• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.499-507
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• 2024

Specific sensitivity of the skin to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays is one of the mechanisms responsible for widespread skin damage. This study tested whether 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene (THB), a compound abundant in marine products, might inhibit UVB radiationinduced NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) in both human HaCaT keratinocytes and mouse dorsal skin and explore its cytoprotective mechanism. The mechanism of action was determined using western blotting, immunocytochemistry, NADP⁺/NADPH assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection, and cell viability assay. THB attenuated UVB-induced NOX4 expression both in vitro and in vivo, and suppressed UVB-induced ROS generation via NADP⁺ production, resulting in increased cell viability with decreased apoptosis. THB also reduced the expression of UVB-induced phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). THB suppressed UVB-induced NOX4 expression and ROS generation by inhibiting AMPK and JNK signaling pathways, thereby inhibiting cellular damage. These results showed that THB could be developed as a UV protectant.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.264-275
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• 2020

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a significant role in intracellular signaling and regulation, particularly when they are maintained at physiologic levels. However, excess ROS can cause cell damage and induce cell death. We recently reported that eIF2α phosphorylation protects hepatocytes from oxidative stress and liver fibrosis induced by fructose metabolism. Here, we found that hepatocyte-specific eIF2α phosphorylation-deficient mice have significantly reduced expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and altered EGFR-mediated signaling pathways. EGFR-mediated signaling pathways are important for cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival in many tissues and cell types. Therefore, we studied whether the reduced amount of EGFR is responsible for the eIF2α phosphorylation-deficient hepatocytes' vulnerability to oxidative stress. ROS such as hydrogen peroxide and superoxides induce both EGFR tyrosine phosphorylation and eIF2α phosphorylation. eIF2α phosphorylation-deficient primary hepatocytes, or EGFR knockdown cells, have decreased ROS scavenging ability compared to normal cells. Therefore, these cells are particularly susceptible to oxidative stress. However, overexpression of EGFR in these eIF2α phosphorylation-deficient primary hepatocytes increased ROS scavenging ability and alleviated ROS-mediated cell death. Therefore, we hypothesize that the reduced EGFR level in eIF2α phosphorylation-deficient hepatocytes is one of critical factors responsible for their susceptibility to oxidative stress.

• BMB Reports
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• 제55권3호
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• pp.148-153
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• 2022

Etoposide is a chemotherapeutic medication used to treat various types of cancer, including breast cancer. It is established that pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy can enhance the effects of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents. In this study, we investigated whether PEMFs influence the anti-cancer effects of etoposide in MCF-7 cells and determined the signal pathways affected by PEMFs. We observed that co-treatment with etoposide and PEMFs led to a decrease in viable cells compared with cells solely treated with etoposide. PEMFs elevated the etoposide-induced PARP cleavage and caspase-7/9 activation and enhanced the etoposide-induced down-regulation of survivin and up-regulation of Bax. PEMF also increased the etoposide-induced activation of DNA damage-related molecules. In addition, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was slightly elevated during etoposide treatment and significantly increased during co-treatment with etoposide and PEMF. Moreover, treatment with ROS scavenger restored the PEMF-induced decrease in cell viability in etoposide-treated MCF-7 cells. These results combined indicate that PEMFs enhance etoposide-induced cell death by increasing ROS induction-DNA damage-caspase-dependent apoptosis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제28권5호
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• pp.381-388
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• 2020

Methamphetamine (METH) is a highly addictive psychostimulant and one of the most widely abused drugs worldwide. The continuous use of METH eventually leads to drug addiction and causes serious health complications, including attention deficit, memory loss and cognitive decline. These neurological complications are strongly associated with METH-induced neurotoxicity and neuroinflammation, which leads to neuronal cell death. The current review investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying METH-mediated neuronal damages. Our analysis demonstrates that the process of neuronal impairment by METH is closely related to oxidative stress, transcription factor activation, DNA damage, excitatory toxicity and various apoptosis pathways. Thus, we reach the conclusion here that METH-induced neuronal damages are attributed to the neurotoxic and neuroinflammatory effect of the drug. This review provides an insight into the mechanisms of METH addiction and contributes to the discovery of therapeutic targets on neurological impairment by METH abuse.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권10호
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• pp.5941-5948
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• 2013

