• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.63-73
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• 2001

Objectives : The objective of the current study is to determine the protective effect of Ukyium(Yougui-yin) on the apoptosis induced by zinc. Methods : Zinc is known to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide anion ($O_2$) and hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$), which eventually contribute to cytotoxicity in a variety of cell types. We investigated the viablity of cells, $H_2O_2$ generation, chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation in Hoechst dye staining and $IkB-{\alpha}$ degradation in C6 glial cells of $ZnCl_2$ between pretreatment- and not pretreatment-group with Ukyium. The former methods were researched by Time- and Dose-dependent manners. Results : We demonstrated that pretreatment with Ukyium prevented zinc-induced cell death of C6 glial cells and apoptotic characteristics including chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation. Ukyium also prevented $H_2O_2-induced$ cell death. We further confirmed that Ukyium decreased zinc-induced generation of $H_2O_2$ and inhibited degradation of $IkB-{\alpha}$ by zinc in C6 glial ceHs. Conclusions : These data indicated that Ukyium (Yougui-yin) prevents zinc-induced apoptotic death of C6 glial cells via inhibition of ROS generation, such as $H_2O_2$ as well as inhibition of $IkB-{\alpha}$ degradation.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.136-142
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• 2019

Ischemia/reperfusion-induced myocardial injury is the main cause of acute myocardial infarction. Dendropanax morbifera $L{\acute{e}}veille$ has been used in traditional medicines for the treatment of various diseases such as headache, infectious diseases, and general debility. However, the effect of extract from D. morbifera (EDM) on myocardial ischemic injury is still unknown. In this study, the effects of EDM on neonatal rat cardiomyocytes with hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury were investigated. The viability of cardiomyocytes with H (30 min)/R (1 h) decreased; however, treatment with EDM significantly inhibited H/R injury-induced cardiomyocyte death. Further, we observed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and intracellular calcium concentration ($Ca^{2+}{_i}$) were significantly reduced in EDM-treated cardiomyocytes compared with that in H/R-injured positive control. In addition, western blotting results showed that EDM attenuated abnormal changes of RyR2 and SERCA2a genes in hypoxic cardiomyocytes. These results suggest that EDM ameliorates ROS generation and $Ca^{2+}{_i}$ homeostasis to prevent dysregulation of calcium regulatory proteins in the heart, thereby exerting cardioprotective effects and reducing hypoxia-induced cardiomyocyte damage, which verifies the potential use of EDM as a new therapeutic agent for the treatment of myocardial ischemic injury.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2011

Although reactive oxygen species (ROS) are inevitable by-products of many redox reactions in eukaryotic cells, they play a crucial role as signaling molecules in many cellular processes for development and defense response to abiotic stresses. The biphasic ROS production which was peaked twice in a first transient phase and a second massive phase was occurred after treatment of abiotic stress such as oxidative stress, high salinity. This biphasic generation of ROS was followed by the biphasic production of stress hormone, ethylene. The mechanism of interactions between ROS and ethylene biosynthesis is studied in tobacco (Nicotiana tabaccum L.) plants under the abiotic stresses. The stress-induced ethylene production was significantly inhibited in RbohD-AS and RbohF-AS, in which antisense expression of NADPH oxidase genes was performed. The accumulation of ROS, which was determined by DAB and DCFH-DA staining, was significantly decreased after abiotic stresses in transgenic plants. The suppression of signaling with ethylene and ROS induced more tolerance in response to abiotic stress. The transgenic plants were more tolerant in MS medium supplemented with salinity stress in contrast with wild-type. Stress-induced cell damage determined by DNA fragmentation was decreased at phase II in those transgenic plants. Therefore, the first burst of ROS is more responsible for making a role as a signaling molecule during stress-induced response. These results suggested that ethylene and ROS act in a positive feedback cycle that results in mutual enhancement of ethylene and ROS production during stress-induced cell death.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.8-16
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• 2016

