• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.835-842
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• 2016

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway plays a crucial role in cancer occurrence by promoting cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of a PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, on the chemosensitivity of gastric cancer cells to cordycepin, a predominant functional component of the fungus Cordyceps militaris, in AGS human gastric cancer cells and investigated possible underlying cellular mechanisms. Our results revealed that cordycepin inhibited viability of AGS cells in a concentration-dependent manner and induced apoptosis, as determined by apoptotic cell morphologies and fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis associated with attenuated activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Treatment with cordycepin in combination with a subtoxic concentration of LY294002 enhanced cordycepin-induced cytotoxicity and apoptotic potentials in AGS cells. Sensitization of LY294002 to cordycepin-induced apoptosis was accompanied by activation of caspases (caspases-3, -8, and -9) and was concomitant with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. Moreover, LY294002 up-regulated pro-apoptotic Bax and enhanced truncation of Bid in cordycepin-treated AGS cells, which was connected with increased loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to the cytosol. Taken together, these results indicate that inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway could augment cordycepin-induced apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells by up-regulating caspase activity through mitochondrial dysfunction.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1651-1658
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• 2008

This study was conducted to determine the effects of dietary supplementation of either 100 mg/kg chito-oligosaccharide (COS) or chlortetracycline (CTC) with corn-soybean-fish meal on immunity in broiler chickens. A total of 147 one-day old male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 3 treatments with 7 replicate pens per treatment and 7 birds per pen. The experimental diets consisted of a control diet based on corn, soybean and fish meal without COS and any antibiotic supplement and similar diets supplemented with either CTC (80 mg/kg from d 1 to 21 and 50 mg/kg from d 22 to 42) or COS (100 mg/kg from d 1 to 42). During the entire experimental period, all birds had ad libitum access to diets and water. The main immune organ indices, T-lymphocyte proliferation, serum cytokine concentrations, serum NO level and serum iNOS activity were measured on d 21 and d 42. On d 21, broilers fed 100 mg/kg COS had improved (p<0.01) indices of spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius compared with the control and CTC birds. Birds receiving 100 mg/kg COS had higher (p<0.05) serum concentrations of $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, IgM, NO and iNOS than birds on the control treatment. Serum $Ca^{2+}$ level of birds fed 100 mg/kg COS tended to be higher (p = 0.049) than in birds fed CTC. On d 42, the birds fed 100 mg/kg COS had higher (p<0.05) concentrations of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IgM in serum than birds in both the CTC and control treatments. Birds fed 100 mg/kg COS had a higher concentration of IFN-$\gamma$ than the control group. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of COS appeared to improve the immunity of broilers by promoting the weight of the main immune organs, increasing IgM secretion, stimulating microphages to release $TNF-{\alpha}$, $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6 and IFN-$\gamma$, and activating iNOS to induce NO.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.855-861
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• 2014

This experiment was performed to investigate the effects of exogenous xylanase supplementation on performance, nutrient digestibility and the degradation of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) in different sections of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of broilers fed wheat-based diets. A total of 120 7-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly allotted to two wheat-based experimental diets supplemented with 0 or 1.0 g/kg xylanase. Each treatment was composed of 6 replicates with 10 birds each. Diets were given to the birds from 7 to 21 days of age. The results showed that xylanase supplementation did not affect feed intake, but increased body weight gain of broiler at 21 day of age by 5.8% (p<0.05) and improved feed-to-gain ratio by 5.0% (p<0.05). Xylanase significantly increased (p<0.05) ileal digestibilities of crude protein (CP) by 3.5%, starch by 9.3%, soluble NSP by 43.9% and insoluble NSP by 42.2% relative to the control group, respectively. Also, compared with the control treatment, xylanase addition increased (p<0.05) total tract digestibilities of dry matter by 5.7%, CP by 4.1%, starch by 6.3%, soluble NSP by 50.8%, and had a tendency to increase (p = 0.093) insoluble NSP by 19.9%, respectively. The addition of xylanase increased the concentrations of arabinose and xylose in the digesta of gizzard, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum (p<0.05), and the order of their concentration was ileum>jejunum>duodenum>>gizzard> caecum. The supplementation of xylanse increased ileal isomaltriose concentration (p<0.05), but did not affect the concentrations of isomaltose, panose and 1-kestose in the digesta of all GIT sections. These results suggest that supplementation of xylanase to wheat-based diets cuts the arabinoxylan backbone into small fragments (mainly arabinose and xylose) in the ileum, jejunum and duodenum, and enhances digestibilites of nutrients by decreasing digesta viscosity. The release of arabinose and xylose in the small intestine may also be the important contributors to the growth-promoting effect of xylanase in broilers fed wheat-based diets.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5237-5242
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• 2013

