• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.131-135
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• 2014

Over-consumption of alcohol leads to many side-effects such as malnutrition, liver disease, and neuronal disorders and many investigators have tried to identify methods for preventing the side-effects of drinking. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of the beverage contained green tea catechins (GTC) on the alcohol administered rats. We observed that blood alcohol concentration level decreased significantly in plasma. GTC (200 mg/kg) also reduced the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level of the intoxicated rats. These results suggest that GTC may be useful for the prevention and therapy of hepatotoxic pathogenesis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.139-152
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• 2009

Globally, civil infrastructures are deteriorating at an alarming rate caused by overuse, overloading, aging, damage or failure due to natural or man-made hazards. With such a vast network of deteriorating infrastructure, there is a growing interest in continuous monitoring technologies. In order to provide a true distributed sensor and control system for civil structures, we are developing a Structural Nervous System that mimics key attributes of a human nervous system. This nervous system is made up of building blocks that are designed based on mechanoreceptors as a fundamentally new approach for the development of a structural health monitoring and diagnostic system that utilizes the recently developed piezo-fibers capable of sensing and actuation. In particular, our research has been focused on producing a sensory nervous system for civil structures by using piezo-fibers as sensory receptors, nerve fibers, neuronal pools, and spinocervical tract to the nodal and central processing units. This paper presents up to date results of our research, including the design and analysis of the structural nervous system.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• 제30권4호
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• pp.306-310
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to observe the change in gamma-band cortical activities (GBAs) due to task difficulty. Event-related potential and gamma-band activity were investigated using electroencephalograms recorded during auditory oddball tasks with two difficulty levels. For more difficult task, the amplitude of P300 decreased and the peak latency of P300 was delayed significantly compared to easier task. The induced GBA decreased considerably during the P300 latency period and the peak latency of the induced GBA was delayed for more difficult task. The results imply that the difficulty-related change in cortical information processing may be implemented as a change in the strength of local neuronal association.

• Toxicological Research
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.97-106
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• 2017

Forest bathing has beneficial effects on human health via showering of forest aerosols as well as physical relaxation. Terpenes that consist of multiple isoprene units are the largest class of organic compounds produced by various plants, and one of the major components of forest aerosols. Traditionally, terpene-containing plant oil has been used to treat various diseases without knowing the exact functions or the mechanisms of action of the individual bioactive compounds. This review categorizes various terpenes easily obtained from forests according to their anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, or neuroprotective activities. Moreover, potential action mechanisms of the individual terpenes and their effects on such processes, which are described in various in vivo and in vitro systems, are discussed. In conclusion, the studies that show the biological effectiveness of terpenes support the benefits of forest bathing and propose a potential use of terpenes as chemotherapeutic agents for treating various human diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.301-309
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• 2018

Statins mediate vascular protection and reduce the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Recent work indicates that statins have anticonvulsive effects in the brain; however, little is known about the precise mechanism for its protective effect in kainic acid (KA)-induced seizures. Here, we investigated the protective effects of atorvastatin pretreatment on KA-induced neuroinflammation and hippocampal cell death. Mice were treated via intragastric administration of atorvastatin for 7 days, injected with KA, and then sacrificed after 24 h. We observed that atorvastatin pretreatment reduced KA-induced seizure activity, hippocampal cell death, and neuroinflammation. Atorvastatin pretreatment also inhibited KA-induced lipocalin-2 expression in the hippocampus and attenuated KA-induced hippocampal cyclooxygenase-2 expression and glial activation. Moreover, AKT phosphorylation in KA-treated hippocampus was inhibited by atorvastatin pretreatment. These findings suggest that atorvastatin pretreatment may protect hippocampal neurons during seizures by controlling lipocalin-2-associated neuroinflammation.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.5-14
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• 2009

Objectives : Most of the mechanisms reported for antidepressant drugs are the enhancement of neurite outgrowth and neuronal survival in the rat hippocampus. Neural cell adhesion molecule 140(NCAM140) has been implicated as having a role in cell-cell adhesion, neurite outgrowth, and synaptic plasticity. In this report, we have performed to elucidate a correlation among chronic antidepressant treatments, NCAM140 expression, and activation of phosphorylated cyclicAMP responsive element binding protein(pCREB) which is a downstream molecule of NCAM140-mediated intracellular signaling pathway in the rat hippocampus. Methods : Fluoxetine(10mg/kg) was injected acutely(daily injection for 5days) or chronically(daily injection for 14days) in adult rats. RNA and protein were extracted from the rat hippocampus, respectively. Real-time RT-PCR was performed to analyze the expression pattern of NCAM140 gene and western blot analyses for the activation of the phosphorylation ratio of CREB. Results : Chronic fluoxetine treatments increased NCAM140 expression 1.3 times higher than control in rat hippocampus. pCREB immunoreactivity in the rat hippocampus with chronic fluoxetine treatment was increased 4.0 times higher than that of control. Conclusion : Chronic fluoxetine treatment increased NCAM140 expression and pCREB activity in the rat hippocampus. Our data suggest that NCAM140 and pCREB may play a role in the clinical efficacy of antidepressants promoting the neurite outgrowth and neuronal survival.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.94-102
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• 2018