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), at appropriate concentrations, mediate various normal cellular functions, including defense against pathogens, signal transduction, cellular growth, and gene expression. A recent study demonstrated that ROS and ROS-generating NADPH oxidase (Nox) are important in self-renewal and neuronal differentiation of subventricular zone (SVZ) neural stem cells in adult mouse brains. In this study, we found that endogenous ROS were detected in SVZ neural stem cells cultured from postnatal mouse brains. Nox4 was predominantly expressed in cultured cells, while the levels of the Nox1 and Nox2 transcripts were very low. In addition, the Nox4 gene was highly upregulated (by up to 10-fold) during neuronal differentiation. Immunocytochemical analysis detected the Nox4 protein mainly in neurons positive for the neuronal specific tubulin Tuj1. After differentiation, endogenous ROS were detected exclusively in neuron-like cells with processes. In addition, perturbation of the cellular redox state with N-acetyl cysteine, a ROS scavenger, during neuronal differentiation greatly inhibited neurogenesis. Lastly, knockdown of Nox4 using short hairpin RNA decreased neurogenesis. These findings suggest that Nox4 may be a major ROS-generating enzyme in postnatal SVZ neural stem cells, and Nox4-mediated ROS generation may be important in their neuronal differentiation.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.205-213
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• 2009

The mechanisms underlying the actions of the antioxidants upon reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation by NADPH oxidase complex have remained uncertain. In this study, we investigated NADPH oxidase activity and the role of antioxidant enzymes upon the generation of ROS during hypoxic stress. ROS generation was found to increase in the mouse kidney under hypoxic stress in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, we found in MCT cells that hypoxia-induced hydrogen peroxide production was decreased by NAC pretreatment. We further analyzed HIF-$1{\alpha}$, PHD2 and VHL expression in the NAC-pretreated MCT cells and assessed the response of antioxidant enzymes at the transcriptional and translational levels. SOD3 and Prdx2 were significantly increased during hypoxia in the mouse kidney. We also confirmed in hypoxic $Prdx2^{-/-}$ and SOD3 transgenic mice that erythropoietin (EPO) is transcriptionally regulated by HIF-$1{\alpha}$. In addition, although EPO protein was found to be expressed in a HIF-$1{\alpha}$ independent manner in three mouse lines, its activity differed markedly between normal and $Prdx2^{-/-}$/SOD3 transgenic mice during hypoxic stress. In conclusion, our current results indicate that NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS generation is associated with hypoxic stress in the mouse kidney and that SOD3 and Prdx2 cooperate to regulate cellular redox reactions during hypoxia.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2007

The mechanism of acacetin-induced apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells was investigated. Acacetin caused 50% growth inhibition ($IC_{50}$) of MCF-7 cells at $26.4{\pm}0.7{\mu}M$ over 24 h in the MTT assay. Apoptosis was characterized by DNA fragmentation and an increase of sub-G1 cells and involved activation of caspase-7 and PARP (poly-ADP-ribose polymerase). Maximum caspase 7 activity was observed with $100{\mu}M$ acacetin for 24 h. Caspase 8 and 9 activation cascades mediated the activation of caspase 7. Acacetin caused a reduction of Bcl-2 expression leading to an increase of the Bax:Bcl-2 ratio. It also caused a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential that induced release of cytochrome c and apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) into the cytoplasm, enhancing ROS generation and subsequently resulting in apoptosis. Pretreatment of cells with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced ROS generation and cell growth inhibition, and pretreatment with NAC or a caspase 8 inhibitor (Z-IETD-FMK) inhibited the acacetin-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c and AIF. Stress-activated protein kinase/c-Jun $NH_4$-terminal kinase 1/2 (SAPK/JNK1/2) and c-Jun were activated by acacetin but extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) nor p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) were not. Our results show that acacetin-induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells is mediated by caspase activation cascades, ROS generation, mitochondria-mediated cell death signaling and the SAPK/JNK1/2-c-Jun signaling pathway, activated by acacetin-induced ROS generation.

