• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.159-177
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• 2008

Objectives : Crohn's disease is a severe chronic inflammation that is treated mainly by immunosuppression, which often has serious side effects. There is need to develop new therapeutic methods or drugs that have few side effects in order to treat this disease. Acupuncture with Moxi-tar at Cheonchu (ST25) has anti-inflammatory properties, but the mechanism of its anti-inflammatory actions is unclear. We investigated the protective effects and speculated the mechanisms of acupuncture with Moxi-tar at ST25 on trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) induced colitis in mice which is a well known Crohn's disease animal model. Methods : 5 % TNBS was treated at day 1 and day 7 into rectum of mice. To investigate therapeutic effects of acupuncture with Moxi-tar at ST25, acupuncture was carried out on day 3, and day 6. For the data analysis, we observed macroscopic and microscopic findings of the colon. Weight and width of the colon, degree of damage, changes of body weight, and myeloperoxygenase (MPO) activity were checked. For analysing protein expression, we carried out immunohistochemical staining and Western blot. For analysing mRNA expression, RT-PCR was carried out. Results : TNBS induced damages on the colon of mice, while acupuncture of Moxi-tar at ST25 suppressed TNBS mediated damages similar to those on the colons of mice in the control (not treated with TNBS) group. The average body weight of TNBS treated mice (77.4%) was decreased compared with that of the control mice (105%), and acupuncture with Moxi-tar at ST25 suppressed the loss of body weight caused by TNBS (from 77.4% to 95.3%). TNBS induced infiltration of immune cells in all layers of the colon while acupuncture with Moxi-tar at ST25 suppressed infiltration of immune cells caused by TNBS. Furthermore, acupunctured with Moxi-tar at ST25 suppressed macro-, micro- colonic damages caused by TNBS. Acupunctured with Moxi-tar at ST25 dramatically improved the clinical and histopathological symptoms such as the increase in weight of the distal colon and the MPO activity in TNBS-induced colitis. Acupuncture with Moxi-tar at ST25 down-regulated the nuclear transcription factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) activity and suppressed tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-${\alpha}$), interleukin-$1{\beta}$ (IL-1${\beta}$), and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) expressions caused by TNBS. Conclusions : Acupuncture with Moxi-tar at ST25 helps recovery from the TNBS-induced colonic damage by down-regulation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity and suppressing of TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-1${\beta}$, and ICAM-1 expressions. This may be an important method for the treatment of Crohn's disease.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2012

Background: Therapeutic approaches using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against complement regulatory proteins (CRPs:i.e.,CD46,CD55 and CD59) have been reported for adjuvant cancer therapy. In this study, we generated a recombinant 1E8 single-chain anti-CD59 antibody (scFv-Fc) and tested anti-cancer effect.by using complement dependent cytotoxicity (CDC). Methods: We isolated mRNA from 1E8 hybridoma cells and amplified the variable regions of the heavy chain (VH) and light chain (VL) genes using reversetranscriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using a linker, the amplified sequences for the heavy and light chains were each connected to the sequence for a single polypeptide chain that was designed to be expressed. The VL and VH fragments were cloned into the pOptiVEC-TOPO vector that contained the human CH2-CH3 fragment. Then, 293T cells were transfected with the 1E8 single-chain Fv-Fc (scFv-Fc) constructs. CD59 expression was evaluated in the prostate cancer cell lines using flow cytometry. The enhancement of CDC effect by mouse 1E8 and 1E8 scFv-Fc were evaluated using a cytotoxicity assay. Results: The scFv-Fc constructs were expressed by the transfected 293T cells and secreted into the culture medium. The immunoreactivity of the secreted scFv-Fc construct was similar to that of the mouse 1E8 for CCRF-CEM cells. The molecular masses of 1E8 scFv-Fc were about 120 kDa and 55 kDa under reducing and non-reducing conditions, respectively. The DNA sequence of 1E8 scFv-Fc was obtained and presented. CD59 was highly expressed by the prostate cancer cell line. The recombinant 1E8 scFv-Fc mAb revealed significantly enhanced CDC effect similar with mouse 1E8 for prostate cancer cells. Conclusion: A 1E8 scFv-Fc construct for adjuvant cancer therapy was developed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.41-55
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• 2004

