• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2016

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common and malignant bone tumors. Although many types of resection surgery and experimental agents were developed, median survival and clinical prognosis are poorly investigated. Recently, several researches have reported that Eucheuma cottonii has potent as protective effects of coal dust-induced lung damage via inhibition of malondialdehyde (MDA) and oxidative stress in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF). However, anti-cancer effects and specific molecular mechanism of extract from Eucheuma cottonii (EE) has not been clearly studied yet. This study evaluated that anti-cancer potential of EE in human osteosarcoma Saos-2 cells. EE indicated cytotoxicity on Saos-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Morphological degradation and nucleic condensation were also observed under the EE treatment. However, it did not significantly affect on non-cancerous kidney HEK-293 cells under the same concentration which is shown cytotoxicity on Saos-2 cells. The phosphorylation of Fas-Associated Death Domain (FADD) and expression of cleaved caspase-8, -7 and -3 were upregulated in a dose-dependent manner. In immunofluorescence staining, expression level of Fas and cleaved PARP were upregulated by EE treatment. Furthermore, treatment of EE induces upregulation of sub G1 phase by flow cytometry analysis. The results demonstrated that EE has a therapeutic potential against osteosarcoma via FADD mediated caspase cascade apoptosis signal pathway.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1518-1525
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• 2011

Sorafenib is the only approved systemic, therapeutic agent for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The use of Ginseng Extract (GE) in cancer patients is growing worldwide; however, drug interaction between sorafenib and GE has not been illuminated. Four different human cancer cell lines including HepG2 were used and immunocompetent mice were implanted subcutaneously with a mouse HCC cell line. Treatment with low dose GE stimulated cell growth, while a high dose inhibited growth. pERK (phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase) was concomitantly increased and decreased respective of different doses of GE. Antitumoral effect of sorafenib decreased in non-proliferating phase cells but was sensitized after low dose GE (LDG) treatment. PD98059 (ERK phosphorylation inhibitor) efficiently blocked ERK phosphorylation, resulting in loss of sorafenib sensitization even after LDG treatment. In the HCC mouse model, LDG alone slightly increased tumor size while sorafenib alone significantly decreased it. However, a combination of LDG and sorafenib significantly decreased tumor size compared with sorafenib alone. Increase of pERK was observed in some normal mice organs and mild inflammatory change was observed in some of these organs, suggesting pERK activation by LDG may cause unexpected toxicity in normal cells. GE, dose-dependently, induced stimulation or inhibition in some human cancer cell lines. Combinational use of GE and sorafenib possibly potentiated an antitumoral response to sorafenib. pERK level has been provided as a potential predictive marker for sorafenib. Our result may suggest GE's dual effects in relation to pERK level in HCC cancer cell lines, and that certain doses of GE can sensitize sorafenib.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.516-523
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• 2015

This study investigated the antimutagenic and anticancer effects of Platycodon grandiflorum extract (PGE) and its fractions against carcinogenic N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and genotoxicity. The Ames Salmonella mutagenicity test employing histidine mutants of Salmonella Typhimurium TA98 and TA100 was used to examine the mutagenicity of PGE and its fractions. Bacterial reversion assay with S. Typhimurium TA98 and TA100 did not show a significantly increased number of revertant colonies. The same test was used to examine the ability of PGE and its fractions to prevent acquisition of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine- and 4-introquino-line-1-oxide-induced mutations. PGE and its fractions inhibited mutagenesis in a dose-dependent manner. Among the fractions, ethyl acetate fraction from PGE (PGEA) exhibited a higher antimutagenic effect than other fractions. PGE and its fractions suppressed the growth of cancer cell lines, including human cervical adenocarcinoma, human hepatocellular carcinoma, human breast adenocarcinoma, human lung carcinoma, and transformed primary human embryonic kidney cells. In addition, we evaluated the antitumor activity of PGEA and its fractions in sacorma-180 solid tumor-bearing mice. In vivo anticancer activity results showed that PGE and its fractions could more effectively suppress tumor growth than the control. PGEA showed higher in vitro and in vivo anticancer effects than PGE and other fractions, and PGEA inhibited NDMA formation. Thus, we showed that PGEA has antimutagenic and anticancer activities, making it a candidate anticancer material under these experimental conditions.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.509-526
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• 2017