• BMB Reports
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.147-152
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• 2012

Methylglyoxal (MG) was identified as an intermediate in non-enzymatic glycation and increased levels were reported in patients with diabetes. In this study, we evaluated the effects of MG on the modification of ferritin. When ferritin was incubated with MG, covalent crosslinking of the protein increased in a time- and MG dose-dependent manner. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers, $N-acetyl-_L-cysteine$ and thiourea suppressed the MG-mediated ferritin modification. The formation of dityrosine was observed in MG-mediated ferritin aggregates and ROS scavengers inhibited the formation of dityrosine. During the reaction between ferritin and MG, the generation of ROS was increased as a function of incubation time. These results suggest that ROS may play a role in the modification of ferritin by MG. The reaction between ferritin and MG led to the release of iron ions from the protein. Ferritin exposure to MG resulted in a loss of arginine, histidine and lysine residues. It was assumed that oxidative damage to ferritin caused by MG may induce an increase in the iron content in cells, which is deleterious to cells. This mechanism, in part, may provide an explanation or the deterioration of organs under diabetic conditions.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.185-191
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• 2009

Intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) play an important role in the mucosal immune system. IEC-derived mediators of inflammatory cascades play a principal role in the development of colon inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effect of aqueous extracts of Schizandra chinensis fruits (SC-Ex) on the production of inflammatory mediators by the human colonic epithelial cells. HT-29 cells were stimulated with dextran sulfate sodium in the presence or absence of SC-Ex to examine the cytoprotection and production of IL-8 and reactive oxygen species (ROS). It was shown that dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) caused the reduction of cell viability and production of IL-8 and ROS in DSS-treated HT-29 cells. We observed that the treatment of SC-Ex protected significantly cell proliferation from DSS-induced damage in dose-dependent manner. SC-Ex (10 and 100 ${\mu}g$/ml) also suppressed DSS-induced production of IL-8 mRNA and protein. Moreover, DSS-induced ROS production was inhibited markedly by the treatment of 100 ${\mu}g$/ml SC-Ex. These results suggest that SC-Ex has the protective effects on DSS-induced cell damage and the release of inflammatory mediators in the intestinal epithelial cells.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.586-591
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• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation is closely related to miconazole-induced heart dysfunction. Although rhamnetin has antioxidant effects, it remained unknown whether it can protect against miconazole-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Thus, we investigated the effects of rhamnetin on miconazole-stimulated H9c2 cell apoptosis. MATERIALS/METHODS: Cell morphology was observed by inverted microscope and cell viability was determined using a WelCount$^{TM}$ cell proliferation assay kit. Miconazole-induced ROS production was evaluated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting with 6-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluoroscein diacetate ($H_2DCF$-DA) stain. Immunoblot analysis was used to determine apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE/Ref-1) and cleaved cysteine-aspartic protease (caspase) 3 expression. NADPH oxidase levels were measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Miconazole (3 and $10{\mu}M$) induced abnormal morphological changes and cell death in H9c2 cells. Rhamnetin enhanced the viability of miconazole ($3{\mu}M$)-treated cells in a dose-dependent manner. Rhamnetin (1 and $3{\mu}M$) treatment downregulated cleaved caspase 3 and upregulated APE/Ref-1 expression in miconazole-stimulated cells. Additionally, rhamnetin significantly reduced ROS generation. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that rhamnetin may have cytoprotective effects in miconazole-stimulated H9c2 cardiomyocytes via ROS inhibition. This effect most likely occurs through the upregulation of APE/Ref-1 and attenuation of hydrogen peroxide levels.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.80-85
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• 2012

Previously, we have reported that arachidonic acid (AA) appears to be involved in the induction of apoptosis in HepG2 human hepatoblastoma cells. In this study we investigated the possible role of the NADPH oxidase, a membranebound enzyme generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), in the mechanism of AA-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. Apoptotic cell death induced by AA was significantly suppressed by various inhibitors of the NADPH oxidase, diphenylene iodonium (DPI), apocynin (Apo) and neopterine (NP). In addition, these inhibitors of the NADPH oxidase completely blunted the AA-induced ROS elevation. Next, we investigated the implication of metabolic pathway of AA in these AA actions. Both apoptosis and ROS production induced by AA were not significantly altered by treatment with indomethacin (Indo) or nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA), selective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX), respectively, suggesting that AA metabolites produced by COX or LOX may not have an essential role in the AA-induced apoptosis and ROS generation. Collectively, these results suggest that the NADPH oxidase may be a key player in the mechanism of AA-induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. These results further suggest that NADPH oxidase may be a good target for the management of human hepatomas.