• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.269-278
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• 2019

Objectives: Naesohwangryeon-tang (NHT) is a type of traditional herbal formula, however, little is known about its antitumor activity. In this study, the antitumor properties of NHT was evaluated in human lung adenocarcinoma cells. Methods: To check the inhibitory effect of NHT, MTT assay was performed. Cell cycle analysis and detection of ROS production were conducted by flow cytometry. To evaluate the signaling pathway, Western blotting was conducted. Results: Our results showed that the decrease of cell proliferation by NHT stimulation occurred more significantly in A549 cells than in NCI-H460 cells. In addition, NHT-induced apoptosis was associated with the activation of caspases and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). NHT-induced apoptosis was attenuated after pretreatments with z-VAD-fmk or N-acetylcysteine, suggesting that NHT-induced apoptosis was caspaseand ROS-dependent. Interestingly, NHT treatment led to the development of autophagic vesicular organelles and upregulation of several autophagy-related genes. The pretreatment of bafilomycin A1 decreased apoptosis slightly but increased cell viability in the presence of NHT. Conclusion: These findings indicated that NHT induces both apoptosis and cell-protective autophagy in human lung cancer cells. This data suggests that NHT might be a novel herbal drug for lung cancer.

• Bioinformatics and Biosystems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 2006

Recent studies in molecular biology and proteomics have identified a significant number of novel diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic disease markers. However, validation of these markers in clinical specimens with traditional histopathological techniques involves low throughput and is time consuming and labor intensive. Tissue microarrays (TMAs) offer a means of combining tens to hundreds of specimens of tissue onto a single slide for simultaneous analysis. This capability is particularly pertinent in the field of cancer for target verification of data obtained from cDNA micro arrays and protein expression profiling of tissues, as well as in epidemiology-based investigations using histochemical/immunohistochemical staining or in situ hybridization. In combination with automated image analysis, TMA technology can be used in the global cellular network analysis of tissues. In particular, this potential has generated much excitement in cardiovascular disease research. The following review discusses recent advances in the construction and application of TMAs and the opportunity for developing novel, highly sensitive diagnostic tools for the early detection of cardiovascular disease.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.73-88
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• 2010

Traditionally, the root of Lithospermum erythrorhizon Sieb. et Zucc(L.E) has been used as efficacious therapy for inflammation, burns, frostbite and skin ailments (e.g eczema and psoriasis). It contains isohexenylnaphthoquinone derivatives (shikonin and its esters) and furylhydroquinones (shikonofurans) in lipophilic fractions and caffeic acid oligomers (rosmarinic acid, lithospermic acid B) in polar fractions. Recently, new preparative isolation and analysis procedures of shikonin along with its oligomers from the extract of L. erythrorhizon by the combination of high-speed counter-current chromatography with high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection have also been introduced. Although there have been many reports on the wound healing, antiinflammatory, and anticancer effects, the research on the effects of anti-atopic dermatitis of the root of L. erythrorhizon were relatively scarce. However, in recent years, new information gathered from research efforts, on the anti-atopic dermatitis properties of the extract or constituents of L. erythrorhizon has been accumulated. In this paper, the findings and advance on the in vitro and in vivo activities of L. erythrorhizon and its constituents especially focused on antiinflammatory and anti-atopic dermatitis effects are summarized. The phytochemical constituents of L. erythrorhizon or its tissue cultures are also presented. Although there are few to verify or refute its activity in human, one result of clinical study of the extract of L. erythrorhizon on the atopic dermatitis patients was introduced to assess the possibility of its clinical use. The reported mechanisms of action and in vivo pharmacological studies in different animal models for the various types of extracts or constituents of L. erythrorhizon are supportive of its therapeutic potential or dietary supplement, however, more evidence from clinically relevant models, as well as systemic studies on the active constituents or the various types of standardized extracts at the cellular and molecular level, are required.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.57-61
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• 1999

