• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.16 no.1
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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.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.261-266
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• 2010

In the workplace, the arsenic is used in the semiconductor production and the manufacturing of pigments, glass, pesticides and fungicides. Therefore, workers may be exposed to airborne arsenic during its use in manufacturing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential toxicity of particulate matters (PMs) doped with arsenic (PMs-Arsenic) using a rodent model and to compare the genotoxicity in various concentrations and to examine the role of PMs-Arsenic in the induction of signaling pathway in the lung. Mice were exposed to PMs $124.4{\pm}24.5\;{\mu}g/m^3$ (low concentration), $220.2{\pm}34.5\;{\mu}g/m^3$ (middle concentration), $426.4{\pm}40.3\;{\mu}g/m^3$ (high concentration) doped with arsenic $1.4\;{\mu}g/m^3$ (Low concentration), $2.5\;{\mu}g/m^3$ (middle concentration), $5.7\;{\mu}g/m^3$ (high concentration) for 4 wks (6 h/d, 5 d/wk), respectively in the whole-body inhalation exposure chambers. To determine the level of genotoxicity, Chromosomal aberration (CA) assay in splenic lymphocytes and Supravital micronucleus (SMN) assay were performed. Then, signal pathway in the lung was analyzed. In the genotoxicity experiments, the increases of aberrant cells were concentration-dependent. Also, PMs-arsenic caused peripheral blood micronucleus frequency at high concentration. The inhalation of PMs-Arsenic increased an expression of phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt: protein kinase B) and phpsphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR) at high concentration group. Taken together, inhaled PMs-Arsenic caused genotoxicity and altered Akt signaling pathway in the lung. Therefore, the inhalation of PMs-Arsenic needs for a careful risk assessment in the workplace.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.347-360
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• 2000

Bone remodeling results from the combined process of bone resorption and new bone formation which is regulated in part by some of the polypeptide growth factors such as platelet derived growth factor(PDGF), which has been known to be an important local regulator of bone cell activity and participate in normal bone remodeling. This process includes strictly regulated gene expression of several bone matrix proteins such as type I collagen and osteopontin, a 44 kDa phosphorylated glycoprotein, which has important roles in bone formation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effecs of PDGF-BB on the mRNA expression of bone matrix protein, type I collagen and osteopontin, in MC3T3- E1 cell culture. Cells were seeded at $5{\times}10^5$ cells in 10 ml of minimum essential medium alpha(${\alpha}-MEM$) containig 10% fetal bovine serum, 10 mM beta glycerophosphate. 0.1, 1, 10 ng/ml PDGF-BB were added to the cells for the day 3, 7, 14, 21, 28 and cultured for 24 hours. Type I collagen cDNA, Hf677, and osteopontin cDNA were used as probes for northern blot analysis. Total cellular RNA was purified at indicated day and northern blot analysis was performed. The results were as follows : Type I collagen mRNA expressions were higher at the day 3 and 7, and lower in the day 14, 21 in the control groups. In the experimental groups, mRNA expressions were increased when 0.1 ng/ml PDGF-BB were added on the day 3, 7, 21, and decreased in dose-dependent manner on the day 14, decreased at all added dose on the day 28. Osteopontin mRNA expressions were highest in the day 21 groups and lowest in the day 14 groups in the control groups. Interesting results were shown in the day 14 and 21 groups. We found that osteopontin mRNA level was increased in dose dependent manner in the day 14 groups, and decreased dose dependent manner in the day 21 groups. In conclusion, PDGF-BB may have various control effects on type I mRNA expression in the growth and differentiation process of MC3T3-E1 cells and may have contrary regulatory effects on osteopontin mRNA expression. For examples, when the baseline level of osteopontin mRNA was low, as in the day 14, PDGF-BB up-regulated osteopontin mRNA expression in dose dependent manner, and when the baseline level was high as in the day 21, PDGF-BB down-regulated dose dependent manner. Thus, it may be useful for clinical application in periodontal regeneration procedure if further study were performed.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.251-257
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• 2016

