• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.963-967
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• 2014

Previous studies have suggested anti-tumor effects of asiatic acid in some human cancer cell lines. This agent is reported to increase the levels of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ in human breast cancer cell lines. However, the molecular mechanisms have not been established. Here we report that asiatic acid up-regulates $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ protein expression but not the level of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ mRNA in HepG2 human hepatoma cells. Furthermore, we found that the asiatic acid induced increase of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ protein was associated with decreased phosphorylation (ser-146) of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$. Knockdown of NDR1/2 kinase, which directly phosphorylates $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ protein at ser-146 and enhances its proteasomal degradation, increased the levels of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ protein and eliminated the regulation of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ stability by asiatic acid. At the same time, the expression of NDR1/2 kinase decreased during treatment with asiatic acid in HepG2 cells. Moreover, asiatic acid inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells, this being attenuated by knockdown of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$. In conclusion, we propose that asiatic acid inhibits the expression NDR1/2 kinase and promotes the stability of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ protein through attenuating NDR1/2 dependent phosphorylation of $p21^{WAF1/CIP1}$ in HepG2 cells.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2003

The source of prescription of Jihwangeumja to treat the mental confusion due to phlegm caused by kidney 'deficiency and Yin and Yang deficiency is found in 'Hwangjesomunseonmyeongronbang $\ll$黃帝素問宣明論方$\gg$'. The source of prescription of Jihwangeum is found in 'Seongjechongnok $\ll$聖濟總錄$\gg$'. Therefore, it seems reasonable to change the prescription to 'Jihwangeum' from 'Jihwangeumja' and to change the source of prescription to 'Seongjechongnok $\ll$聖濟總錄$\gg$' from 'Hwangjesomunseonmyeongronbang $\ll$黃帝素問宣明論方$\gg$'. In addition, 'Jihwangeum' is influenced by 'Naebosan' in 'Cheongeumbang $\ll$千金方$\gg$'. Jihwangeumja gave the substantial influence on the treatment of 'Endogenous wind due to hyperactivity' of Yeopcheonsa. Jihwangeumja supplements the true Yuan, smooths the circulation of the flow inside a body and coordinates the interaction between heart and kidney so that it ultimately eliminates sputum and activates circulation inside a body. If the guideline of diagnosis is accurate, many kinds of diseases can be effectively treated through the principle of treating different disease with the same therapy. In addition, it will be also effectively used for headache after cerebral hemorrhage, trigeminal neuralgia(sore tongue), diabetes insipidus, nervous breakdown, hyperthyroidism, chronic glomerulonephritis, infertility and anemia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1003-1007
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• 2013

Objective: This work aimed to investigate the correlations of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and their subtypes M1 and M2 with liver metastasis of colorectal cancer, and provide useful references for seeking predictors of liver metastasis and studying mechanisms. Methods: 120 patients with colorectal cancer from 2000 to 2009 were divided into low, middle and high liver metastasis groups (group A, B and C, respectively). S-P immunohistochemical staining and microscopic observation were conducted to compare expression in CD68-positive cells (TAMs), CD80-positive cells (M1) and CD163-positive cells (M2) in three groups. Correlations of TAMs, M1, M2, and M2/M1 ratio with clinical and pathological parameters were analyzed. Results: With increase of liver metastatic ability, the number of TAMs decreased gradually, with no significant difference between any two of the three groups (P > 0.05), while the numbers of M1 and M2 were significantly decreased and increased, respectively, with significant difference between any two of three groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In addition, the M2/M1 ratio increased with increase of liver metastatic ability (P < 0.01). There was no statistical significance of correlation of TAMs with each clinical and pathological parameter. M1 was negatively related with lymphatic metastasis and liver metastatic ability. M2 was positively correlated with preoperative CEA level, lymphatic metastasis, tumor differentiation degree and liver metastatic ability. The same was the case for the M2/M1 ratio. Conclusions: Effects of TAMs on liver metastasis of colorectal cancer do not depend on the total number of TAMs, but on the number and proportion of functional subtypes M1 and M2. M2 number and M2/M1 ratio are more accurate predictors for liver metastasis of colorectal cancer.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.220-225
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• 2008

