• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.326-333
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• 2020

Nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide (NO) pathway is a major alternative source of NO and is essential for NO - dependent physiological functions in body. Food supplements having nitrate/nitrite can improve metabolic syndromes including hypertension through antioxidant activity or vasodilation. The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of fermented garlic (F. garlic) having high concentration of NO2- on changes in blood flow and nitric oxide synthesis in the cerebral cortex of rodents. The generation of nitric oxide detected by a chemi-luminescence detector was higher in F. Garlic compared with NaNO2 solution under artificial gastric juice with pH 2.0. Ether F. garlic or NaNO2 diluted with artificial cerebrospinal fluid was directly applied into around the needle probe of laser Doppler flow meter that was located on epidural surface of the cortex. Direct application of F. garlic resulted in increase of cerebral blood flow detected by a laser Doppler flow meter with a dose-dependent manner. Compared with NaNO2 solution, F. garlic produced changes in cerebral blood flow at lower concentration of NO2-. Pretreatment of methylene blue, a guanylyl cyclase inhibitor prevented upregulation of cerebral blood flow by the treatment of F. garlic. In addition, the application of F. garlic with 250, 500ppm of NO2- caused significantly the production of NO in the cortical tissue but NaNO2 solution with 500ppm of NO2- did not. In summary, these results suggested that F. garlic with high content of NO2- induce increase in cerebral blood flow through nitric oxide-dependent signal pathway.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.246-256
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• 2022

The present study focused on the potential mechanism of betulin (BT), a pentacyclic triterpenoid isolated from the bark of white birch (Betula pubescens), against chronic alcohol-induced lipid accumulation and metaflammation. AML-12 and RAW 264.7 cells were administered ethanol (EtOH), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or BT. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed Lieber-DeCarli liquid diets containing 5% EtOH for 4 weeks, followed by single EtOH gavage on the last day and simultaneous treatment with BT (20 or 50 mg/kg) by oral gavage once per day. In vitro, MTT showed that 0-25 mM EtOH and 0-25 µM BT had no toxic effect on AML-12 cells. BT could regulate sterolregulatory-element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1), lipin1/2, P2X7 receptor (P2X7r) and NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) expressions again EtOH-stimulation. Oil Red O staining also indicated that BT significantly reduced lipid accumulation in EtOH-stimulated AML-12 cells. Lipin1/2 deficiency indicated that BT might mediate lipin1/2 to regulate SREBP1 and P2X7r expression and further alleviate lipid accumulation and inflammation. In vivo, BT significantly alleviated histopathological changes, reduced serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and triglyceride (TG) levels, and regulated lipin1/2, SREBP1, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor α/γ (PPARα/γ) and PGC-1α expression compared with the EtOH group. BT reduced the secretion of inflammatory factors and blocked the P2X7r-NLRP3 signaling pathway. Collectively, BT attenuated lipid accumulation and metaflammation by regulating the lipin1/2-mediated P2X7r signaling pathway.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.87-95
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• 2003

Although extensive studies were conduced on hydrogen fermentation of organic wastewaters, little is known about biohydrogen production from organic solid wastes. The leaching-bed reactor treating food waste by heat-shocked anaerobic sludge was, therefore, operated at D of 2.1, 3.6, 4.5 and $5.5d^{-1}$ to find optimal D for hydrogen production. Successful operation of a reactor can be accomplished when it is operated at proper dilution rate (D). Operation at high D leads to the washout of biomass in the reactor while operation at low D leads to product inhibition due to the accumulation of excess VFA. These appear to limit the production of hydrogen to reach a higher level. All the reactors showed that, on day 1-3, hydrogen production was dominant and VFA concentration was higher than ethanol. Butyrate and acetate were major components of VFAs over the whole operation, though lactate was very high on day 1-2. Compared with other D values, D of $4.5d^{-1}$, resulted in higher butyrate/acetae (B/A) ratios during the fermentation. The trend of B/A ratios was similar to the hydrogen production, suggesting that butyrate formation favored hydrogen production. Ethanol increased significantly from day 4 when hydrogen Production stopped. It indicated that heat-shocked sludge was able to induce a metabolic flow from hydrogen-and acid-producing pathway to solvent-producing pathway. Operation at D of $4.5d^{-1}$ led to higher fermentation efficiency (58%) than those (51.5, 55.3 and 53.7%) at 2.1, 3.6 and $5.5d^{-1}$. The COD removed was convened to hydrogen (10.1%), VFA (30.9%), and ethanol (17.0%).

