant and wild-type p53 protein were co-expressed in cell.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.549-554
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• 2011

FK506 is a widespread immunosuppressive drug after liver transplantion in patients with advanced-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. Dexamethasone is frequently used as co-treatment in cytotoxic cancer therapy, e.g. to prevent nausea, to protect normal tissue or for other reasons. Our aim was to investigate antitumor effects of FK506 in Hep3B cells, one of differentiated human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines and inhibitory effects of dexamethsone on FK506- induced antitumor effects. Cell injury was evaluated by biochemical assays as cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Hep3B cells. Intracellular calcium concentration ([$Ca^{2+}$]i) and the level of activation of the c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) and the Bax protein in cultured Hep3B cells was measured. Exposure of 0.1 ${\mu}M$ FK506 to Hep3B cells led to cell death accompanied by a decrease in cell viability and an increase in LDH, ROS and [$Ca^{2+}$]i. FK506 induced an increase in activity of Bax and JNK protein but inhibited the activity of Bcl-2 protein. Treatment of dexamethsone, per se, had no effects on cell viability, LDH and ROS. However, co-treatment of FK506 and dexamethasone diminished the FK506-induced LDH release, ROS generation and JNK activation. These results demonstrate that FK506 has antitumor effect in Hep3B cells but the combination of FK506 and dexamethasone antagonizes the FK506-induced antitumor effects.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.413-420
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• 2009

The research has been aimed to investigate the effect of different sera including fetal bovine serum (FBS), male bovine serum (MS), female bovine serum (FS), and castrated-male bovine serum (C-MS) on cell proliferation, follicular maturation and ovulation in vitro. Established cell lines and primary cells were cultured in the culture media supplemented with different sera and cells proliferation was observed by cell counting and MTT assay. The results indicated that cell proliferation was significantly different for different serum source. Proliferation of bovine and human myogenic satellite cells was highest in MS. In contrast, proliferation of breast cancer cells and immune cells were the highest in FS and FBS, respectively. There was no difference in the rate of follicular growth, whereas the rate of ovulation was higher in FBS and C-MS. Finally, the wound healing effect and cell proliferation of 3T3-L1 cells showed that wound healing was fastest in FS and cell proliferation was higher in MS. These results suggest the importance of an optimal serum selection in the experiments involving cell culture system, and gender-specific Hanwoo sera may be used as a substitute to FBS.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2009

Triglyceride solid lipid with medium chain fatty acid, tricaprin (TC), was used as a core matrix of lipid nanoparticles (LN) to solubilize water-insoluble paclitaxel and enhance the stability of nanoparticles by immobilization of incorporated drug in the solid core during storage at low temperature. In the present study, TC-LN containing paclitaxel was prepared by hot melt homogenization method using TC as a core lipid and phospholipids as stabilizers. The particle size of TC-LN containing paclitaxel was less than 200 nm and its zeta potential was around -40 mV. Calorimetric analysis showed TC core could be solidified by freezing and thawing in the manufacturing process in which the hot dispersion should be prepared at elevated temperature and subsequently cooled to obtain solid lipid nanoparticles. The melting transition of TC core was observed at $27.5^{\circ}C$, which was lower than melting point of TC bulk. The particle size of TC-LN remained unchanged when kept at $4^{\circ}C$. Paclitaxel containing TC-LN showed comparable anticancer activity to the Cremophore ELbased paclitaxel formulation against human ovarian (OVCAR-3) and breast (MCF-7) cancer cell lines. Thus, lipid nanoparticles with medium chain solid lipid may have a potential as alternative delivery system for parenteral administration of paclitaxel.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.2675-2679
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• 2013

Activity-directed isolation of the methylene chloride fraction from the stems of Parthenocissus tricuspidata have led to the identification of two new compounds (1-2): 1-(2',3',5'-trihydroxyphenyl)-2-(4"-hydroxyphenyl)-ethane-1,2-(E)-epoxide (1, tricuspidatin A) and erythro-1-(3',5'-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-(4"-hydroxyphenyl)-ethane-1,2-diol (2, tricuspidatin B), together with four known compounds (3-6): ${\beta}$-sitosterol (3), nonacosan-1-ol (4), 3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-propenoic acid hexacosyl ester (5) and betulinic acid (6). Their chemical structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic (IR, UV, MS, 1D and 2D NMR) and physicochemical analyses. Compounds 1 and 2 showed strong DNA topoisomerase II inhibitory activity at both concentrations of 20 and $100{\mu}M$. In addition, 3 exhibited strong cytotoxic activity against the HT-29 and HepG2 cancer cell lines, and 6 showed strong cytotoxicity against the HT-29 and MCF-7 ones.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.7-18
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• 2020

An efficient and facile procedure has been developed for the synthesis of novel bichalcone derivatives (4a, 4b). The key step contains the solvent-free aldol synthesis of bichalcones based on quinones. Bichalcones (4a, 4b) were used as precursors for the synthesis of some interesting heterocyclic compounds like, diazepines (5a, 5b), pyrazolo-pyrimidines (7a, 7b), and pyrazoline derivatives (8a, 8b). Moreover, new thioxopyrimidine derivatives (9a, 9b) were furnished and used as a functionalizing agent to produce the triazole-pyrimidines (11, 12) and the carbonitrile derivative (14). All the synthesized compounds were fully characterized using physical and spectral data like, FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and MS. Bichalcones (4a, 4b) and diazepines (5a, 5b) were screened for their anticonvulsant activity, where compounds (4a, 5a, and 5b) revealed potent anticonvulsant activity compared to diazepam. On the other hand, some of the prepared compounds were screened for their antiproliferative activity and they showed significant cytotoxic effects on most of the cancer cell lines with regard to broad spectrum antitumor activity.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.187-194
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• 2004

A short peptide corresponding to the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-l Tat protein, Arg-Lys-Lys-Arg-Arg-Gln-Arg-Arg-Arg, was employed to improve the efficiency of cellular uptake of nucleic acids. The peptide was first mixed with a reporter plasmid and then with cationic liposomes to form a tripartite complex of DNA/peptide/liposomes (DPL). Transfection efficiency of the DPL complex was compared with that of the conventional DNA/liposomes (DL) complex. When the DPL complex was formed with various cationic liposomes, DOTAP/DOPE (DP) liposome exhibited superior transfection efficiency to other liposomes tested in vitro. With the inclusion of the peptide, the DPL complex showed much enhanced transfection in various cancer cell lines. Particularly, transfection of the DPL complex in serum increased cellular uptake of a transgene up to 2 fold when compared with that in a serum free condition. Further, when the DPL complex was infused through the ureteric route of a rat, transfection efficiency was shown to be better in reporter gene expression than that obtained with the DL complex. This study shows that the DPL complex that is easy to formulate can be employed for much enhanced cellular uptake of a trans gene.