The present investigation was performed to evaluate the homeostatic regulation of sleep architecture by the ethanol extract of Korea red ginseng (KRG), since the available data were often controversial. In addition, it was also interested in whether the sleep-wake stages were differently affected by low and high doses of KRG. Each adult Wistar male rat was implanted with a transmitter for recording EEG and activity via telemetry. After one week of surgery, polygraphic signs of undisturbed sleep-wake activities were recorded for 12 h (between 9:00 am and 9:00 pm) after KRG administration. KRG (10 and 100 mg/kg) increased non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep as well as total sleep. The total percentages of wakefulness were decreased comparably. KRG (10 mg/kg) decreased the power density of the ${\delta}-wave$ (0.75-4.5 Hz) and increased ${\alpha}-wave$ (8.0-13.0 Hz) in the NREM and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. KRG also decreased ${\delta}-wave$ power density in wake time. However, KRG (100 mg/kg) increased ${\delta}-wave$ and decreased ${\theta}-wave$ (5.0-9.0 Hz) power density in wake time, while showed little effect on the power density in NREM and REM sleep. In conclusion, low and high doses of KRG increase spontaneous sleep and NREM sleep and differently regulate the EEG spectra in REM and NREM sleep.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.107-112
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• 2007

Gap junction protein, connexin, is expressed in endothelial cells of vessels, glomerulus, and renin secreting cells of the kidney. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of gap junction in renin secretion and its underlying mechanisms using As 4.1 cell line, a renin-expressing clonal cell line. Renin release was increased proportionately to incubation time. The specific gap junction inhibitor, 18-beta glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) increased renin release in dose-dependent and time-dependent manners. Heptanol and octanol, gap junction blockers, also increased renin release, which were less potent than GA. GA-stimulated renin release was attenuated by pretreatment of the cells with amiloride, nifedipine, ryanodine, and thapsigargin. GA dose-dependently increased intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration, which was attenuated by nifedipine, nimodipine, ryanodine, and thapsigargin. However, RP-cAMP, chelerythrine, tyrphostin A23, or phenylarsine oxide did not induced any significant change in GA-stimulated increase of intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration. These results suggest that gap junction plays an important role on the regulation of renin release and intracellular $Ca^{2+}$ concentration in As 4.1 cells.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.577-584
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• 2018

Background: Ginseng (Panax ginseng) is a widely used traditional herbal supplement that possesses various health-enhancing efficacies. Various ginseng products are available in market, especially in the Korean peninsula, in the form of drinks, tablets, and capsules. The different ginseng types include the traditional red ginseng extract (RGE), white ginseng, and black red ginseng extract (BRGE). Their fermented and enzyme-treated products are also available. Different treatment regimens alter the bioavailability of certain compounds present in the respective ginseng extracts. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare the antioxidant and immune-stimulating activities of RGE, BRGE, and fermented red ginseng extract (FRGE). Methods: We used an acetaminophen-induced oxidative stress model for investigating the reduction of oxidative stress by RGE, BRGE, and FRGE in Sprague Dawley rats. A cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression model was used to evaluate the immune-stimulating activities of these ginseng extracts in BALB/c mice. Results: Our results showed that most prominently, RGE (in almost all experiments) exhibited excellent antioxidant effects via increasing superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities in the liver and decreasing serum 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine, aspartate aminotransferase, and lactate dehydrogenase levels compared with the groups treated with FRGE and BRGE. Moreover, RGE significantly increased the number of white blood cells, especially T and B lymphocytes, and antibody-forming cells in the spleen and thymus, and it also activated a number of immune cell subtypes. Conclusion: Taken together, these results indicate that RGE is the best supplement for consumption in everyday life for overall health-enhancing properties.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2006

