• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 2012

Candida albicans is a common opportunistic pathogen and is frequently associated with biofilm formation occurring on the surfaces of host tissues and medical devices. On account of the distinct resistance of C. albicans biofilms to the conventional antifungal agents, new strategies are required to cope with these infections. The root of Polygonum cuspidatum has been used for medicinal purposes in East Asia. The aim of this study was to assess the anticandidal potential of the P. cuspidatum ethanol extract by evaluating biofilm formation, integrity of the cell membranes of C. albicans and adhesion of C. albicans cells to polystyrene surfaces. The growth and development of the biofilm was assessed using an XTT reduction assay, and the extract (0.39 mg/ml) significantly reduced ($41.1{\pm}17.8%$) biofilm formation of 11 C. albicans strains. The extract damaged the cell membranes of C. albicans and remarkably inhibited cell adhesion to polystyrene surfaces. The plant extract displayed fungistatic activity without significant hemolytic activity. Based on the results of this study, the P. cuspidatum extract has promising potential for use in treating biofilm-associated Candida infection.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.533-538
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• 2021

Objective: Pluripotent stem cell-derived lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) show great promise in their therapeutic application in the field of regenerative medicine related to lymphatic vessels. We tested the approach of forced differentiation of mouse embryonal stem cells into LECs using biodegradable poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanospheres in conjugation with growth factors (vascular endothelial growth factors [VEGF-A and VEGF-C]). Methods: We evaluated the practical use of heparin-conjugated PLGA nanoparticles (molecular weight ~15,000) in conjugation with VEGF-A/C, embryoid body (EB) formation, and LEC differentiation using immunofluorescence staining followed by quantification and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis. Results: We showed that formation and differentiation of EB with VEGF-A/C-conjugated PLGA nanospheres, compared to direct supplementation of VEGF-A/C to the EB differentiation media, greatly improved yield of LYVE1(+) LECs. Our analyses revealed that the enhanced potential of LEC differentiation using VEGF-A/C-conjugated PLGA nanospheres was mediated by elevation of expression of the genes that are important for lymphatic vessel formation. Conclusion: Together, we not only established an improved protocol for LEC differentiation using PLGA nanospheres but also provided a platform technology for the mechanistic study of LEC development in mammals.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.788-793
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• 2012

High concentration of antibiotics has been used to treat the outbreak of edwardsiellosis caused by Edwardsiella tarda in aquaculture. However, not all of the bacteria have been killed with high concentrations of antibiotics treatment by the formation of persister cells with a dormant state. The main objective of this study was to kill persister cell using antibiotics with the addition of natural plant compounds. Antibiotics used in this study consist of 100 mg/ml florfenicol and 100 mg/ml amoxicillin. Ten natural plant compounds with persister cell inhibitor activity to E. coli were obtained from Protein Engineering and Systems Biology Lab. of Sungkyunkwan University. The persister cell inhibition activities of those natural plant compounds were evaluated in test tube. Concentrations of the antibiotics were in the ranges of 25~200 ${\mu}g/ml$. The persister cell formation was observed after 16 hours of culture. Persister cells were killed by antibiotics with natural plant compounds. Among ten natural plant compounds, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Mallotus japonicus, and Orixa japonica showed persister cell formation inhibition activities. The optimal concentrations of G. pentaphyllum, M. japonicus, and O. japonica for the inhibitor of persister cell formation were 100 ${\mu}g/ml$, 100 ${\mu}g/ml$, and 200 ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively. In vivo study was carried out to evaluate the effect of the antibiotics with natural plant compounds using aquacultural fish, olive flounder, as test animals. G. pentaphyllum, M. japonicus, and O. japonica of 30 ${\mu}g/ml$, 10 ${\mu}g/ml$, and 10 ${\mu}g/ml$ with antibiotics reduced cumulative mortalities, showing the effectiveness of persister cell inhibition.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.519-525
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• 2010

Chlorogenic acid, formed of an ester of caffeic acid and quinic acid, which is naturally abundant in many plant species, was used as a model O-dihydoxy phenolic compound. In the previous study, we have reported that the isolated constituent from Apocynum venetum leaves has an inhibitory effect on $Cu^{2+}$-induced oxidative modification of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Among them, chlorogenic acid showed the most potent anti-LDL oxidative activity than other compounds. For the reason, we investigated the inhibitory effect of the chlorogenic acid on $Cu^{2+}$-induced oxidative modification of LDL, monitored a lag time in the conjugated-diene formation and TBARS formation, and measured TNBS free amino acid group, and form cell formation in vitro system. The TBARS- and diene- formation were strongly inhibited by chlorogenic acid ($0{\sim}100\;{\mu}g/ml$) with dose dependent manner. On the other hand, TNBS reactive lysine amino groups on LDL oxidation were protected by chlorogenic acid- treated cell group. Therefore, chlorogenic acid inhibited to cholesterol accumulation in the isolated peritoneal macrophage.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.170-178
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• 2022