Xanthomonas campestris pv. glycines causes bacterial pustule disease on susceptible soybean leaves and produces a bacteriocin, named glycinecinA, against most xanthomonads including Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria. One of the 5 isolated DNA regions responsible for bacteriocin production, a 1.7 kb DNA region for the glycinecinA gene, was used as a probe to detect the presence of the homolog DNA in other bacterial strains. Among 55 bacterial strains tested, only X. campestris pv. glycines showed the positive signal with glycinecinA DNA. Two oligomers, heu2 and heu4, derived from a glycinecinA DNA were used to carry out the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis with chromosomal DNA from 55 different bacterial strains including 24 different strains of X. campestris pv. glycines, 9 different pathovars of xanthomonads, and other 22 bacterial strains of different genus and species. By separation of the PCR products on agarose gel, a 0.86 kb DNA fragment was specifically detected when X. campestris pv. glycines was present in the amplification assay. The 0.86 kb fragment was not amplified when DNA from other bacteria was used for the assay. Southern analysis with glycinecinA DNA showed that the PCR signal was obtained with X. campestris pv. glycines isolates from various geographic regions and soybean cultivars. Therefore, the 1.7 kb DNA region for the glycinecinA gene can be used for the pathovar-specific probe for the DNA hybridization and the primers heu2 and heu4 can be used for the pathovar-specific primers for the PCR analysis to detect X. campestris pv. glycines.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.130-138
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• 2010

Orchid fleck virus (OFV) is an unassigned plant virus in the family Rhabdoviridae. OFV was isolated from Cymbidium sp. showing oval necrotic lesions on their leaves in Korea, and designated as OFV-NHHS1. The complete nucleotide sequence of the RNA1 (6,413 nt) (GenBank accession no. AB516442) and RNA2 (6,001 nt) (GenBank accession no. AB516441) was determined in this study. RNA1 and RNA2 contained five and one ORF respectively. RNA1 encodes nucleocapsid (N) of 49 kDa, ORF2 of 26 kDa, ORF3 of 38 kDa, ORF4 of 20 kDa and glycoprotein (G) of 61 kDa proteins, whereas RNA2 encodes a single polymerase of 212 kDa. OFV-NHHS1 shared extremely high similarity of 98.6-100% and 98.9-99.6% in nucleotidle and amino acid sequences with a Japanese isolate, OFV-so, respectively. However, the N, G and L of OFV-NHHS1 revealed 6.9-19.3%, 7.3-12.0%, and 13.4-26.6% identities to those of 29 Rhabdoviruses, respectively. To survey the infection rate of OFV in commercial orchids in Korea, 51 Cymbidium sp., 10 Phalaenopsis sp., 22 Oncidium sp. and 21 Dendrobium sp. plants that showed typical viral symptoms were collected. RT-PCR with specific primers for detection of Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV), ORSV and OFV showed high infection rate by ORSV alone and double infection by ORSV and CymMV. One of the orchids tested was infected with OFV. This is the first report of the complete nucleotide sequences of OFV isolated in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.651-656
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• 2013

Human schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma mekongi is a chronic and debilitating helminthic disease still prevalent in several countries of Asia. Due to morphological similarities of cercariae and eggs of these 2 species, microscopic differentiation is difficult. High resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR is developed as an alternative tool for the detection and differentiation of these 2 species. A primer pair was designed for targeting the 18S ribosomal RNA gene to generate PCR products of 156 base pairs for both species. The melting points of S. japonicum and S. mekongi PCR products were $84.5{\pm}0.07^{\circ}C$ and $85.7{\pm}0.07^{\circ}C$, respectively. The method permits amplification from a single cercaria or an egg. The HRM real-time PCR is a rapid and simple tool for differentiation of S. japonicum and S. mekongi in the intermediate and final hosts.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2017

Fascioliasis is a foodborne zoonotic parasitic disease. We report 4 cases occurring in the same family, in whom diagnosis of acute fascioliasis was established after series of tests. One case was hospitalized with fever, eosinophilia, and hepatic lesions. MRI showed hypodense changes in both liver lobes. The remaining 3 cases presented with the symptom of stomachache only. Stool analysis was positive for Fasciola eggs in 2 adult patients. The immunological test and molecular identification of eggs were confirmed at the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China. The results of serological detection were positive in all the 4 patients. DNA sequencing of PCR products of the eggs demonstrated 100% homology with ITS and cox1 of Fasciola hepatica. The conditions of the patients were not improved by broad-spectrum anti-parasitic drugs until administration of triclabendazole.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.601-606
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• 2017