Background and objectives : Soeumin Bojungykgi-tang (seBYTE) has been used to supplement qi in Korean medicine. It has been demonstrated to possess various biological functions such as anti-cancer, anti-aging and anti-inflammatory effects. The present study evaluated the protective roles of seBYTE in hepatotoxic in vitro and in vivo model. Methods : To investigate cytoprotective effect of seBYTE, HepG2 cells were pretreated with seBYTE and then subsequently exposed to $10{\mu}m$ AA for 12 h, followed by $5{\mu}m$ iron. Cell viability was examined by MTT assay, and expression of apoptosis-related proteins was evaluated by immunoblot analysis. For responsible molecular mechanisms, ROS production, GSH contents, and mitochondrial membrane potential were measured. In addition, hepatoprotective effect of seBYTE in vivo was assessed in $CCl_4$-induced animal model. Results : seBYTE prevented AA + iron-induced cytotoxicity in concentration dependent manner. In addition, ROS production, GSH depletion, and mitochondrial dysfunction induced by AA + iron were significantly reduced by seBYTE pretreatment. Furthermore, seBYTE recovered expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins such as PARP and pro-caspase-3. In animal experiment, plasma ALT and AST levels were significantly elevated in $CCl_4$ treatment, but seBYTE significantly decreased the ALT and AST levels. Moreover, seBYTE alleviated the numbers of histological activity index, percentages of degenerative regions, degenerated hepatocytes, infiltrated inflammatory cells, nitrotyrosine- and 4-hydroxynonenal-positive cells in liver. Conclusions : These results showed that hepatoprotective effect of seBYTE against on $CCl_4$-induced hepatic damages is partly due to antioxidative and anti-apoptotic process.

• Proceedings of the Plant Resources Society of Korea Conference
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• 2018.04a
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• pp.3-3
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• 2018

