• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.385-391
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• 2006

Heterotrimeric GTP binding proteins (G proteins) mediate signals generated by neurotransmitters and hormones Among G proteins, Go is found in a large quantity in brain and growth cone membranes of neurons. In spite of its abundance in neurons, the role of Go is not fully understood. In our previous study, we identified promyelocytic leukemia zinc finger protein (PLZF) as an interacting partner of alpha subunit of Go ($Go{\alpha}$) and confirmed their interaction employing several biochemical assays. To date, it is reported that PLZF functioned as a cell growth suppressor and a transcription repressor. To determine effect of $Go{\alpha}$ and PLZF interaction on the cellular function of PLZF, we performed luciferase reporter gene assay and BrdU incorporation assay. Co-expression of $Go{\alpha}$ and PLZF synergistically increased the effect of PLZF alone. These results suggest that $Go{\alpha}$ may act as cellular activator of PLZF. This novel feature of Go may provide insights into understanding diverse role of Go-coupled receptor as well as its cellular actions.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2016

This study was to evaluate the effect of ginseng (Panax ginseng) seed oil on the ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase. Each ginseng seed oils (HE, SE, EE) exhibited a significant inhibitory effect (p<0.001) at all concentrations (10 and 20 mg/ml) on ${\alpha}$-glucosidase activity. HE is the highest inhibitory activity (86.92%) at a concentration of 20 mg/ml, SE and EE showed an inhibitory effect of 77.13% and 65.83%, respectively. And also, Each ginseng seed oils (HE, SE, EE) exhibited a significant inhibitory effect (p<0.001) at all concentrations (1 and 2 mg/ml) on ${\alpha}$-amylase activity. HE is the highest inhibitory activity (89.68%) at a concentration of 2 mg/ml, SE and EE showed an inhibitory effect of 76.99% and 65.70%, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.216-221
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• 1999

The NAD(P)-linked $3{\alpha}-Hydroxysteroid$ $dehydrogenase(3{\alpha}-HSD)$ of rat liver cytosol is powerfully inhibited by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in rank-order of their therapeutic potency, and this observation has now been developed into a rapid screen for predicting the potency of products that show anti-inflammatory effect. Five-plants were screened by using this method. Among them, BuOH-fraction of Mucuna birdwoodiana showed strong inhibitory effect on $3{\alpha}-HSD$, and three isoflavone compounds were isolated. Inhibitory activates of isolated compounds were compared.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-13
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• 2009

This study investigated the hypoglycemic effect of fermented soymilk extract (FSE) in STZ-induced diabetic mice. FSE was prepared via fermentation of soymilk with Bacillus subtilis followed by methanol extraction. The hypoglycemic effect was determined by inhibitory activities against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase as well as the alleviation of postprandial glucose level. The non-fermented soymilk extract (SE) was used as control in this experiment. FSE showed higher (p<0.05) inhibitory activities than SE against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase. The $IC_{50}$ values of FSE for ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase were 0.77 ancd 0.94 mg/mL, respectively, which were comparable or even superior to those of acarbose (0.79 and 0.68 mg/mL, respectively). In addition, a further suppression on the postprandial blood glucose levels were observed in the FSE than SE group for both STZ-induced diabetic mice and normal mice. Furthermore, FSE significantly lowered the incremental area under the curve (AUC) in the diabetic mice and the AUC in normal mice corroborated the hypoglycemic effect of FSE (p<0.05). Results from this study suggest that FSE may help decrease the postprandial blood glucose level via inhibiting ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase and the usefulness of FSE was proven to be better than SE.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.286-290
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• 2003

Effects of Ramaria botrytis methanol extract on hepatotoxicity in $benzo({\alpha})pyrene(B({\alpha})P)-treated$ mice were investigated. R. botrytis methanol extract was intraperitioneally injected once a day for successive 5 days, followed by treatment with $B({\alpha})P$ on the fifth day. Antioxidant activities of R. botrytis methanol extract were examined by measuring the free radical-scavenging effect on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. In DPPH method, R. botrytis methanol extract showed strong antioxidative activies. The increased activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase after $B({\alpha})P-treatment$ were decreased by treatment of R. botrytis methanol extract. Glutathione content and glutathione S-transferase activity depleted by $B({\alpha})P$ were significantly increased, but elevation of lipid peroxide content induced by $B({\alpha})P$ was decreased by R. botrytis methanol extract. These results suggest that R. botrytis methanol extract is believe to be a possible protective effect against $B(\alpha)P-induced$ hepatotoxicity in mice.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.129-136
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• 1988

Effects of the selective alpha-adrenoceptor agonists, clonidine, oxymetazoline and phenylephrine, on heart rate and contractile force were investigated in the isolated frog atria and it was attempted to examine the influence of adrenoceptor antagonist upon those. Clonidine produced dose-dependent negative chronotropic and positive inotropic effects. The negative chronotropic effect was significantly attenuated in the presence of prazosin and yohimbine but not propranolol. The positive inotropic effect was significantly attenuated by prazosin, yohimbine and propranolol. Oxymetazoline produced dose-dependent negative chronotropic and inotropic effects. The negative chronotropic effect was significantly attenuated in the presence of prazosin, which was partially augmented by yohimbine but was not affected by propranolol. The negative inotropic effect was not affected by propranolol but it was partially augmented by yohimbine and was partially attenuated by prazosin. Phenylephrine produced dose-dependent positive chronotropic and inotropic effects. The positive chronotropic and inotropic effect were significantly attenuated in the presence of propranolol but were not affected by prazosin and yohimbine. These results suggest that the negative chronotropic effect by clonidine and oxymetazoline is mediated by alpha-adrenoceptors, the positive chronotropic and inotropic effects by phenylephrine are mediated by beta-adrenoceptors, and alpha-adrenoceptors mediated the inhibitory chronotropic responses exists in the isolated frog atria.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.196-202
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• 2000

