• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.149-156
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• 2021

Excessive glutamate can cause oxidative stress in neuronal cells and this can be the reason for neurodegenerative disease. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of Spirulina maxima hot ethanol extract on mouse hippocampal HT22 cell of which glutamate receptor has no function. HT22 cells were pre-treated with S. maxima sample at a dose dependent manner (1, 10 and 100 ㎍/ml). After an hour, glutamate was treated. Cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, Ca²⁺ influx, decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential level and glutathione related assays were followed by then. S. maxima ethanol extract improved the cell viability by suppressing the ROS and Ca²⁺ formation, retaining the mitochondrial membrane potential level and protecting the activity of the antioxidant enzymes compared with group of vehicle-treated controls. These suggest that S. maxima may decelerate the neurodegeneration by attenuating neuronal damage and oxidative stress.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.246-251
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• 2003

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is composed of the brain capillaries, which are lined by endothelial cells displaying extremely tight intercellular junctions. Several attempts at creating an in vitro model of the BBB have been met with moderate success as brain capillary endothelial cells lose their barrier properties when isolated in cell culture. This may be due to a lack of recreation of the in vivo endothelial cellular environment in these models, including nearly constant contact with astrocyte foot processes. This work is motivated by the hypothesis that growing endothelial cells on one side of an ultra-thin, highly porous membrane and differentiating astrocyte or astrogliomal cells on the opposite side will lead to a higher degree of interaction between the two cell types and therefore to an improved model. Here we describe our initial efforts towards testing this hypothesis including a procedure for membrane fabrication and methods for culturing endothelial cells on these membranes. We have fabricated a 1 $\mu\textrm{m}$ thick, 2.0 $\mu\textrm{m}$ pore size, and 55% porous membrane with a very narrow pore size distribution from low-stress silicon nitride (SiN) utilizing techniques from the microelectronics industry. We have developed a base, acid, autoclave routine that prepares the membranes for cell culture both by cleaning residual fabrication chemicals from the surface and by increasing the hydrophilicity of the membranes (confirmed by contact angle measurements). Gelatin, fibronectin, and a 50/50 mixture of the two proteins were evaluated as potential basement membrane protein treatments prior to membrane cell seeding. All three treatments support adequate attachment and growth on the membranes compared to the control.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.414-421
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• 1999

Helicobacter pylori were found to be resistant to azide but sensitive to vanadate, suggesting that defect in the P-type ATPase activity rather than F-type ATPase would be lethal to cell survival or growth. To elucidate the relationship between this enzyme inhibition and H. pylori death, we determined the effect of omeprazole (OMP) plus vanadate on enzyme activity and cell growth. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC; ca. 0.8$\mu$mol/disk) of vanadate for H. pylori growth was lowered over l0-fold with the aid of OMP, whereby its inhibitory potential toward the P-type ATPase activity was diametrically increased. Alternatively, we found that this enzyme activity was essential for active transport in H. pylori. From these observations, we strongly suggest that the immediate cause of the growth inhibition of H. pylori cells with OMP and/or vanadate might be defective in the cell's active transport due to the lack of P-type ATPase activity. From the spectral data with circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, we found that activated OMP (OAS) at concentration below MIC did not disrupt helical structures of membrane proteins. Separately, we determined the cytopathic effect of OAS by SDS-PAGE, indicating the change in the production of cytoplasmic protein but not cell membrane.

• Biomedical Engineering Letters
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.393-398
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• 2018

This is the first study demonstrating the efficacy of menstrual blood-derived stem cell (MenSC) transplantation via decellularized human amniotic membrane (DAM), for the promotion of skin excisional wound repair. The DAM was seeded with MenSCs at the density of $3{\times}10^4cells/cm^2$ and implanted onto a rat's $1.50{\times}1.50cm^2$ full-thickness excisional wound defect. The results of wound closure and histopathological examinations demonstrated that the MenSC-seeded DAM could significantly improve the wound healing compared with DAM-treatment. All in all, our data indicated that the MenSCs can be a potential source for cell-based therapies to regenerate skin injuries.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.1458-1465
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• 2016

We investigated the neuroprotective effect of an ethanol extract from Asparagus cochinchinensis (AC) against glutamate-induced toxicity in the HT22 hippocampal cell, which is an ideal in vitro model for oxidative stress. The neuroprotective effects of AC in HT22 cells were evaluated by analyzing cell viability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), flow cytometry for cell death types, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondria membrane potential (MMP), and Western blot assays. In the cell death analysis, AC treatment resulted in significantly attenuated glutamate-induced loss of cell viability with a decrease in LDH release. AC treatment also reduced glutamate-induced apoptotic cell death. In the ROS and MMP analysis, AC treatment inhibited the elevation of intracellular ROS induced by glutamate exposure and the disruption of MMP. In oxidative stress-related proteins analysis, AC treatment inhibited the expression of poly ADP ribose polymerase and heme oxygenase-1 by glutamate. These results indicate that AC exerts a significant neuroprotective effect against glutamate-induced hippocampal damage by decreasing ROS production and stabilizing MMP. Thus, AC potentially provides a new strategy for the treatment of oxidative stress-related diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.803-809
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• 2009