For centuries, Panax ginseng Meyer (Korean ginseng) has been widely used as a medicinal herb in Korea, China, and Japan. Ginsenosides are a class of triterpene saponins and recognized as the bioactive components in Korean ginseng. Ginsenosides, which can be classified broadly as protopanaxadiols (PPD), protopanaxatriols (PPT), and oleanolic acids, have been shown to flaunt a vast array of pharmacological activities such as immune-modulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant effects. In recent years, a number of ginseng and ginsenoside researches have increasingly gained wide attention owing to its unique pharmacological properties. Although good efficacies of ginsenosides have been reported, lack of target specific delivery into tumor sites, low solubility, and low bioavailability due to modifications in gastro-intestinal environments limit their biomedical application in clinical trials. As a result to this major challenge, nanotechnology and drug delivery techniques play a significant role to solve this problematic issue. Thus, we reported the preparation of poly-ethylene glycol (PEG) and glycol chitosan (GC) functionalized to ginsenoside (Compound K and PPD) conjugates via hydrolysable ester bonds with improved aqueous solubility and pH-dependent drug release. In vitro cytotoxicity assays revealed that PEG-CK, and PPD-CK conjugates exhibited lower cytotoxicity compared to bare CK and PPD in HT29 cells. However, GC-CK conjugates exhibited higher and similar cytotoxicity in HT29 and HepG2 cells. Furthermore, GC-CK-treated RAW264.7 cells did not exhibit significant cell death at higher concentration of treatment which supports the biocompatibility of the polymer conjugates. They also inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW64.7 cells. In addition to polymer-ginsenoside conjugates, silver (AgNps) and gold nanoparticles (AuNps) have been successfully synthesized by green chemistry using different m. The biosynthesized nanoparticles demonstrated antimicrobial efficacy, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activity, biofilm inhibition, and anticoagulant effect. Special interest on the effective delivery methods of ginsenoside to treatment sites is the focus of metal nanoparticle research.In short, nano-sizing of ginsenoside results in an increased water solubility and bioavailability. The use of nano-sized ginsenoside and P. ginseng mediated metallic nanoparticles is expected to be effective on medical platform against various diseases in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.314-323
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of xenobiotic nuclear receptors, CAR, SXR, and PPAR${\gamma}$ on the transcriptional activity of estrogen receptor in human breast cancer cell lines and compare with those in human hepatoma cell line. Two different breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 were cultured and effects of CAR, SXR, and PPAR${\gamma}$ on the ER-mediated transcriptional activation of synthetic (4ERE)-tk-luciferase reporter gene were analyzed. Consistent with the previous report, CAR significantly inhibited ER-mediated transactivation and SXR repressed modestly whereas the PPAR${\gamma}$ did not repress the ER-mediated transactivation. However, in breast cancer cells neither of the xenobiotic receptors repressed the ER-mediated transactivation. Instead, they tend to increase the transactivation depending on the cell type and xenobiotic nuclear receptors. In MCF-7, SXR but neither CAR nor PPAR${\gamma}$ slightly increased ER-mediated transactivation whereas in MDA-MB-231, CAR and PPAR${\gamma}$ but not SXR tend to increase the transactivation of the reporter gene. These results indicate that the effects of ER cross-talk by the CAR, SXR, and PPAR${\gamma}$ , are different in breast cancer cells from hepatoma cells. In conclusion, the transcriptional regulation by estrogen can involve different cross-talk interaction between estrogen receptor and xenobiotic nuclear receptors depending on the estrogen target cells.

• THE JOURNAL OF KOREAN ORIENTAL ONCOLOGY
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.37-53
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• 1998

The sprig of Jinryungtang Gagambang has been used for curing as a traditional medicine without any experimental evidence to support the rational basis for their clinical use. This experiment was carried out to evaluate the possible therapeutic or antitumoral effects of Jinryungtang Gagambang extract against cancer, and to study some mechanisms responsible for its effect. The cytotoxic and antitumor effects were evaluated on human cell liens (A549, hep3B, Caki-1, Sarcoma 180) after exposure to Jinryungtang Gagambang extract using in ILS, colony forming efficency and SRB assay which were regarded as a valuable method for cytotoxic and antitumor effects of unknown compound on tumor cell lines. The results obtained in this studies were as follows. 1. As a result of exposure to Jinryungtang Gagambang extract, the proliferation of A549, hep3B, Caki-1, good correlations were shown from the results of SRB assay and those of clogenetic assay. 2. The oral administration of Jinryungtang Gagambang extract showed significant effects of increase of MST(mean survival time) and ILS(increased life span) depending on the increasing concentration. 3. Against squamous cell carcinoma induced by MCA, Jinryungtang Gagambang decreased not only the frequency of tumor production but also the number and weight of tumors per tumor bearing mice(TBM). Jinryungtang Gagambang also significantly suppressed the development of 3LL cell-implanted tumors by frequency and their size, and some developed tumors were regressed by the continuous treatment of Jinryungtang Gagambang extract into TBM. 4. Jinryungtang Gagambang extract also increased NK cell activities. According to the above results, it could be suggested that Jinryungtang Gagambang extract has prominent antiutmor effect.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.160-169
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• 2014