The airway epithelium is equipped with the ability to resist respiratory disease development and airway damage, including the migration of airway epithelial cells and the activation of TLR3, which recognizes double-stranded (ds) RNA. Primary cilia on airway epithelial cells are involved in the cell cycle and cell differentiation and repair. In this study, we used Beas-2B human bronchial epithelial cells to investigate the effects of the TLR3 agonist polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [Poly(I:C)] on airway cell migration and primary cilia (PC) formation. PC formation increased in cells incubated under serum deprivation. Migration was faster in Beas-2B cells pretreated with Poly(I:C) than in control cells, as judged by a wound healing assay, single-cell path tracking, and a Transwell migration assay. No changes in cell migration were observed when the cells were incubated in conditioned medium from Poly(I:C)-treated cells. PC formation was enhanced by Poly(I:C) treatment, but was reduced when the cells were exposed to the ciliogenesis inhibitor ciliobrevin A (CilioA). The inhibition of Beas-2B cell migration by CilioA was also assessed and a slight decrease in ciliogenesis was detected in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (SP)-treated Beas-2B cells overexpressing ACE2 compared to control cells. Cell migration was decreased by SP but restored by Poly(I:C) treatment. Taken together, our results demonstrate that impaired migration by SP-treated cells can be attenuated by Poly(I:C) treatment, thus increasing airway cell migration through the regulation of ciliogenesis.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.93-98
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• 1996

Lipopretein(a)[Lp(a)] is a macromolecular complex found in human plasma that combines structural elements composed of LDL and apo(a), and that is associated with premature coronary heart disease and stroke. In this study, various samples which consisted of normal and abnormal LDL and LP(a) were selected for compar-ison. The above samples were incubated with copper in order to oxidize and to compare atheroma formation, in vitro and free radical formation of Lp(a) was decreased compared to purified LDl. And LDL or Lp(a) from a 40 year old donor was higher in the free radical formation than that fro, a 20 years old donor. In order to investigate the macrophage foam cell formation, oxidized LDL of Lp(a) was incubated with human monocyte derived macrophage(HMDM). Oxidized samples enhanced on acceptability f foam cell formation by HMDM were compared to the control group. Also, structural change of LDL and Lp(a) against oxidation times were found from HPLC mapping.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-16
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the effect of Dokhwalgisaengtang-gami water extract(DGG) on osteoporosis. Methods: The osteoclastogenesis and gene expression were determined in RANKL-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell. And osteoblastogenesis was also determined in rat calvarial cell. Results: The results were summarized as followes. 1. DGG decreased the number of TRAP positive cell in RANKL-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell. 2. DGG inhibited TRAP activity in RANKL-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell. 3. DGG decreased the expression of NAFTc1, MITF in RANKL-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell. 4. DGG increased the expression of iNOS, COX-2, IL-6 in RANKL-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell. 5. DGG decreased the expression of cathepsin K, MMP-9, TRAP in RANKL-stimulated RAW 264.7 cell. 6. DGG increased cell proliferation of rat calvarial cell. 7. DGG increased ALP activity in rat calvarial cell 8. DGG increased bone matrix protein, collagen synthesis and nodule formation in rat calvarial cell. Conclusions: It is concluded that DGG might decrease the bone resorption resulted from decrease of osteoclast differentiation and it's related gene expression. And DGG might increase the bone formation resulted from increase of osteoblast function.

• IE interfaces
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.189-196
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• 1997

This paper presents a cell formation approach for a cellular manufacturing system to minimize the inter-cell moves considering operation sequences. Two new factors are introduced: (1)flow-similarity(FS) for integrating direct/indirect inter-machine flow and similarity (2)machine cell-part moves (CPM) for exactly computing inter-cell moves. FS is used for combining machines and CPM is used for assigning the parts to the preliminary machine cells. In addition, we develop an aggregated heuristic algorithm to form manufacturing machine cells and assign the parts to those cells based on these concepts. We use performance criterion called total inter-cell moves(TICM), which is the total material flow between internal cells and external cells. Results of computational tests on a number of randomly generated test problems show that the suggested heuristic is superior to existing methods.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1055-1059
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• 2002

Liuweidihuang-tang has been traditionally used for the treatment of delayed mental and physical development in children, complications of diabetes. and glomerulonephritis. In the present study, the effect of Liuweidihuang-tang on cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of alcohol-intoxicated Sprague-Dawley rats was investigated via 5-bromo-2' -deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry. Alcohol administration was shown to decrease the number of BrdU-positive cells in the dentate gyrus, while Liuweidihuang-tang treatment increased new cell formation in the dentate gyrus under normal conditions and alcohol intoxication. It was thus demonstrated that aqueous extract of Liuweidihuang-tang exerts a protective effect against alcohol-induced decrease in new cell formation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.10
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• pp.664-669
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• 2010

The present study aimed to investigate the membrane stabilizing effect of Thymoquinone (TQ) on cell surface glycoconjugates and cytokeratin expression against DMBA induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis. 0.5% DMBA painting (three times per week) in hamster buccal pouches for 14 weeks resulted in the formation of well developed oral squamous cell carcinoma. We observed 100% tumor formation with marked abnormalities of glycoconjugates status in tumor bearing hamsters as compared to control animals. Oral administration of TQ at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight, to DMBA painted hamsters on alternate days for 14 weeks, reduced the tumor formation as well as protected the levels of cell surface glycoconjugates in DMBA painted hamsters. The present study thus suggests that TQ has potent chemopreventive efficacy as well as protected the abnormalities on cell surface glycoconjugates during DMBA induced hamster buccal pouch carcinogenesis.