• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2001

Since NNK is one of the most abundant tobacco-specific alkaloids and a strong carcinogenic nitrosamine, it has been used for evaluating a potential of carcinogenicity in the animal models. The present study has attempted to examine the potential of carcinogenicity of NNK in human epithelial cells, from which the cell type the most of cancers including oral cancer and nasal cavity cancer are originated. The cellular model used for the study is a human keratinocyte cell system immortalized by Ad12-SV40 hybrid virus. The cellular system has successfully been used for the carcinogenicity studies because of its limitless life span, epithelial morphology and nontumorigenicity. When cells were treated with a variety of NNK concentrations, levels of saturation density and soft agar colony formation were increased in a dose-dependent fashion. Colonies of large cell aggregates were above 5 at the higher doses. The results indicate that exposure of human cells with NNK induced loss of contact inhibition and increases of anchorage independence and cellular adhesion, which are typical characteristics of the neoplatically transformed cells. When cells were exposed with 100uM NNK for 2hr, mRNA levels of IL-1 and PAI-2 were increased in a dose-dependent manner, but expression of TGF- 1 was not affected. While expression of growth regulatory factors were altered with a short-term exposure, there was no alteration of these factors in the NNK-transformed cells. However, mRNA levels of fibronectin were increased both in the short-term treatment and in the transformation. The results suggest that altered expression of extracellular matrix such as fibronectin following short-term exposure might be fixed in the genome and these altered properties be continuously transfered throughout the cell division. Western blot analysis showed a translocation of PKC- from cytosolic fraction to the particulate fraction, indicating a possible role of NNK in the signal transduction pathway. The present study provided an evidence that NNK in the smoking may be associated with epithelial origin cancer such as oral and nasal cavity cancers. In addition, this study suggested that altered expression of extracellular matrix and PKC may play an important role in the carcinogenic mechanism of NNK.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.51-66
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• 2004

Retinoids, better known as vitamin A, have been reported to inhibit the growth of several breast cancer cell lines in culture and to reduce breast tumor growth in animal models. Furthermore, retinoids can augment the action of other breast cancer cell growth inhibitors both in vitro and in vivo. Clinically, interest has increased in the potential use of retinoids for the prevention and treatment of human breast cancer. We have examine the effect of all-trans retinoic acid(tRA) and 9-cis retinoic acid(9-cis RA) on human breast cancer cell(MCF-10A, T47-D, MCF-7) proliferation using MTT assay and cell cycle analysis(FACS). Overexpression of cyclin D1 protein is observed in the majority of breast cancers, suggesting that dysregulated expression of cyclin D1 might be a critical event in breast cancer carcinogenesis. We investigated whether tRA and 9-cis RA might affect expression of cyclin D1 on human breast cancer cells(MCF-10A, T47-D, MCF-7) using RT-PCR and west-ern bolt. In MCF-10A cells, either tRA or 9-cis RA treatment did not affect the cell proliferation. In T47-D cells and MCF-7 cells, either tRA or 9-cis RA treatment showed the inhibition of the cell proliferation over control cells and also inhibit the estrogen stimulated cell proliferation when it was given together with estrogen. The effect of retinoids was dose- and time- dependent. T47-D cells treated with 1.0 $\muM$ tRA undergo G0/G1-phase arrest by Day 5. MCF-7 cells treated with 1.0 $\muM$ tRA undergo S-phase arrest by Day 5. All-trans retinoic acid(tRA) and 9-cis retinoic acid(9-cis RA) inhibited the cyelin D1 mRNA and protein expression levels of human MCF-7 and T47-D breast carcinoma cells in vitro. The data indicate that retinoids can reduce cyclin D1 expression levels in a variety of breast cell lines in vitro and result in inhibition of cell proliferation. tRA-mediated growth inhibition and cyclin D1 expression inhibition is more potent than 9-cis RA mediated that. tRA-mediated inhibition effect is more potent on T47-D cells than on MCF-7 cells. Our data suggest that retinoids activity is different according to property of cell lines. Future chemoprevention of breast cancer studies using retinoids will be necessary to determine the mechanism of the retinoids-mediated growth inhibition.