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.494-498
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• 2014

It is well known that Desomodii Herba (DH) has an effect to eliminate dampness, relieve jaundice and to clear away toxic material, relieve swelling in Korean Medicine. However, the effect of DH on breast cancer invasion is unknown. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of DH extracts (DHE) on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression and cell invasion, as well as the molecular mechanisms involved in MCF-7, human breast cancer cells. DHE inhibits TPA-induced MMP-9 protein and mRNA expressions in a dose-dependent fashion. DHE also inhibited the TPA-induced transcriptional activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-${\kappa}B$). These results indicate that DHE-mediated inhibition of TPA-induced MMP-9 expression and cell invasion involves the suppression of NF-${\kappa}B$ pathway in MCF-7 cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.734-741
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• 2014

Histone modifications on major transcription factor target genes are one of the major regulatory mechanisms controlling adipogenesis. Plant homeodomain finger 2 (PHF2) is a Jumonji domain-containing protein and is known to demethylate the histone H3K9, a repressive gene marker. To better understand the function of PHF2 in adipocyte differentiation, we constructed stable PHF2 knock-down cells by using the mouse pre-adipocyte cell line 3T3-L1. When induced with adipogenic media, PHF2 knock-down cells showed reduced lipid accumulation compared to control cells. Differential expression using a cDNA microarray revealed significant reduction of metabolic pathway genes in the PHF2 knock-down cell line after differentiation. The reduced expression of major transcription factors and adipokines was confirmed with reverse transcription- quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting. We further performed co-immunoprecipitation analysis of PHF2 with four major adipogenic transcription factors, and we found that CCATT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)${\alpha}$ and C/EBP${\delta}$ physically interact with PHF2. In addition, PHF2 binding to target gene promoters was confirmed with a chromatin immunoprecipitation experiment. Finally, histone H3K9 methylation markers on the PHF2-binding sequences were increased in PHF2 knock-down cells after differentiation. Together, these results demonstrate that PHF2 histone demethylase controls adipogenic gene expression during differentiation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.782-792
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• 2016

As the most common neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are two of the main health concerns for the elderly population. Recently, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been used as biomarkers of infectious, genetic, and metabolic diseases in humans but they have not been well studied in domestic animals. Here we describe a computational biology study in which human AD- and PD-associated miRNAs (ADM and PDM) were utilized to predict orthologous miRNAs in the following domestic animal species: dog, cow, pig, horse, and chicken. In this study, a total of 121 and 70 published human ADM and PDM were identified, respectively. Thirty-seven miRNAs were co-regulated in AD and PD. We identified a total of 105 unrepeated human ADM and PDM that had at least one 100% identical animal homolog, among which 81 and 54 showed 100% sequence identity with 241 and 161 domestic animal miRNAs, respectively. Over 20% of the total mature horse miRNAs (92) showed perfect matches to AD/PD-associated miRNAs. Pigs, dogs, and cows have similar numbers of AD/PD-associated miRNAs (63, 62, and 59). Chickens had the least number of perfect matches (34). Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses suggested that humans and dogs are relatively similar in the functional pathways of the five selected highly conserved miRNAs. Taken together, our study provides the first evidence for better understanding the miRNA-AD/PD associations in domestic animals, and provides guidance to generate domestic animal models of AD/PD to replace the current rodent models.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.549-551
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• 2001