In this study, the radical scavenging activity and protective effect of ethanol extract from leaf of Engelhardtia chrysolepis HANCE (ECE) against oxidative stress were investigated under in vitro and cellular system. ECE showed strong radical scavenging activities in 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, hydroxyl(${\cdot}OH$) and nitric oxide(NO) radical as a concentration-dependent manner. Particularly, strong scavenging activity against the ${\cdot}OH$ and NO radical were observed with the $IC_{50}$ value of $1.30{\mu}g/ml$ and $12.61{\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Furthermore, the cellular oxidative stress was induced by amyloid beta($A{\beta}_{25-35}$) in C6 glial cells. The treatment of $A{\beta}_{25-35}$ to C6 glial cells generated high levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS) and declined cell viability. However, production of ROS was decreased by the treatment of ECE. In addition, the cell viability was significantly increased at each concentration(10, 25, $50{\mu}g/ml$) as dose-dependent manner. The Alzheimer's disease-related protein expressions in $A{\beta}_{25-35}$-treated C6 glial cells were analyzed. The ECE treatment inhibited expression of amyloid precursor protein(APP), C-terminal fragment-${\beta}(CTF-{\beta})$, ${\beta}$-site APP cleaving enzyme(BACE), phosphorylated tau(p-tau) proteins in C6 glial cells induced by $A{\beta}_{25-35}$. The present study indicated that ECE has strong radical scavenging activity and neuroprotective effect through attenuating oxidative stress.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.117-122
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• 2016

In the current study, the ethanol extracts and their subsequent organic solvent fractions from lees of sweet potato soju were prepared and the prepared samples were designated as from KSD-E8-1 to KSD-E8-5. Their effects on cell viability and nitric oxide (NO) production in mouse macrophage RAW 264.7 cells were investigated. The results showed that the ethyl acetate fraction (KSD-E8-3) of lees extracts from sweet potato soju significantly decreased nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-activated RAW 264.7 cells, whereas they did not affect cell viabilities. The fraction KSD-E8-3 reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory genes such as COX-2, iNOS and TNF-alpha and also decreased protein expression of iNOS in a dose dependent manner, which were detected with RT-PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. In addition, we detected the expression of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) such as p38, JNK, and ERK1/2 and their phosphorylated forms. The results indicated that the treatment of the fraction KSD-E8-3 did inhibit phosphorylation of p38, JNK, and ERK1/2 MAPKs, indicating that the fraction KSD-E8-3 regulates LPS-induced inflammatory response via suppressing MAPK signaling pathway. Overall, these results may contribute to understand the molecular mechanism of anti-inflammatory effects by the ethyl acetate fraction of lees extracts from sweet potato soju.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.328-334
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• 2017

Background: In this study, we evaluated the anti-cancer activity and potential molecular mechanism of 70% ethanol extracts of the root of Aralia cordata var. continentalis (Kitagawa) Y. C. Chu (RAc-E70) against human colorectal cancer cells. Methods and Results: RAc-E70 suppressed the proliferation of the human colorectal cancer cell lines, HCT116 and SW480. Although RAc-E70 reduction cyclin D1 expression at the protein and mRNA levels, RAc-E70-induced reduction in cyclin D1 protein level occurred more dramatically than that of cyclin D1 mRNA. The RAc-E70-induced downregulation of cyclin D1 expression was attenuated in the presence of MG132. Additionally, RAc-E70 reduced HA-cyclin D1 levels in HCT116 cells transfected with HA-tagged wild type-cyclin D1 expression vector. RAc-E70-mediated cyclin D1 degradation was blocked in the presence of LiCl, a $GSK3{\beta}$ inhibitorbut, but not PD98059, an ERK1/2 inhibitor and SB203580, a p38 inhibitor. Furthermore, RAc-E70 phosphorylated cyclin D1 at threonine-286 (T286), and LiCl-induced $GSK3{\beta}$ inhibition reduced the RAc-E70-mediated phosphorylation of cyclin D1 at T286. Conclusions: Our results suggested that RAc-E70 may downregulate cyclin D1 expression as a potential anti-cancer target through $GSK3{\beta}$-dependent cyclin D1 degradation. Based on these findings, RAc-E70 maybe a potential candidate for the development of chemopreventive or therapeutic agents for human colorectal cancer.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.442-447
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• 2019

In this study, we evaluated the effect of Rodgersia podophylla leave extracts (RPL) on ${\beta}-catenin$ level in human cancer cells. RPL dose-dependently inhibited cell proliferation in SW480, A549, MDA-MB-231, PC-3 and AsPC-1 cells. RPL dramatically decreased ${\beta}-catenin$ protein level in all cancer cells. However, decreased level of ${\beta}-catenin$ mRNA expression was observed in A549 and AsPC-1 cells. In addition, RPL dramatically attenuated cyclin D1 mRNA expression in all cancer cells. MG132 decreased the downregulation of ${\beta}-catenin$ protein level induced by RPL in all cancer cells, while RPL-induced downregulation of ${\beta}-catenin$ was inhibited by the inhibition of $GSK-3{\beta}$ by LiCl in MDA-MB-231 cells. RPL phosphorylated ${\beta}-catenin$ and $GSK-3{\beta}$. In addition, the inhibition of $GSK-3{\beta}$ by LiCl attenuated RPL-induced ${\beta}-catenin$ phosphorylation. Based on these findings, RPL may be a potential candidate for the development of chemopreventive or therapeutic agents for human cancer.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1397-1405
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• 2018

