• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.115-121
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• 2014

Humulus japonicus is an ornamental plant in the Cannabaceae family. Although the mode of action of Humulus japonicus is not fully understood, a strong relationship was observed between anti-inflammatory and anticancer in some types of cells. Recent studies also have shown that Humulus japonicus possesses anti-inflammatory activities and may significantly improve antioxidant potential in Raw 264.7 macrophage cells. Thus, the aim of this study was evaluated the effect of Humulus japonicus extract on sperm motility and subsequent preimplantation developmental competence of the bovine embryos. After in vitro maturation, the oocytes with sperms were exposed in in vitro fertilization (IVF) medium supplemented with Humulus japonicus extract (0.01, 0.05, $0.1{\mu}g/mL$, respectively) for 1 day. In our results, exposure of IVF medium to Humulus japonicus extract did not affect sperm motility and percentage of penetrated oocytes but ROS intensity was significantly decreased by $0.01{\mu}g/mL$ compared with other groups (p< 0.05). Moreover, treatment with $0.01{\mu}g/mL$ of Humulus japonicus extract was higher the frequency of blastocyst formation than the any other groups (p<0.05). Otherwise, treatment with $0.01{\mu}g/mL$ of Humulus japonicus extract not increased the total cell number but reduced apoptotic-positive nuclei number. In conclusion, our results indicate that supplementation of Humulus japonicus extract in IVF medium may have important implications for improving early embryonic development in bovine embryos.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.301-314
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• 2005

Objective: Rebamipide is a propionic acid derivative that has an action of the inhibition of superoxide production and removal of hydroxyl radical with the sperm incubation and cryopreservation. In the present study, to investigate whether rebamipide is useful to treat male infertility and sterility, the author observed the antioxidative effects in patient with male infertility and also examined its absorption and distribution in rat genital organ. Methods: To measure the distribution of rebamipide in reproductive organ in the rat, carbon indicated rebamipide, $^{14}C-OPC-12759$, was orally administered to 10 Spraque-Dawley rats and its organ concentration in serum, liver, kidney, stomach, duodenum, colon, urinary bladder, seminal vesicle, epididymis and testicle were measured each time after 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours by using HPLC fluorescent method. The concentrations in semen were measured by HPLC fluorescent method in a sample of 50 infertile males who took 900 mg of rebamipide daily for 3 months. To measure the antioxidative effect and fertility rate for 3 months, each month before and after the treatment, sperm motility, vitality, the oxygen free radical formation, level of peroxidation, fetilizing capacity of semen sample which were obtained from infertile male patients by masturbation after at least 48 hours abstinence were analyzed by computer assisted semen analyzer, eosin-nigrosin stain, chemiluminescence, thiobarbituric acid method and hypo-osmotic swelling test. Simultaneously in a sample that wanted baby, both pregnancy and delivery were researched. Results: The $^{14}C-OPC-12759$ concentration in the body of white rats was highest in gastrointestinal organ like stomach, smal intestine and duodenum and followed by genital organ like seminal vesicle, testis and epididymis. The rebamipide concentration in semen of infertile males was $220.77{\pm}327.84ng/mL$ (SD) which showed a large deviation but it was higher than serum which was $126{\pm}76ng/mL$ (SD). In the infertile males, after the treatment with rebamipide, the level of seminal reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxidation have significantly decreased in duration of the treatment (p<0.05) and sperm vitality and fertilizing capacity except sperm motility significantly improved on post treatment of 2~3 months (p<0.05). Out of the 41 cases who hoped for pregnancy, 15 cases (36.6%) became pregnant and 12 cases had childbrith, 2 cases had miscarriage and one case is ongoing. The side effect was observed in 1 case (2%) which experienced diarrhea but it was lost spontaneously. Conclusions: We conclude from this study that rebamipide showed relatively high tendancy of absorption and excretion in the genital organ. In infertile males who had elevated ROS in semen, by specifically inhibiting the cell damage from the antioxidation, a way to preserve sperm motility, vitality and fertilizing capacity was confirmed.