44 compounds and 9 minerals were isolated from and detected in the New Zealand deer velvet antler Cervus elaphus var. scoticus L$\ddot{o}$nnberg. The chemical structures of (1 - 26) were identified on the basis of the spectroscopic methods and comparisons with literature, respectively. The structures were identified as cholesterol (CS, 6), 7-keto-CS (7), $7{\beta}$-hydroxy-CS (8), and $7{\alpha}$-hydroxy-CS (9), and included 12 steroid $3{\beta}$-O-(palmitic/stearic/myristic acid esters; PM/SA/MS) [CS-$3{\beta}$-O-PM (1 - 1), CS-$3{\beta}$-O-SA (1 - 2), CS-$3{\beta}$-O-MR (1 - 3), 7-keto-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-PM (2 - 1), 7-keto-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-SA (2 - 2), 7-keto-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-MR (2 - 3), $7{\beta}$-hydroxy-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-SA (3 -1), $7{\beta}$-hydroxy-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-PM (3 - 2), $7{\beta}$-hydroxy-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-MR (3 - 3), $7{\alpha}$-hydroxy-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-SA (4 - 1), $7{\alpha}$-hydroxy-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-PM (4 - 2), and $7{\alpha}$-hydroxy-CS-$3{\beta}$-O-MR (4 - 3)], dinonyl phthalate (5), 8 nucleic acids analogues [uracil (10), deoxyguanosine (11), deoxyuridine (12), uridine (13), deoxyadenosine (14), adenosine (15), inosine (16), and guanosine (17)], and the 9 free amino acids [L-phenylalanine (18), L-isoleucine (19), L-leucine (20), L-tyrosine (21), L-valine (22), L-proline (23), L-threonine (24), L-alanine (25), and L-hydroxyproline (26)]. Also, there are 8 kinds of amino acids [asparagine, serine, glutamine, glycine, histidine, arginine, methionine, and lysine], 2 sialic acids [N-acetylneuraminic acid (27), ketodeoxynonulosonic acid (28)], and 9 minerals [Na > K > Ca > Mg > Fe > Zn > B > Al > Cu] were detected from the autoaminoacid analyzer and ICP spectrometer, HPAEC-PAD/HPLC-FLD, respectively. 9 kinds of oxycholesterol-$3{\beta}$-O-fatty acid ester (2 - 1, 2 - 2, 2 - 3, 3 - 1, 3 - 2, 3 - 3, 4 - 1, 4 - 2, and 4 - 3) and 3 nucleic acids (12, 14, and 15) were isolated from the velvet antler for the first time. 6 kinds of steroids (7, 8, 9, 2 - 1, 3 - 1, and 4 - 1) were examined for their anti-proliferative effects against L1210, P388D1, K562, MEG-01, KG-1, MOLT-4, A549, HepG2, MCF-7, SK-OV-3, and SW-620 cancer cell lines. They showed anti-proliferative effects with $IC_{50}$ values of 0.06, 2.16, 2.42, > 50.0, 1.66 and $8.31{\mu}M$ against L1210, while the values were 24.05, 9.44, 5.22, 0.25. 9.48 and $49.77{\mu}M$ against P388D1, respectively. The others were inactive.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 2014

This study was conducted in order to compare the biological activities of water extracts and sugar immersion extracts of green pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) and shiitake (Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler) by measuring total polyphenol and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activities and inhibitory effects on ${\alpha}$-amylase and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase. The contents of total polyphenols and flavonoids were higher in water extracts than in sugar immersion extracts. The anti-oxidative activities of water and sugar immersion extracts were measured using the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS) radical scavenging activity assay and reducing power assay. All extracts scavenged radicals in a concentration-dependent manner, and water extracts showed stronger radical scavenging activity and reducing power than sugar immersion extract. However, they all exhibited lower activities than ascorbic acid. Compared to the anti-diabetic drug acarbose, which was used as a positive control, the two types of extracts exhibited low ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activities, although the activity of sugar immersion extracts were 2-fold higher than that of water extracts. ${\alpha}$-Amylase inhibitory action was not observed for any of the extracts. Finally, by cytotoxicity test, we confirmed that sugar immersion extracts were safer than water extracts. These results indicate that water extracts and sugar immersion extracts of green pepper, purslane and shiitake have different advantages in terms of their antioxidant and anti-diabetic effects, respectively.