This study was conducted to search for the ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitor from the natural products. In the previous study, the water extract of Gyrophora esculenta exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ activities. Then, by bioassay-guided fractionation followed by chromatographic separation of the water extract of Gyrophora esculenta, ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ inhibitor was isolated as GE974. GE974 showed significant inhibitory activities on some kinds of ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ in vitro. Its inhibitory mechanism seemed to be competitive for disaccharides. Also, it markedly inhibited ${\alpha}-glucosidases$ of intestine separated from both nondiabetics and diabetics.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.42-44
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• 2004

Valerophenones containing a substituent at alpha position to the carbonyl group show the remarkable substituent effects on their photochemical reactions. ${\alpha}$-Bromovalerophenone gives only the C-Br bond cleavage products, but the ${\alpha}$-chlorovalerophenone follows the classical Norrish/Yang reaction pathway predominantly.

• Proceedings of the Ginseng society Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.66-83
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• 2002

Recently, we have provided evidence that ginsenosides, the active components of Panax ginseng, utilize pertussis toxin (PTX)-insensitive $G{\alpha}_{q/11}-phospholipase\;C-{\beta}3(PLC-{\beta}3)$ signal transduction pathway for the enhancement of $Ca^{2+}-activated\;Cl^{-}$ current in the Xenopus oocyte (British J. Pharmacol. 132, 641-647, 2001; JBC 276, 48797-48802, 2001). Other investigators have shown that stimulation of receptors linked to $G{\alpha}-PLC$ pathway inhibits the activity of G proteincoupled inwardly rectifying $K^+$ (GIRK) channel. In the present study, we sought to determine whether ginsenosides influenced the activity of GIRK 1 and GIRK 4 (GIRK 1/4) channels expressed in the Xenopus oocyte, and if so, the underlying signal transduction mechanism. In oocyte injected with GIRK 1/4 channel cRNAs, bath-applied ginsenosides inhibited high potassium (HK) solution-elicited GIRK current $(EC_{50}:4.9{\pm}4.3\;{\mu}g/ml).$ Pretreatment of the oocyte with PTX reduced the HK solution-elicited GIRK current by $49\%,$ but it did not alter the inhibitory ginsenoside effect on GIRK current. Prior intraoocyte injection of cRNA(s) coding $G{\alpha}_q,\;G{\alpha}_{11}\;or\;G{\alpha}_q/G{\alpha}_{11},\;but\;not\;G{\alpha}_{i2}\;or\;G{\alpha}_{oA}$ attenuated the inhibitory ginsenoside effect. Injection of cRNAs coding $G{\beta}_{1{\gamma}2}$ also attenuated the ginsenoside effect. Similarly, injection of the cRNAs coding regulators of G protein signaling 1, 2 and 4 (RGS1, RGS2 and RGS4), which interact with $G{\alpha}_i\;and/or\;G{\alpha}_{q/11}$ and stimulates the hydrolysis of GTP to GDP in active GTP-bound $G{\alpha}$ subunit, resulted in a significant reduction of ginsenoside effect on GIRK current. Preincubation of GIRK channel-expressing oocyte in PLC inhibitor (U73122) or protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitor (staurosporine or chelerythrine) blocked the inhibitory ginsenoside effect on GIRK current. On the other hand, intraoocyte injection of BAPTA, a free $Ca^{2+}$ chelator, had no significant effect on the ginsenoside action. Taken together, these results suggest that ginsenosides inhibit the activity of GIRK 1/4 channel expressed in the Xenopus oocyte through a PTX-insensitive and $G{\alpha}_{q/11}$-,PLC-and PKC-mediated signal transduction pathway.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2018

It is noted that chalcone derivatives have characteristic diverse pharmacological properties, and that precise evidence has been growing that they could regulate a tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) induced insulin resistance. The purpose of the present investigation is to elucidate the effects of the identified chalcone derivatives on adipogenesis, and to find the underlying mechanism of action in that case. Consequently, we first investigated whether the chalcone derivatives could affect the identified $PPAR{\gamma}$-induced transcriptional activity on the proliferator-activated receptor response elements (PPRE) at target promoters, and find that trans-chalcone most significantly increased the $PPAR{\gamma}$-induced transcriptional activity. Additionally, we confirmed that there were up-regulatory effects of trans-chalcone during the adipogenesis and lipid accumulation, and on the mRNA of adipogenic factors in 3T3-L1 cells. Next, we examined the effect of trans-chalcone on the inhibition induced by $TNF-{\alpha}$ on adipogenesis. To that end, we noted that the treatment with trans-chalcone attenuated the effect of $TNF-{\alpha}$ mediated secretion of various adipokines that are involved in insulin sensitivity. For this reason, we noted that this study clearly demonstrates that trans-chalcone enhanced adipogenesis, in part, by its potent effect on $PPAR{\gamma}$ activation and by its reverse effect on $TNF-{\alpha}$.