• Proceedings of the KSAR Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.63-63
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• 2003

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of liquid boar sperm stored at 4$^{\circ}C$ on sperm motility, normal acrosome, and in-vitro fertilization and culture of pig oocytes matured in-vitro. The sperm-rich fraction (30~60 ml) of ejaculate was collected into an insulated vacuum bottle. Semen was slowly cooled to room temperature (20~23$^{\circ}C$) by 2 h after collection. Semen was transferred into 15 ml tubes, centrifuged at room temperature for 10 min at 800$\times$g, and the supernatant solution was poured off. The concentrated sperm was resuspended with 5 ml of lactose, egg yolk and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (LEN) diluent to provide 1.0$\times$10$^{9}$ sperm/ml at room temperature. The resuspended semen was cooled in a refrigerator to 4$^{\circ}C$ and preserved for 5 days to examine sperm motility and normal acrosome. The medium used for oocyte maturation was modified tissue culture medium (TCM) 199. After about 22 h of culture, oocytes were cultured without cysteamine and hormones for 22 h at 38.5$^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ in air. Oocytes were inseminated with liquid boar sperm stored at 4$^{\circ}C$ for 2 days after collection. Oocytes were coincubated for 6 h in 500 ${mu}ell$ mTBM fertilization media with 0.2, 1, 5 and 10$\times$10$^{6}$ /ml sperm concentration, respectively. At 6 h after IVF, oocytes were transferred into 500 ${mu}ell$ Hepes-buffered NCSU-23 culture medium for further culture of 6, 48 and 144 h. There were significant differences in sperm motility and normal acrosome among preservation days and incubation times, respectively. The rates of sperm penetration and polyspermy were higher in 5 and 10$\times$10$^{6}$ sperm/ml than in 0.2 and 1$\times$10$^{6}$ sperm/ml. Male pronuclear formation was lower in 0.2$\times$10$^{6}$ sperm/ml than in 1, 5 and 10$\times$10$^{6}$ sperm/ml. Mean numbers of sperm in penetrated oocyte were highest in 10$\times$10$^{6}$ sperm/ml compared with other sperm concentrations. The rate of blastocysts from the cleaved oocytes (2~4 cell stage) was highest in 1$\times$10$^{6}$ sperm/ml compared with other sperm concentrations. In conclusion, we found out that liquid boar sperm stored at 4$^{\circ}C$ could be used for in-vitro fertilization of pig oocytes matured in-vitro. Also, we recommend 1$\times$10$^{6}$ ml sperm concentration for in-vitro fertilization of pig oocytes.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.36.1-36.6
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• 2019

The incidence and mortality rate of cancer continues to gradually increase, although considerable research effort has been directed at elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying biomarkers responsible for tumorigenesis. Accumulated evidence indicates that the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are transcribed but not translated into functional proteins, contribute to cancer development. Recently, linc00152 (an lncRNA) was identified as a potent oncogene in various cancer types, and shown to be involved in cancer cell proliferation, invasiveness, and motility by sponging tumor-suppressive microRNAs acting as a competing endogenous RNA, binding to gene promoters acting as a transcriptional regulator, and binding to functional proteins. In this review, we focus on the oncogenic role of linc00152 in tumorigenesis and provided an overview of recent clinical studies on the effects of linc00152 expression in human cancers.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.758-763
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• 2009

Cancer-associated antigen (CAGE) induces the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) by activating Akt, which in turn interacts with inhibitory kappa kinase $\beta$ ($I{\kappa}K{\beta}$) to activate nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$ (NF-${\kappa}B$). Akt and p38 mitogen activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) are necessary for CAGE-mediated induction of the AP-1 subunit JunB, whereas extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) is necessary for the induction of fos-related antigen-1 (Fra-1). Induction of MMP-2 by CAGE requires activator of protein-1 (AP-1) to be bound. Specific binding of JunB to MMP-2 promoter sequences was shown by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2004