• BMB Reports
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 1999

Ethanol catabolism is thought to produce metabolic disorders resulting in alcoholic liver disease. To investigate the mutual effects of ethanol catabolism and cholestasis induced by common bile duct ligation on the activities of carboxylesterase, we have determined the enzyme activities in rat hepatic (cytosolic, mitochondrial, and microsomal) preparations as well as in rat serum using ten animal models: normal rats (group 1), sham-operated rats (group 2), common bile duct-ligated rats (group 3), ethanol-intoxicated rats (group 4), sham-operation plus chronic ethanol-intoxicated rats (group 5), common bile duct-ligated plus chronic ethanol-intoxicated rats at 1.5h and 24h (groups 7A and 7B), and duct-ligated and acute ethanol intoxicated rats at 1.5 h and 24 h (groups 8A and 8B). The $K_m$ and $V_{max}$ values of carboxylesterase from these hepatic preparations of cholestatic rat liver combined with chronic ethanol intoxication were also measured by using ethyl valerate as the substrate from the 14th day post-ligation. Carboxylesterase activities of all hepatic preparations and rat serum (group 3) showed significant decreases compared to the activities from the sham-operated control (group 2). Enzyme kinetic parameters indicated that $V_{max}$ of carboxylesterase from all the hepatic preparations in cholestatic rats (group 3) decreased significantly, although the $K_m$ values were about the same as in the sham-operated control (group 2). When cholestasis was combined with chronic ethanol intoxication (group 6), carboxylesterase activities showed further decrease in all the hepatic preparations and serum compared to the control activity (group 5). The $V_{max}$ also decreased significantly, although $K_m$ values did not change. When common bile duct ligation was combined with acute ethanol intoxication (group 8), the enzyme activities in the rat liver and serum showed significant decrease compared to the activity from acute ethanol-intoxicated rats (group 7). However, quite contrary to this, the activities of serum from acute ethanol intoxication 1.5 h (group 7A) increased significantly compared to the activities in the normal control (group 1). These results, therefore, suggest that the biosynthesis of hepatic carboxyl-esterase seems to decrease when cholestasis is combined with chronic and acute ethanol intoxication, and the decrease in activity is more significant than from cholestasis alone.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.83-91
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• 2006

The number and structure of synapses are dynamically changed in response to diverse physiological and pathological conditions. Since strength of synaptic transmission is closely related to the synaptic density on a neuron, both synaptogenesis and synapse loss may play important roles in controlling neuronal activity. Thus it is essential to estimate the number of synapses using an accurate quantitative method for better understanding of the numerical alteration of synapses under terrain experimental conditions. We applied physical disector principle to estimating the number of synapses per neuron in the dentate gyrus of adult mice. First, we measured the numerical density of granule cells using the physical disector principle. Second, the density of medial perforant path to granule cell synapses was estimated using the bidirectional physical disector. Then, the volume ratio of molecular layer to granule cell layer was measured. With these numerial values, we successfully calculated the number of synapses per neuron. Individual granule cells have approximately 6500 synapses in the dentate gyrus of adult mice $(6,545{\pm}330)$, which are comparable to those of other researchers. Our results showed that the estimation of synapse numbers per neuron using the physical disector principle would provide accurate and precise information on the numerical alteration of synapses in diverse physiological and pathological conditions. Following analyses of synapse numbers using this method will contribute to the better understanding of structural synaptic plasticity in a variety of experimental animal models.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.592-602
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• 2016

This study investigated the muscular dystrophin levels in freely moving Australian cattle mainly fed grass, freely moving Korean cattle fed mainly a grain diet, and Korean cattle fed a grain diet but housed in a relatively limited space of a cow house. The total skeletal muscle specimens of 244 cattle were collected and immediately fixed in 10% neutral formalin. The same area was biopsied from the cattle in both countries. The findings showed that fatty infiltration is highly correlated with membrane-associated protein degradation in skeletal muscle, and that among several membrane-associated proteins, dystrophin showed the most significant reduction in expression in the cattle with fatty infiltration. Similarly, CD36 was more highly expressed in the cattle with fatty infiltration of skeletal muscle. Various breeding factors, such as oxidative stress; the presence of oxidized lipids in the diet; and environmental factors such as exercise, temperature and amount of time spent, may have critical effects on the degradation of normal cytoskeleton proteins, which are required for maintaining normal skeletal muscle architecture. Among the sarcolemma membrane-associated proteins, dystrophin is the most sensitive membrane protein that is involved muscular dystrophy and muscular degeneration. Thus, the present findings may be useful for studies on muscular dystrophy in humans or the pathogenesis of muscular diseases in animal models.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.965-973
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• 2017

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a group of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid with conjugated double bonds at C9,C11 and C10,C12 positions. Of possible CLA isomers, a naturally occurring CLA isomer is c9,t11-CLA which is produced from linoleic acid by linoleate isomerase from various rumen and lactic bacteria, and mushroom mycelia. Meanwhile, synthetically prepared CLA contained an equal amount of c9,t11-CLA and t10,c12-CLA isomers, and other isomers as minor constituents. CLA was firstly mentioned in 1939 during the elaidinization reaction of linoleic acid. Thereafter, CLA was not an attractant to scientists because it was not scientifically interested any more. However, since the anticarcinogenic action was driven from 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced mouse skin carcinogenesis in 1987, CLA-related researches were drastically elevated, resulting in approximately 6,100 research papers in literature, so far. CLA exhibited the significant biological activities: anticarcinogenic, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, antiatherosclerotic, body-fat reducing, antioxidative, antiinflammatory, testosterone producing and other activities. Interestingly, two major CLA isomers, c9,t11-CLA and t10,c12-CLA, exhibited different biological activities. Meanwhile, t,t-CLA isomers which is minor constituent of chemically synthesized CLA from linoleic acid exhibited more potent anticarcinogenic activity in carcinogen-induced animal models and cancer cell lines than other CLA isomrs. In the present review, the significant biological activities of CLA were discussed along with historical studies of CLA since 1939.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.161-167
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• 2015