Objective : To investigate the possible molecular mechanism (s) of melittin as a candidate of anti-cancer drug, we examined the effects of the compound on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549. Methods : Growth inhibitory study, flow cytometry analysis, SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis, RT-PCR and in vitro caspases activity assay were performed. Results : Melittin treatment declined the cell viability of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner, which was associated with induction of apoptotic cell death. Melittin treatment down-regulated the levels of Bcl-XS/L mRNA and protein expression of A549 cells, an anti-apoptotic gene, however, the those of Bax, a pro-apoptotic gene, were up-regulated. Melittin induced the proteolytic cleavage and activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9 protease in a dose-dependent manner without alteration of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins family and Akt expression. Western blot analysis and RT-PCR data revealed that the levels of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 were also remained unchanged. Conclusions : Taken together, these findings suggest that melittin-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell growth is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via regulation of several major growth regulatory gene products, and melittin may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2012

Recently, the technologies of DNA sequence variation and gene expression profiling have been used widely as approaches in the expertise of genome biology and genetics. The application to genome study has been particularly developed with the introduction of the nextgeneration DNA sequencer (NGS) Roche/454 and Illumina/ Solexa systems, along with bioinformation analysis technologies of whole-genome $de$ $novo$ assembly, expression profiling, DNA variation discovery, and genotyping. Both massive whole-genome shotgun paired-end sequencing and mate paired-end sequencing data are important steps for constructing $de$ $novo$ assembly of novel genome sequencing data. It is necessary to have DNA sequence information from a multiplatform NGS with at least $2{\times}$ and $30{\times}$ depth sequence of genome coverage using Roche/454 and Illumina/Solexa, respectively, for effective an way of de novo assembly. Massive shortlength reading data from the Illumina/Solexa system is enough to discover DNA variation, resulting in reducing the cost of DNA sequencing. Whole-genome expression profile data are useful to approach genome system biology with quantification of expressed RNAs from a wholegenome transcriptome, depending on the tissue samples. The hybrid mRNA sequences from Rohce/454 and Illumina/Solexa are more powerful to find novel genes through $de$ $novo$ assembly in any whole-genome sequenced species. The $20{\times}$ and $50{\times}$ coverage of the estimated transcriptome sequences using Roche/454 and Illumina/Solexa, respectively, is effective to create novel expressed reference sequences. However, only an average $30{\times}$ coverage of a transcriptome with short read sequences of Illumina/Solexa is enough to check expression quantification, compared to the reference expressed sequence tag sequence.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.312-318
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of the supernumerary teeth for the stem cell source in dentistry. The Real Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real Time qRT-PCR) method was used to evaluate the differentiation toward the odontoblast of the supernumerary dental pulp stem cells (sDPSCs). Supernumerary dental pulp stem cells were obtained from 3 children (2 males and 1 female, age 7 to 9) diagnosed that the eruption of permanent teeth was disturbed by supernumerary teeth. The common genes for odontoblasts are alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OC), osteonectin (ON), dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein 1 (DMP-1), dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP). The sDPSCs were treated for 0 days, 8 days and 14 days with additives and then Real Time qRT-PCR was performed in intervals of 0 days, 8 days and 14 days. The alizarin-red solution staining was performed to visualize the stained color for the degree of calcification at 7 days, 14 days, 21 days and 28 days after treating additives to the sDPSCs. From the result of the Real Time qRT-PCR, the manifestation exhibit maximum value at 8 days after additive treatment and shifted to a decrease trend at 14 days. Alizarin-red solution staining exhibit light results at 7 days after staining and generalized dark result at 14 days. Consequently, in studies with sDPSCs, appropriate treatment time of additives for Real Time qRT-PCR is 8 days. Also, a suitable period of Alizarin-red solution staining is 14 days.

• 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.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.788-801
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• 2020