Many bacteria monitor their population density and control the expression of specialized gene sets in response to bacterial cell density based on a mechanism referred to as quorum sensing. In all cases, quorum sensing involves the production and detection of extracellular signaling molecules, auto inducers, as which Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria use most prevalently acylated homoserine lactones and processed oligo-peptides, respectively. Through quorum-sensing communication circuits, bacteria regulate a diverse array of physiological functions, including virulence, symbiosis, competence, conjugation, antibiotic production, motility, sporulation, and biofilm formation. Many pathogens have evolved quorum-sensing mechanisms to mount population-density-dependent attacks to over-whelm the defense responses of plants, animals, and humans. Since these AHL-mediated signaling mechanisms are widespread and highly conserved in many pathogenic bacteria, the disruption of quorum-sensing system might be an attractive target for novel anti-infective therapy. To control AHL-mediated pathogenicity, several promising strategies to disrupt bacterial quorum sensing have been reported, and several chemicals and enzymes have been also investigated for years. These studies indicate that anti-quorum sensing strategies could be developed as possible alternatives of antibiotics.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2437-2444
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• 2012

Tumor metastasis remains the principal cause of treatment failure and poor prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. It is a multistage process which includes proteolysis, motility and migration of cells, proliferation in a new site, and neoangiogenesis. A crucial step in the process of intra- and extra-vasation is the activation of proteolytic enzymes capable of degrading the extracellular matrix (ECM). In this stage, urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are necessary. Micrometastases need the presence of growth factor and vascular growth factor so that they can form macrometastasis. In addition, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) and guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) play important roles in the progression of colorectal cancer and metastatic migration. Further elucidation of the mechanisms of how these molecules contribute will aid in the identification of diagnostic and prognostic markers as well as therapeutic targets for patients with colorectal metastasis.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.194-198
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• 2008

Artemisia capillaries is a major important food and medicinal resource in Korea. In order to confirm the biological activities of Artemisia capillaries, we investigated antioxidant and anticancer activities from in vitro assays. The Artemisia capillaries methanol (MeOH) extracts was used for the evaluation of DPPH scavenging, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, hydroxyl radical (${\bullet}OH$) scavenging, reducing power assay as antioxidant activity, as well as anticancer activities as MTT assay. As a result, the Artemisia capillaries MeOH extracts showed potent antioxidative activity and anticancer activity in vitro. These results suggest that the Artemisia capillaries MeOH extracts have a potential alleviated oxidation process, cell motility activity, and tumorigenesis.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1433-1436
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• 2008

Flagellate bacteria such as Escherichia coli or Serratia marcescens possess a remarkable motility system based on a reversible rotary motor. We have employed S. marcescens as microactuators in low Reynolds number fluidic environments to move a larger engineering element around. Microstructures fabricated using conventional microfabrication techniques are blotted on the swarm plate, which leaves a bacterial monolayer on the surface of the microstructure. We have investigated microstructures powered by bacteria to determine how cell orientation on the microstructure surface relates to the swarming patterns as well as how the orientation is affected by the blotting process. This study will help to refine directional control of bacterial transporters by exploiting bacterial sensory mechanisms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.629-633
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• 2009

The present study investigated the antimetastatic property of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) by evaluating motility, invasion, and the amount and activity of MMP-9 in MDA-MB-231 human breast carcinoma cells. Treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with increasing concentrations of COS led to a concentration-dependent decrease in cell migration. COS significantly inhibited the invasion of MDA-MB-231 cells through a Matrigel-coated membrane. The treatment of MDA-MB-231 cells with COS reduced the amounts of secreted MMP-9. The activity and amount of MMP-9 protein in MDA-MB-231 cells were decreased by treatment with COS and occurred in a concentration-dependent manner. Our data indicated that COS can serve as a potential novel therapeutic candidate for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.