Recent evidence has revealed the occurrence of an apoptotic phenotype in Candida albicans that is inducible with environmental stresses such as acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and amphotericin B. In the present study, we found that the Chinese herbal medicine Baicalein (BE), which was one of the skullcapflavones, can induce apoptosis in C. albicans. The apoptotic effects of BE were detected by flow cytometry using Annexin V-FITC and DAPI, and it was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy analysis. After exposure to 4 ${\mu}g$/ml BE for 12 h, about 10% of C. albicans cells were apoptotic. Both the increasing intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and upregulation of some redox-related genes (CAP1, SOD2, TRR1) were observed. Furthermore, we compared the survivals of CAP1 deleted, wild-type, and overexpressed strains and found that Cap1p attenuated BE-initiated cell death, which was coherent with a higher mRNA level of the CAP1 gene. In addition, the mitochondrial membrane potential of C. albicans cells changed significantly (p<0.001) upon BE treatment compared with control. Taken together, our results indicated that BE treatment induced apoptosis in C. albicans cells, and the apoptosis was associated with the breakdown of mitochondrial membrane potential.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.89-98
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• 2023

The cell membrane, also known as the biological membrane, surrounds every living cell. The main components of cell membranes are lipids and therefore called as lipid membranes. These membranes are mainly made up of a two-dimensional lipid bilayer along with integral and peripheral proteins. The complex nature of lipid membranes makes it difficult to study and hence artificial lipid membranes are prepared which mimic the original lipid membranes. These artificial lipid membranes are prepared from phospholipid vesicles (liposomes). The liposomes are formed when self-forming phospholipid bilayer comes in contact with water. Liposomes can be unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles which comprises of phospholipids that can be produced naturally or synthetically. The phospholipids are non-toxic, biodegradable and are readily produced on a large scale. These liposomes are mostly used in the drug delivery systems. This paper offers comprehensive literature with insights on developing basic understanding of lipid membranes from its structure, organization, and phase behavior to its potential use in biomedical applications. The progress in the field of artificial membrane models considering methods of preparation of liposomes for mimicking lipid membranes, interactions between the lipid membranes, and characterizing techniques such as UV-visible, FTIR, Calorimetry and X-ray diffraction are explained in a concise manner.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.269-277
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• 1996

Bacteriocins are proteins produced by a heterogeneous group of bacteria that have a bactericidal effect on closely related organisms. Recently, bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria and other food-related organisms have been the subject of much research because of their potential as food biopreservatives. Various modifications of agar plate diffusion assays are the most widely used methods even though the limitations of such assays are generally recognized. The ability to obtain a concentrated crude preparation on bacteriocin by optimizing production parameters greatly simplifies recovery of bacteriocin on subsequent purification steps. Some studies performed to optimize bacteriocins have been purified to homogeneity, and the amino acid sequences of many of these purified bacteriocins have been determined. Obtaining characterization data on purified bacteriocin will minimize the risk of overlapping of research and confusion on identification of these compounds. Several me-chanisms leading to cell death have been hypothesized. These include depletion of the proton motive force(PMF) across the cell membrane: RNase and/or DNase activity within the sensitive cell; and pore formation and lysis of sensitive cells at the cell membrane.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2009

Functional defects in mitochondria are involved in the induction of cell death in cancer cells. We assessed the toxic effect of camptothecin against the human cervical and uterine tumor cell line SiHa with respect to the mitochondria-mediated cell death process, and examined the combined effect of camptothecin and anticancer drugs. Camptothecin caused apoptosis in SiHa cells by inducing mitochondrial membrane permeability changes that lead to the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, decreased Bcl-2 levels, cytochrome c release, caspase-3 activation, formation of reactive oxygen species and depletion of GSH. Combination of camptothecin with other anticancer drugs (carboplatin, paclitaxel, doxorubicin and mitomycin c) or signaling inhibitors (farnesyltransferase inhibitor and ERK inhibitor) did not enhance the camptothecin-induced cell death and caspase-3 activation. These results suggest that camptothecin may cause cell death in SiHa cells by inducing changes in mitochondrial membrane permeability, which leads to cytochrome c release and activation of caspase-3. This effect is also associated with increased formation of reactive oxygen species and depletion of GSH. Combination with other anticancer drugs (or signaling inhibitors) does not appear to increase the anti-tumor effect of camptothecin against SiHa cells, but rather may reduce it. Combination of camptothecin with other anticancer drugs does not seem to provide a benefit in the treatment of cervical and uterine cancer compared with camptothecin monotherapy.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.3 no.1 s.9
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• pp.46-53
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• 2007

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, DMFC is a potential power source for portable IT application. DMFC works at low temperature ($<100^{\circ}C$) without fuel processing. Methanol has high energy density, fuel economy, and easiness to handle. This paper focuses high efficient catalyst to increase utilization in the electrode, new membrane reducing methanol crossover, new material parts, and optimization of system integration. Lightweight and small-sized DMFC based on new materials, efficient stack, and improved system control will be applied to the 50W prototype system for the notebook computer.