Tumor response to antineoplastic drugs is not always predictable. This is also true for bladder carcinoma, a highly recurrent neoplasia. Currently, the combination of cisplatin and gemcitabine is well accepted as a standard protocol for treating bladder carcinoma. However, in some cases, this treatment protocol causes harmful side effects. Therefore, we investigated the roles of the genes TP53, RASSF1A (a tumor suppressor gene) and hMLH1 (a gene involved in the mismatch repair pathway) in cell susceptibility to cisplatin/gemcitabine treatment. Two bladder transitional carcinoma cell (TCC) lines, RT4 (wild-type TP53) and 5637 (mutated TP53), were used in this study. First, we evaluated whether the genotoxic potential of cisplatin/gemcitabine was dependent on TP53 status. Then, we evaluated whether the two antineoplastic drugs modulated RASSF1A and hMLH1 expression in the two cell lines. Increased DNA damage was observed in both cell lines after treatment with cisplatin or gemcitabine and with the two drugs simultaneously, as depicted by the comet assay. A lack of RASSF1A expression and hypermethylation of its promoter were observed before and after treatment in both cell lines. On the other hand, hMLH1 downregulation, unrelated to methylation status, was observed in RT4 cells after treatment with cisplatin or with cisplatin and gemcitabine simultaneously (wild-type TP53); in 5637 cells, hMLH1 was upregulated only after treatment with gemcitabine. In conclusion, the three treatment protocols were genotoxic, independent of TP53 status. However, cisplatin was the most effective, causing the highest level of DNA damage in both wild-type and mutated TP53 cells. Gemcitabine was the least genotoxic agent in both cell lines. Furthermore, no relationship was observed between the amount of DNA damage and the level of hMLH1 and RASSF1A expression. Therefore, other alternative pathways might be involved in cisplatin and gemcitabine genotoxicity in these two bladder cancer cell lines.

• 환경생물
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.152-156
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• 2005

Ionizing radiation is a well- known therapy factor for human carcinoma cells. Genotoxic stress mediates cell cycle control, transcription and cellular signaling. In this work, we have used a microarray hybridization approach to characterize the cell type-specific transcriptional response of human carcinoma MCF-7 and HeLa cell line to $\gamma-radiation$, such as 4Gy 4hr. We found that exposure to $\gamma-ray$ alters by at least a $log_2$ factor of 1.0 the expression of known genes. Of the 27 genes affected by irradiation, 11 are down- regulated in MCF-7 cells and 2 genes induced by radiation,15 are repressed in HeLa cells. Many genes were involved in known damage- response pathways for cell cycling, transcription factor and cellular signaling response. However, in MCF-7 cells, we observed gene expression pattern in chromatin, apoptosis, stress, differentiation, cytokine, metabolism, ribosome and calcium. In HeLa cells, it showed clearly the expression changes in adhesion and migration, lysosome, brain, genome instability and translation. These insights reveal new therapy directions for studying the human carcinoma cell response to radiation.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제37권9호
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• pp.672-684
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• 2014

The exact causes of cell death in Parkinson's disease (PD) remain unknown despite extensive studies on PD.The identification of signaling and metabolic pathways involved in PD might provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying PD. The neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ($MPP^+$) induces cellular changes characteristic of PD, and $MPP^+$-based models have been extensively used for PD studies. In this study, pathways that were significantly perturbed in $MPP^+$-treated human neuroblastoma SH-EP cells were identified from genome-wide gene expression data for five time points (1.5, 3, 9, 12, and 24 h) after treatment. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein processing pathway showed significant perturbation at all time points. Perturbation of each of these pathways resulted in the common outcome of upregulation of DNA-damage-inducible transcript 3 (DDIT3). Genes involved in ER protein processing pathway included ubiquitin ligase complex genes and ER-associated degradation (ERAD)-related genes. Additionally, overexpression of DDIT3 might induce oxidative stress via glutathione depletion as a result of overexpression of CHAC1. This study suggests that upregulation of DDIT3 caused by perturbation of the MAPK signaling pathway and ER protein processing pathway might play a key role in $MPP^+$-induced neuronal cell death. Moreover, the toxicity signal of $MPP^+$ resulting from mitochondrial dysfunction through inhibition of complex I of the electron transport chain might feed back to the mitochondria via ER stress. This positive feedback could contribute to amplification of the death signal induced by $MPP^+$.