The heavy use of petroleum products in modern livings has brought ubiquitous environmental contaminants of aromatic compounds, which persist in aquatic and geo-environment without the substantial degradation. The persistence and accumulation of the aromatic compounds, which include xylene, phenol, toluene, phthalate, and so on are known to cause serious problems in our environments. Some of soil and aquatic microorganisms facilitate their growth by degrading aromatic compounds and utilizing degrading products as growth substrates, the biodegradation helps the reentry of carbons of aromatic compounds, preventing their accumulation in our environments. The metabolic studies on the degradation of aromatic compounds by microoganisms were extensively carried out along with their genetic studies. A Rhodococcus sp. EL-GT isolated in activated sludges has shown the excellent ability to grow on phenol as a sole carbon source. In the present study investigated a gene encoding phenol-degrading enzymes from a Rhodococcus sp. EL-GT.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.568-570
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• 2003

The Hyoscyamus niger hyoscyamine $6{\beta}-hydroxylase$ (H6H, EC 1.14.11.11) gene was introduced into the genome of a Scopolia parviflora by the binary vector system using the disarmed Agrobacterium rhizogenes strain KCTC 2703. Expression of H6H enzyme which are involved in alkaloids pathway by western blot analysis using proteins extracted from leaf, stem flower, branch root and main root were examined The enzyme expression was found only in the roots, with no expression in leaf, stem and flower. The alkaloids contents were the most higher in root and then leaf and stem has very small amount of alkaloid contents were analyzed by HPLC. The expression level of H6H in transgenic plants were two or more times than wild type plants. In transgenic plant which constitutively expresses H6H enzyme, high concentration of scopolamine was accumulated.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.441-447
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• 2006

Abuse of drugs can elicit compulsive drug seeking behaviors upon repeated administration, and ultimately leads to the phenomenon of addiction. We developed a procedure for the standardization of microarray gene expression data of rat brain in drug addiction and stored them in a single integrated database system, focusing on more effective data processing and interpretation. Another characteristic of the present database is that it has a systematic flexibility for statistical analysis and linking with other databases. Basically, we adopt an intelligent SQL querying system, as the foundation of our DB, in order to set up an interactive module which can automatically read the raw gene expression data in the standardized format. We maximize the usability of this DB, helping users study significant gene expression and identify biological function of the genes through integrated up-to-date gene information such as GO annotation and metabolic pathway. For collecting the latest information of selected gene from the database, we also set up the local BLAST search engine and non-redundant sequence database updated by NCBI server on a daily basis. We find that the present database is a useful query interface and data-mining tool, specifically for finding out the genes related to drug addiction. We apply this system to the identification and characterization of methamphetamine-induced genes' behavior in rat brain.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1940-1946
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• 2006

The influence of environmental conditions on the ganoderic acid (GA) content in the fungus Ganoderma lucidum was investigated using a one-factor-at-a-time design and orthogonal design. Among the various medium components examined, sucrose, soybean powder or peptone, ferrous sulfate, and pH 6.0 were the most suitable carbon source (factor A), nitrogen source (factor B), mineral source (factor C), and initial pH (factor D), respectively, for the GA content in the one-factor-at-a-time design. According to the orthogonal design, the order of effect for the four factors on the GA content was A>C>D>B. The best level of factor A was $A_2$ (sucrose) with a value of +0.34 mg/100 mg DW. The optimal treatment combination was $A_2B_1C_3D_1$ with which the GA content reached up to 2.63$\pm$0.011 mg/100 mg DW. The interactions between the mineral ion and the nitrogen source, and the mineral ion and the pH were both highly significant (P<0.01). The highest interaction effect was ($B_2{\times}D_2$) with a value of +0.19 mg/100 mg DW, which was higher than the level effect value for $B_2$ (peptone) and D$_2$ (pH 5.0). Therefore, the results proved that interactions between factors cannot be ignored. The results also indicated the importance of the interactions between the factors, which may help to understand the metabolic pathway leading to triterpene biosynthesis and the expression and regulation of the key enzymes involved.