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of diets containing different wet rice distillers' by-product (RDP) levels on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles and gut microbiome of weaned piglets. Methods: A total of 48 weaned castrated male crossbred pigs, initial body weight 7.54±0.97 kg, and age about 4 wks, were used in this experiment. The piglets were randomly allocated into three iso-nitrogenous diet groups that were fed either a control diet, a diet with 15% RDP, or a diet with 30% RDP for a total of 35 days. Chromium oxide was used for apparent digestibility measurements. On d 14 and d 35, half of the piglets were randomly selected for hemato-biochemical and gut microbiota evaluations. Results: Increasing inclusion levels of RDP tended to linearly increase (p≤0.07) average daily gain on d 14 and d 35, and decreased (p = 0.08) feed conversion ratio on d 35. Empty stomach weight increased (p = 0.03) on d 35 while digestibility of diet components decreased. Serum globulin concentration decreased on d 14 (p = 0.003) and red blood cell count tended to decrease (p = 0.06) on d 35, parallel to increase RDP levels. Gene amplicon profiling of 16S rRNA revealed that the colonic microbiota composition of weaned pigs changed by inclusion of RDP over the period. On d 14, decreased proportions of Lachnospiraceae_ge, Ruminococcaceae_ge, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, and Bacteroidales_ge, and increased proportions of Prevotellaceae_ge, Prevotella_2, and Prevotella_9 were found with inclusion of RDP, whereas opposite effect was found on d 35. Additionally, the proportion of Lachnospiraceae_ge, Ruminococcaceae_ge, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005, and Bacteroidales_ge in RDP diets decreased over periods in control diet but increased largely in diet with 30% RDP. Conclusion: These results indicate that RDP in a favorable way modulate gastrointestinal microbiota composition and improve piglet performance despite a negative impact on digestibility of lipids and gross energy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.664-670
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• 2016

Cheonggukjang (CKJ) is a Korean traditional food made of fermented soybeans. In comparison to normal intake of soybeans, Cheonggukjang has high digestibility with bioactive, antioxidant substances, and thrombolytic enzymes. Recent studies have reported anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity activities as well as inhibitory activities against osteoporosis for CKJ. In this study, we identified the effects of CKJ on osteoblast differentiation by increasing the polyglutamic acid (PGA) content of CKJ. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and mineralization significantly increased in response to treatment with both natural CKJ (CKJ A) and PGA-increased CKJ (CKJ B). However, CKJ B exhibited higher ALP activity and mineralization than CKJ A. Real-time reverse transcription PCR demonstrated that mRNA expression of osteoblastic-associated genes such as type I collagen, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and osteopontin in C2C12 cells was significantly up-regulated by CKJ A or B treatment. These results indicate that treatment with CKJ has an anabolic effect on bone by increasing osteoblastic differentiation and ALP activity. Increasing PGA content in CKJ had a greater effect than CKJ A on up-regulation of osteoblastic gene expression in osteoblast cells.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2009

Diabetic retinopathy is one of major complications of diabetes mellitus, which is associated with the dysfunction of retina. It has been reported that the onset of diabetic retinopathy is related to the activation of renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), which converts angiotensin I into angiotensin II, is a key component of RAS. Among many growth factors, vascualr endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important cytokine in the neovasculization of retina, which is a characteristics of diabetic retinopathy. However, the relationship between ACE and VEGF was not elucidated in diabetic retinopathy. Thus, this study was conducted to examine the protective effect of captopril, an ACE inhibitor, in the retina of streptozotocin (STZ)-treated diabetic rats. In present study, STZ-treated diabetic rats exhibited the increase of VEGF levels in serum and retina. The serum levels of VEGF in STZ-treated diabetic rats was not blocked by the treatment of captopril. However, the retina levels of VEGF in STZ-treated diabetic rats was blocked by the treatment of captopril, suggesting the local action of captopril in retina. Immunohistochemical analysis also revealed that the retina of STZ-treated diabetic rats manifested the increase of ganglion cell layers, outer nuclear layers, and inner nuclear layers, which were also prevented by the treatment of captopril. In conclusion, captopril prevented the expression of VEGF in the retina of STZ-treated diabetic rats.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.413-417
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• 2002

This study was conducted to determine $\beta$-amylase gene expression and degradation of starch granules in the endosperm near scutellar epithelium of rice cultivars under the submerged soil at hypoxia 18$^{\circ}C$, which is practically important condition for farmers in temperate regions. In case of cv. Janghyangdo, accumulation of $\beta$-amylase mRNA was detected in the aleurone layer on the ninth day after seeding. However that of cv. Suwon 287 and Norm 6 were not detected in the aleurone layer in submerged soil(hypoxia) at 18$^{\circ}C$. $\beta$-amylase of cv. Janghyangdo was synthesized de novo in aleurone cells not in the scutellar epithelium. Degradation of starch granules in the endosperm near scutellar epithelium of c.v. Janghyangdo and Ginbozu, which have a strong $\beta$-amylase activity, was greater than that of cv. Suwon 287 and Norm 6 with no $\beta$-amylase activity in submerged soil(hypoxia) at 18$^{\circ}C$. This result may indicate that $\beta$-amylase gene expression and degradation of starch granules of germinating rice seed are related to the emergence of rice under the submerged soil condition at low temperature.