Background: Inflammation is a critical component of tumor progression. Many cancers arise from sites of infection, chronic irritation, and inflammation. It is now becoming clear that the tumour microenvironment, which is largely orchestrated by inflammatory cells, is an essential participant in the neoplastic process, promoting proliferation, survival and migration. Platelets can release some growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor, platelet factor 4, and thrombospondin. Such factors have been shown to promote hematogenous tumour spread, tumor cell adhesion and invasion, and angiogenesis and to play an important role in tumor progression. In this study, we aimed to investigate effects of the pretreatment neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) on survival and response to chemoradiotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods: Ninety-four patients with non-metastatic NSCLC were included and separated into two groups according to median valuse of NLR and PLR (low:<3.44 or high:${\geq}3.44$ and low:<194 or high${\geq}194$, respectively). Results: Pretreatment high NLR and PLR were associated with significantly shorter disease-free and overall survival rates. Multivariate analysis revealed that the overall survival rates were significantly linked with PLR (OR: 1.87, CI: 1.20-2.91, p: 0.006) and response to chemoradiotherapy (OR: 1.80, CI: 1.14-2.81, p: 0.012) and the disease-free survival rates were significantly associated with NLR (OR: 1.81, CI: 1.16-2.82, p: 0.009) and response to chemoradiotherapy (OR: 2.30, CI: 1.45-3.66, p: 0.001). There was no significant difference between patients with high and low NLR in terms of response to chemoradiotherapy. Similarly, there was no significant influence of the PLR. Conclusions: Pretreatment NLR and PLR measurements can provide important prognostic results in patients with NSCLC and assessment of the two parameters together appears to better predict the prognosis in patients with NSCLC. The effect of inflammation, indicators of NLR and PLR, on survival seems independent of the response to chemoradiotherapy.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.239-244
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• 2014

ErmSF is one of the four antibiotic resistance factor proteins expressed by Streptomyces fradiae, antibiotic tylosin producer, which renders $MLS_B$ (macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B) antibiotic resistance through dimethylating A2058 of 23S rRNA, thereby reducing the affinity of antibiotic to ribosome. Unlike other Erm proteins, ErmSF harbors long N-terminal end region. To investigate its role in enzyme activity, mutant ErmSF deleted of 1-38 amino acids was overexpressed and activity in vivo and in vitro was observed. In vitro enzymatic assay showed that mutant protein exhibited reduced activity by 20% compared to the wild type enzyme. Due to the reduced activity of the mutant protein, cells expressing mutant protein showed weaker resistance to erythromycin than cells with wild type enzyme. Presumably, the decrease in enzyme activity was caused by the hindrance in substrate binding and (or) product release, not by defect in the methyl group transfer occurred in active site.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2007

Anemarrhenae Rhizoma (AR) is used in traditional oriental medicine for various medicinal purposes. However, the exact mechanism that accounts for the anti-allergy and anti-inflammatory effects of the AR is still not fully understood. The aim of The present study is to elucidate whether and how AR modulates the allergic reactions in vivo, and inflammatory reaction in vitro. In this study, we showed that AR significantly decreased compound 48/80-induced systemic anaphylaxis, paw oedema, and histamine release from preparation of rat peritoneal mast cells. Also, AR inhibited the expression of inflammatory cytokine in PMA plus A23187-stimulated human mast cells (HMC-1). In addition, we showed that anti-inflammatory mechanism of AR is through suppression of nuclear factor-${\kappa}B$ activation $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$degradation. These results provided new insight into the pharmacological actions of AR as a potential molecule for therapy of inflammatory allergic diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.55-68
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• 1992