These commensal intestinal bacteria can enhance the immune system and aid in nutrient absorption but can also act as opportunistic pathogens. Among these intestinal bacteria, the anaerobic Bacteroides fragilis are divided into enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF) which secrete the B. fragilis toxin (BFT) and non-enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (NTBF) which do not secrete BFT. ETBF can cause diarrhea and colitis in both humans and livestock but can also be found in asymptomatic individuals. ETBF is predominantly found in patients with inflammatory diarrheal diseases and traveller's diarrhea. Several clinical studies have also reported an increased prevalence of ETBF in human patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colitis and colorectal cancer. In small animal models (C57BL/6 wild-type mice, germ-free mice, multiple intestinal neoplasia (Min) mice, rabbits and Mongolian gerbils), ETBF have been found to initiate and/or aggravate IBD, colitis and colorectal cancer. BFT induces E-cadherin cleavage in intestinal epithelial cells resulting in loss of epithelial cell integrity. Subsequent activation of the ${\beta}$-catenin pathway leads to increased cellular proliferation. In addition, ETBF causes acute and chronic colitis in wild-type mice as well as enhances tumorigenesis in Min mice via activation of the Stat3/Th17 pathway. Currently, ETBF can be detected using a BFT toxin bioassay and by PCR. Advances in molecular biological techniques such as real-time PCR have allowed both researchers as well as clinicians to rapidly detect ETBF in clinical samples. The emergence of more sensitive techniques will likely advance molecular insight into the role of ETBF in colitis and cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.793-799
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• 2012

This study was conducted to examine the antioxidative effect and nitrite scavenging ability of extract from Acanthopanax cortex shoot. The total phenolic compound and flavonoids contents of extract from Acanthopanax corex shoot were $116.33{\pm}6.09mg\;GAE/g$ and $65.07{\pm}4.10mg\;RE/g$, respectively. Antioxidative activities were measured by various in vitro models such as DPPH radical scavenging activity, FRAP, reducing power, ABTS radical scavenging activity, ORAC assay. This results showed that the extract of Acanthopanax cortex shoot was effective in scavenging radicals and protecting oxidation when assessed various in vitro systems. Similarly, the nitrite scavenging ability of extract was increased in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, ORAC value at a concentration of $0.1mg/m{\ell}$ was $103.4{\pm}5.6{\mu}M\;TE/g$. Considering high consumer demand beneficial health effects, Acanthopanax cortex shoot can be utilized to develop functional food health-promoting and natural antioxidant agents.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.333-341
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• 2018

Ferulate is a phenolic compound abundant in wheat germ and bran and has been investigated for its beneficial activities. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of ferulate against the oxidative stress-induced imbalance of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs), protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), and serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), in connection with our previous finding that oxidative stress-induced imbalance of PTKs and PTPs is linked with proinflammatory nuclear factor-kappa B $(NF-{\kappa}B)$ activation. To test the effects of ferulate on this process, we utilized two oxidative stress-induced inflammatory models. First, YPEN-1 cells were pretreated with ferulate for 1 hr prior to the administration of 2,2'-Azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AAPH). Second, 20-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed ferulate for 10 days. After ferulate treatment, the activities of PTKs, PTPs, and PP2A were measured because these proteins either directly or indirectly promote $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. Our results revealed that in YPEN-1 cells, ferulate effectively suppressed AAPH-induced increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity, as well as AAPH-induced PTK activation. Furthermore, ferulate also inhibited AAPH-induced PTP and PP2A inactivation. In the aged kidney model, ferulate suppressed aging-induced activation of PTKs and ameliorated aging-induced inactivation of PTPs and PP2A. Thus, herein we demonstrated that ferulate could modulate PTK/PTP balance against oxidative stress-induced inactivation of PTPs and PP2A, which is closely linked with $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. Based on these results, the ability of ferulate to modulate oxidative stress-related inflammatory processes is established, which suggests that this compound could act as a novel therapeutic agent.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1309-1316
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• 2004

We previously reported that the ethtyl acetate(EA) soluble fraction of Sophorae Radix(SR) water extract had the preventive effects against cardiovascular anaphylaxis elicited in experimental animals. In this study, we tested the anti-anaphylatic effects of the nine kinds of EA soluble subfractions in animal models such as Langendorff heart and anesthetized rats. These results were obtained as followed ; Among nine kinds of SR EA soluble subfractions, N10-16-2 and N10-16-9 fractions have an effects improving cardiovascular anaphylaxis in guinea pig Langendorff hearts. In passively anesthetized rats, N10-16-2 and N1 0-16-9 fractions of SR EA soluble subfractions have an effects improving cardiovascular anaphylaxis. N10-16-2 and N1 0-16-9 fractions of SR EA soluble subfractions inhibited the decrease of histamine release induced by compound 48180 and A-23187 in rat peritoneal mast cells. These results suggest that N10-16-2 and N10-16-9 fractions of SR EA soluble subfractions involve anti-anaphylactic molecules in cardiovascular system.