Cystoisospora is responsible for morbidity in immunocompromised patients. PCR is sensitive for diagnosing Cystoisospora; however, it needs reevaluation for differential molecular diagnosis of cystoisosporiasis. We aimed at evaluating melting curve analysis (MCA) after real-time PCR (qPCR) in diagnosis and genotyping of Cystoisospora as an alternative to conventional PCR. We included 293 diarrheic stool samples of patients attending the Department of Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine of Cairo University Hospitals, Egypt. Samples were subjected to microscopy, nested PCR (nPCR), and qPCR targeting the internal transcribed spacer 2 region (ITS2) of the ribosomal RNA (r RNA) gene followed by melting temperatures ($T_ms$) analysis and comparing the results to PCR-RFLP banding patterns. Using microscopy and ITS2-nPCR, 3.1% and 5.8% of cases were Cystoisospora positive, respectively, while 10.9% were positive using qPCR. Genotyping of Cystoisospora by qPCR-MCA revealed 2 genotypes. These genotypes matched with 2 distinct melting peaks with specified $T_ms$ at $85.8^{\circ}C$ and $88.6^{\circ}C$, which indicated genetic variation among Cystoisospora isolates in Egypt. Genotype II proved to be more prevalent (65.6%). HIV-related Kaposi sarcoma and leukemic patients harbored both genotypes with a tendency to genotype II. Genotype I was more prevalent in lymphomas and mammary gland tumors while colorectal and hepatocellular tumors harbored genotype II suggesting that this genotype might be responsible for the development of cystoisosporiasis in immunocompromised patients. Direct reliable identification and differentiation of Cystoisospora species could be established using $qPCR-T_ms$ analysis which is useful for rapid detection and screening of Cystoisospora genotypes principally in high risk groups.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.321-326
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• 2020

Blastocystis has recently been recognized as the most common eukaryotic microbe of the human gut. We investigated the prevalence of Blastocystis and their subtypes in diarrheal and non-diarrheal groups and the associated clinical parameters. A total of 324 stool samples were obtained from 196 diarrheal and 128 non-diarrheal subjects. Blastocystis subtypes were determined by sequencing the small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rRNA) gene. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected and analyzed by diarrhea and Blastocystis status. The overall rate of Blastocystis positivity was 9.0% (29/324) but was significantly higher in the non-diarrheal group (18.0% vs. 3.1%, P<0.0001). Of the 6 Blastocystis-positive diarrheal patients, 3 (50.0%), none (0.0%), 2 (33.3%), and 1 (16.7%) were infected with subtypes ST1, ST2, ST3, and multiple subtypes, respectively. Of the 23 Blastocystis-positive non-diarrheal patients, 4 (17.4%), 1 (4.3%), and 18 (78.3%) were infected with subtypes ST1, ST2, and ST3, respectively. Blastocystis was less common in the diarrheal than the non-diarrheal group (odds ratio, 0.144; 95% confidence interval, 0.057-0.365, P<0.001). Of the 3 subtypes, ST3 was more frequently observed in the non-diarrheal than diarrheal group (78.3% vs. 33.3%, P=0.0341). Collectively, Blastocystis was found in both the diarrheal and non-diarrheal groups and ST3 was the most common subtype in Korea.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.246-252
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• 2008

Tumor tissue is usually contaminated by normal tissue components, which reduces the sensitivity of analysis for exploring genetic alterations. Although microdissection has been adopted to minimize the contamination of tumor DNA with normal cell components, there is a concern over the amount of microdissected DNA not enough to be applied to array-CGH reaction. To amplify the extracted DNA, several whole genome amplification (WGA) methods have been developed, but objective comparison of the array-CGH outputs using different types of WGA methods is still scarce. In this study, we compared the performance of non-amplified microdissected DNA and DNA amplified in 2 WGA methods such as degenerative oligonucleotide primed (DOP)-PCR, and multiple strand displacement amplification (MDA) using Phi 29 DNA polymerase. Genomic DNA was also used to make a comparison. We applied those 4 DNAs to whole genome BAC array to compare the false positive detection rate (FPDR) and sensitivity in detecting copy number alterations under the same hybridization condition. As a result microdissected DNA method showed the lowest FPDR and the highest sensitivity. Among WGA methods, DOP-PCR amplified DNA showed better sensitivity but similar FPDR to MDA-amplified method. These results demonstrate the advantage and applicability of microdissection for array-CGH analysis, and provide useful information for choosing amplification methods to study copy number alterations, especially based on precancerous and microscopically invaded lesions.