• 생명과학회지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.369-375
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• 2018

Mycoplasma genitalium은 367개의 보존적 유전자를 가지고 있으며 단독배양이 가능한 원핵생물 중 게놈크기가 최소이다. 본 연구에서는 M. genitalium과 M. genitalium보다 보존적 유전자 수가 적은 14개 원핵생물 즉 세포외 공생을 하는 초고온성 고세균 Nanoarchaeum equitans, 식물 세포 내부 기생성 진정세균 혹은 곤충 세포 내부 공생성 진정세균 13종 등의 원핵생물에 보존적인 대사경로를 검토하였다. 이들은 11~71개의 대사경로를 가졌지만 완전한 대사경로는 1~24개였다. 전체 대사경로에 필요한 효소의 45.8%가 결핍되어 대사경로 구멍(metabolic pathway hole)이 매우 많아, 숙주의 효소와 함께 공유대사경로(shared metabolic pathway)를 나타내거나 필수물질의 상당 부분이 숙주에 의존적일 것으로 사료되었다. 세포막을 통한 물질이동에 필요한 유전자의 개수도 아주 적어 단순확산 내지 숙주의 단백질이 이들의 세포막에서 물질이동의 기능을 할 것으로 사료되었다. tRNA charging 경로만이 15개의 분석 대상 원핵생물 모두에 분포하였지만, 분석 대상 원핵생물들은 각각 5~20개의 tRNA charging 유전자를 보유하였다. 본 연구 결과는 배양 불가능한 식물 세포 내 기생성 그리고 곤충 세포 내 공생성 원핵생물들의 대사경로 이해에 대한 단서와 함께 농작물 피해 방지와 해충구제, 의약품 개발 등에 사용할 기초자료를 제공할 수 있을 것이다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권10호
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• pp.5631-5635
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• 2013

Cochlea hair cell death is regarded to be responsible for the radiation-induced sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), which is one of the principal complications of radiotherapy (RT) for head and neck cancers. In this mini-review, we focus on the current progresses trying to unravel mechanisms of radiation-induced hair cell death and find out possible protection. P53, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways have been proposed as pivotal in the processes leading to radiation hair cell death. Potential protectants, such as amifostine, N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and epicatechin (EC), are claimed to be effective at reducing radiation-inducedhair cell death. The RT dosage, selection and application of concurrent chemotherapy should be pre-examined in order to minimize the damage to cochlea hair cells.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제10권4호
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• pp.371-376
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Chronic ultraviolet (UV) exposure-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) are commonly involved in the pathogenesis of skin damage by activating the metalloproteinases (MMP) that break down type I collagen. Adenophora remotiflora (AR) is a perennial wild plant that inhabits Korea, China, and Japan. The present study investigated the protective effects of AR against UVB-induced photo-damage in keratinocytes. MATERIALS/METHODS: An in vitro cell-free system was used to examine the scavenging activity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical and nitric oxide (NO). The effect of AR on ROS formation, antioxidant enzymes, elastase, MMP-1 level, and mRNA expression of MMP-1 were determined in UVB-irradiated human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. RESULTS: AR demonstrated strong DPPH free radical and NO scavenging activity in a cell-free system exhibiting $IC_{50}$ values of 1.88 mg/mL and 6.77 mg/mL, respectively. AR pretreatment dose-dependently attenuated the production of UVB-induced intracellular ROS, and antioxidant enzymes (catalase and superoxide dismutase) were enhanced in HaCaT cells. Furthermore, pretreatment of AR prevented UVB-induced elastase and collagen degradation by inhibiting the MMP-1 protein level and mRNA expression. Accordingly, AR treatment elevated collagen content in UVB-irradiated HaCaT cells. CONCLUSION: The present study provides the first evidence of AR inhibiting UVB-induced ROS production and induction of MMP-1 as a result of augmentation of antioxidative activity in HaCaT human keratinocytes. These results suggest that AR might act as an effective inhibitor of UVB-modulated signaling pathways and might serve as a photo-protective agent.