The effects of changes in extracellular $Na^+\;and\;Ca^+$ concentration on the membrane potential and contractility were studied in the antral circular muscle of guinea pig stomach in order to elucidate the existence and the nature of $Na^+/Ca^{2+}$ exchange mechanism. All experiments were performed in tris buffered Tyrode solution which was aerated with 100% $O_2$ and kept at $35^{\circ}C.$ The treatment of $10^{-5}$ ouabain was performed to induce intracellular $Na^+$ loading prior to the start of experiment. The results were as follows: 1. $Na^+$-free Tyrode or high $Ca^{2+}$-Tyrode solution hyperpolarized the membrane potential and induced contracture. The time course of contracture was similar to that of change in membrane potential. 2. The degree of hyperpolarization and the amplitude of contracture decreased in accordance with the increase of extracellular $Na^+$ concentration. 3. $Na^+$-free contracture was developed even after blocking the influence of intrinsic nerves by the pretreatment with atropine, guanethidine and TTX. 4. $Ca^{2+}$-channel blockers(D-600 or $Mn^{2+}$) and the blocker of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ release from sarcoplasmic reticulum(ryanodine) did not suppress the development of $Na^+$-free contracture. And also, dinitrophenol had no effect on $Na^+$-free contracture. 5. Dose-response relationship between extracellular $Na^+$ concentrations and the magnitude of contractures showed a sigmoid pattern. The slope of straight line from Hill plot was 2.7. 6. In parallel with the increase of extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration, the amplitude of contracture increased dose dependently and was maximum at 8 mM $Ca^{2+}$-Tyrode solution. 7. The relationship between extracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentrations and the magnitude of contractures showed hyperbolic pattern. The slope of straight line from Hill plot was 1.1. From the above results, it is suggested that $Na^+/Ca^{2+}$ exchange mechanism exists in the antral circular muscle of guinea pig stomach and this mechanism affects the membrane potential electrogenically.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.489-500
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to evaluate newly fabricated tricalcium phosphate(TCP)/chitosan microgranuls as bone substitutes. TCP/chitosan microgranules were fabricated by dropping TCP-chitosan suspension into the NaOH/ethanol solution. The size of microgranules could be controllable via airflow rate. PDGF-BB was loaded into the fabricated granules via freeze-drying methods(300 ng/20 mg). To evaluate cell proliferation, cultured osteoblasts cell lines(MC3T3-El) was dropped on the BioOss(R), chitosan microgranules, TCP/chitosan microgranules and cultured for 1, 7 , 14, and 28 days. Scanning electron microscopic observation was done after 7 days of culture and light microscopic examination was done after 28 days of culture. PDGF-BB release from the microgranules was tested. Rabbit calvarial defects(8 mm in diameter) were formed and chitosan, TCP/chitosan, PDGF-TCP/chitosan microgranules, and BioGran(R) were grafted to test the ability of new bone formation. At SEM view, the size of prepared microgranules was 250-1000 um and TCP powders were observed at the surface of TCP/chitosan microgranules. TCP powders gave roughness to the granules and this might help the attachment of osteoblasts. The pores formed between microgranules might be able to allow new bone ingrowth and vascularization. There were no significant differences in cell number among BioOss(R) and two microgranules at 28 day. Light and scanning electron microscopic examination showed that seeded osteoblastic cells were well attached to TCP/chitosan microgranules and proliferated in a multi-layer. PDGF-BB released from TCP/chitosan microgranules was at therapeutic concentration for at least 1 week. In rabbit calvarial defect models, PDGF-TCP/chitosan microgranules grafted sites showed thicker bone trabeculae pattern and faster bone maturation than others. These results suggested that the TCP/chitosan microgranules showed the potential as bone substitutes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.992-998
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• 2008

Recently, a new concept for nitrogen removal that is simultaneous nitrification and denitrification(SND) has been studied for wastewater treatment process. The DMR(Daiho Microbic Revolution) process that used in this study consists of two suspended anoxic, anaerobic reactors and an aerobic biofilm reactor. The function of aerobic environment and the intensity of air flow rate(2.0, 1.0, 0.5, 0.4, 0.2 L/min) were studied in the biofilm reactor; also SND and nutrient removal efficiencies were investigated. Experimental results indicated that the change in air flow did not affect COD$_{Cr}$ removal significantly. Thus sustained at 93%. The lower the air flow rate, the higher T-N removal efficiency was attained(i.e.80% at 0.2 L/min). SND efficiency was 62, 65, 72 and 78% corresponding to each air flow rate. T-P removal was sensitive to aeration intensity and removal enhanced from 75% to 96% when the air flow rate was changed from 2.0 to 0.5 L/m; however second release occured in the clarifier at 0.2 L/min. Phosphorus content of activated sludge was 5.0%, as P releases and acetate uptake a ratio of 0.75 mg P/ mg HAc.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.533-540
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• 2011

The objectives of experiments were to compare directly the effects of synchrony of slowly fermented (corn and corn gluten meal; C-CGM) and of rapidly fermented ingredients (barley and soybean meal; B-SBM) in the rumen on starch disappearances in gastrointestinal tracts (Experiment 1) and growth performance (Experiment 2) of Hanwoo steers in the feedlot barn. In experiment 1, four Hanwoo steers ($288{\pm}21$ kg) fitted with ruminal and "T" shaped duodenal cannula were placed in one pen with Calan gate and assigned randomly to a duplicate $2{\times}2$ Latin square design. In experiment 2, eight intact Hanwoo steers ($311{\pm}8$ kg) were assigned randomly to one of two pens with Calan gate to evaluate the effect of the same diets as like in experiment 1 on growth performance. There were no differences in ruminal pH, ammonia and total VFA concentrations between treatments. Percentage of apparent ruminal starch disappearance was 33.3% unit lower (p<0.05) for steers fed C-CGM than for steers fed B-SBM diets and this difference resulted in 268% higher (p<0.05) in duodenal starch flows for steers fed C-CGM diet than for steers fed B-SMB diet. There was significant increase (p<0.05) in quantity (927 vs. 400 g/d) of corn starch digested post-ruminally compared to barley starch. However, percentage of starch apparently digested post-ruminally was 8% higher (p=0.1) in steers fed fast synchrony diet with B-SBM than in steers fed slow synchrony diets with C-CGM. The differences of percentage and amount of starch apparently digested post-ruminally between C-CGM and B-SBM diets did not affect rice straw DM intake, average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency. In conclusion, there is some uncertainty in regards to the relationship between site of starch digestion and DM intake, ADG, and feed efficiency in this study.