It is known that gamma-band activity (GBA) and phase synchrony (GBPS) are induced by emotional visual stimuli. However, the characteristics of GBA and GBPS according to different emotional states have not been identified. The purpose of this study is to investigate the changes in gamma-band neuronal synchronization induced by positive and negative emotional visual stimuli using electroencephalograms (EEGs). Thirteen healthy male subjects have participated in the experiment. The induced spectral power in gamma-band was the highest for negative stimuli, and the lowest for neutral stimuli in 300-2,000 ms after the stimulus onset. The inter-regional phase synchronization in gamma-band was increased in 500-2,000 ms, mainly between the bilateral frontal regions and the parieto-occipital regions. Larger number of significant connections were found by negative stimuli compared to positive ones. Judging from temporal and spatial characteristics of the gamma-band activity and phase synchrony increases, the results may imply that affective visual stimuli cause stronger memory encoding than non-emotional stimuli, and this effect is more significant for negative emotional stimuli than positive ones.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 한국표면공학회 2017년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.81-81
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• 2017

Nanotechnology is of great importance to molecular biology and medicine because life processes are maintained by the action of a series of molecular nanomachines in the cell machinery. Recent advances in nanoscale materials that possess emergent physical properties and molecular organization hold great promise to impact human health in the diagnostic and therapeutic arenas. In order to be effective, nanomaterials need to navigate the host biology and traffic to relevant biological structures, such as diseased or pathogenic cells. Moreover, nanoparticles intended for human administration must be designed to interact with, and ideally leverage, a living host environment. Inspired by nature, we use peptides to transfer biological trafficking properties to synthetic nanoparticles to achieve targeted delivery of payloads. In this talk, development of nanoscale materials will be presented with a particular focus on applications to three outstanding health problems: bacterial infection, cancer detection, and traumatic brain injury. A biodegradable nanoparticle carrying a peptide toxin trafficked to the bacterial surface has antimicrobial activity in a pneumonia model. Trafficking of a tumor-homing nanoprobes sensitively detects cancer via a high-contrast time-gated imaging system. A neuron-targeted nanoparticle carrying siRNA traffics to neuronal populations and silences genes in a model of traumatic brain injury. Unique combinations of material properties that can be achieved with nanomaterials provide new opportunities in translational nanomedicine. This framework for constructing nanomaterials that leverage bio-inspired molecules to traffic diagnostic and therapeutic payloads can contribute on better understanding of living systems to solve problems in human health.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• 제52권5호
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• pp.384-393
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• 2008

We examined the effect of green tea extract (GTE) and L-theanine combination on the $A{\beta}_{1-42}$-induced memory dysfunction. GTE and combination were administrated into mice for 3 weeks followed by injection of $A{\beta}_{1-42}$ to induce memory impairment. GTE and L-theanine administration significantly improved cognitive ability and reduced $A{\beta}_{1-42}$ level accompanied with the inhibition of neuronal cell death and activities of secretase. These results suggest that GTE and L-theanine combination may be a useful for preventing for the development or progression of Alzheimer's disease.

• Applied Microscopy
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.33-42
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• 2018

Myosin X is one of myosin superfamily members having unique cellular functions on cytoskeletal reorganization. One of the most important cellular functions of myosin X is to facilitate the formation of membrane protrusions. Since membrane protrusions are important factors for diverse cellular motile processes including cell migration, cell invasion, path-finding of the cells, intercellular communications and so on, it has been thought that myosin X plays an important role in various processes that involve cytoskeletal reorganization including cancer progression and development of neuronal diseases. Recent studies have revealed that the unique cellular function of myosin X is closely correlated with its unique structural characteristics and motor properties. Moreover, it is found that the molecular and cellular activities of myosin X are controlled by its specific binding partner. Since recent studies have revealed the presence of various specific binding partners of myosin X, it is anticipated that the structural, biochemical and cell biological understanding of the binding partner dependent regulation of myosin X function can uncover the role of myosin X in diverse cell biological processes and diseases.