Mitochondria have multiple functions in cells: providing chemical energy, storing cellular $Ca^{2+}$, generating reactive oxygen species, and regulating apoptosis. Through these functions, mitochondria are also involved in the maintenance, proliferation, and differentiation of stem/progenitor cells. In the brain, the subventricular zone (SVZ) is one of the neurogenic regions that contains neural stem cells (NSCs) throughout a lifetime. However, reports on the role of mitochondria in SVZ NSCs are scarce. Here, we show that rotenone, a complex I inhibitor of mitochondria, inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of SVZ NSCs in different ways. In proliferating NSCs, rotenone decreases mitosis as measured through phosphorylated histone H3 detection; moreover, apoptosis is not induced by rotenone at 50 nM. In differentiating NSCs, rotenone blocks neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis while glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive astrocytes are not affected. Interestingly, in this study there were more cells in the differentiating NSCs treated with rotenone for 4-6 days than in the vehicle control group which was a different effect from the reduced number of cells in the proliferating NSCs. We examined both apoptosis and mitosis and found that rotenone decreased apoptosis as detected by staining cleaved caspase-3 but did not affect mitosis. Our results suggest that functional mitochondria are necessary in both the proliferation and differentiation of SVZ NSCs. Furthermore, mitochondria might be involved in the mitosis and apoptosis that occur during those processes.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.17-32
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• 2021

Objectives The present study was designed to find out the therapeutic effects and possible underlying mechanism of Buja-tang, a herbal complex formula on experimental monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis. Methods Osteoarthritis models were created via intra-joint injection of MIA (50 μL with 80 mg/mL) in rats. Rats were divided into five groups and each group consisted of seven. Normal group was not injected MIA and did a normal diet. Control group injected MIA and received distilled water. Indo injected MIA and oral administration of 5 mg/kg of indomethacin. BJTL injected MIA and oral administration of 100 mg/kg of Buja-tang. BJTH injected MIA and oral administration of 200 mg/kg of Buja-tang. We analyzed weight-bearing ability of hind paws, oxidative stress related factor, antioxidant protein, inflammatory protein, inflammatory messenger and cytokine in joint tissue. Pathological observation of knee cartilage tissue structures was also performed with hematoxylin & eosin and safranin-O chromosomes. Results Weight-bearing ability of hind paws showed a tendency to reduce pain. The incidence of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase and p22phox in articular tissue was significantly reduced, and the incidence of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 and heme oxygenase-1 and superoxide dismutases was significantly increased. The incidence of phosphorylated inhibitor of κBα, nuclear factor-kappa B p65, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β decreased significantly. In pathological observation, cartilage tissue damaged by MIAs in biopsy has significantly recovered from Buja-tang administration. Conclusions Buja-tang has anti-inflammation, antioxidation and pain relief effects. So this is thought to inhibit the progress of osteoarthritis in rat caused by the MIA.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.405-414
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• 2022

Background and Objectives: Chronic inflammation of bone tissue often results in bone defects and hazards to tissue repair and regeneration. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural cannabinoid with multiple biological activities, including anti-inflammatory and osteogenic potential. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of CBD in the promotion of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) osteogenic differentiation in the inflammatory microenvironment. Methods and Results: BMSCs isolated from C57BL/6 mice, expressed stem cell characteristic surface markers and presented multidirectional differentiation potential. The CCK-8 assay was applied to evaluate the effects of CBD on BMSCs' vitality, and demonstrating the safety of CBD on BMSCs. Then, BMSCs were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce inflammatory microenvironment. We found that CBD intervention down-regulated mRNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines and promoted cells proliferation in LPS-treated BMSCs, also reversed the protein and mRNA levels downregulation of osteogenic markers caused by LPS treatment. Moreover, CBD intervention activated the cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. While AM630, a selective CB2 inhibitor, reduced phosphorylated (p)-p38 levels. In addition, AM630 and SB530689, a selective p38 MAPK inhibitor, attenuated the enhancement of osteogenic markers expression levels by CBD in inflammatory microenvironment, respectively. Conclusions: CBD promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs via the CB2/p38 MAPK signaling pathway in the inflammatory microenvironment.