We investigated the effects of Ginsenoside $R_e$ on human sperm motility in fertile and asthenozoospermic infertile individuals in vitro and the mechanism by which the Ginsenosides play their roles. The semen samples were obtained from 10 fertile volunteers and 10 asthenozoospermic infertile patients. Spermatozoa were separated by Percoll and incubated with 0, 1, 10 or $100\;{\mu}M$ of Ginsenoside $R_e$. Total sperm motility and progressive motility were measured by computer-aided sperm analyzer (CASA). Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity was determined by the $^{3}H$-arginine to $^{3}H$-citrulline conversion assay, and the NOS protein was examined by the Western blot analysis. The production of sperm nitric oxide (NO) was detected using the Griess reaction. The results showed that Ginsenoside $R_e$ significantly enhanced both fertile and infertile sperm motility, NOS activity and NO production in a concentration-dependent manner. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 100 nM), a NO donor, mimicked the effects of Ginsenoside $R_e$. And pretreatment with a NOS inhibitor $N^{w}$-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, $100\;{\mu}M$) or a NO scavenger N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (LNAC, 1 mM) completely blocked the effects of Ginsenoside $R_e$. Data suggested that Ginsenoside $R_e$ is beneficial to sperm motility, and that induction of NOS to increase NO production may be involved in this benefit.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.333-333
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• 1996

Chinese medicine is a precious treasure inherited from ancient ancestors. It is accredited for the prosperous growth of the Chinese nations. However, the descriptions of the herbs in the ancient herbal are not in detail and the great numbers of herbs used which grows in wide geographic areas together with various local folk names, new substitutes and new folk medicines had increased, many Chinese herbs are composed of herbs that are labeled with identical names but actually are of different origins and different grades. Similar situation had occurred in China, japan and Korea In Taiwan, misused Chinese crude drugs are also very common in the past. This phenomenon had caused a lot of confusion and had great influence the clinical efficacy of the treatment. In the past, Professor Hong Yen Hsu, Na Chi, Woei Song Kan and Kung Yin Yen had studied the origins of Chinese crude drugs in Taiwan based on the morphological identification and found that the origins of Ma-Tou-Ling, Pu-Kung-Yin, Tu-Chung, Wang-Pu-Liu-Hsing, Pan-lan-Ken, Niu-Chi, Fang-Chi, Huang-Chi, PienHsiu and Sha Wan-Tzi are different from that of the species used in mainland China. In order to assure the quality and clinical efficacy of the crude drugs, besides the traditional morphological methods, we bad recently combined modem chemical and pharma-cological methods to assess drug quality. Drugs that have been evaluated without effects should be abandoned. The species of those commonly misued crude drugs used in compound formula preparations are also identified Based on the pharmacological results, a suitable species is recommended so as to improve the clinical efficacy of those preparations. In this paper, we like to report our recent studies on Niu Chi(Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix, Cyathulae Radix and Strobilanthis Radix). Fang-Chi(Arstolochiae Fangchi Radix, Stephaniae Tetrandrae Radix and Cocculus Radix) and Huang-Chi(Astragali Radix and Hedysari Radix) using comparative pharmacognosy methods.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.217-241
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• 2011

The basic purpose of Customs Drawback System of the material for export goods is export support as cut a price down the export goods' price. Especially the trade volume between South Korea and China is the greatest in comparison with other countries in 2010. Therefore companies involved China is necessary to understand exactly for China's tariff system(duty drawback system). Due to inconsistent policies, it is difficult to understand VAT-related provisions on exports goods of China compared with South Korea Tax System. Accordingly, the results of this study is significant in China-related companies. In South Korea and China, amount of customs duty drawback is very large 4.017606 billion won 732.8 billion yuan respectively. Thus, the amount of customs duty drawback is greater, a comparison of customs duty drawback in South Korea and China is very necessary on Customs Drawback System.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.08a
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• pp.1005-1008
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• 2007

In this study, an architecture for 262K-color TFT-LCD source driver. In this paper proposed the chip consumes smaller area and static current which is suitable for QVGA resolutions. In the conventional structures, all of them need large number of OPAMP buffers to drive the pixels, Therefore, highly resistive R-DACs are needed to generate gamma voltages to reduce the static current. In this study, our design only used two OPAMPs and low resistance RDACs without increasing the quiescent current. Thus, it was experted that chip would be more in consuming lower static power for longer battery lifetime. The source driver were implemented by the 3.3 V $0.35\;{\mu}m$ CMOS technology provided by TSMC. The area of the core OPAMP circuit was about $110\;{\mu}m\;{\times}\;150\;{\mu}m$ and that of the source driver was $880\;{\mu}m\;{\times}\;430\;{\mu}m$. As compared to the conventional structure, approximately 64.48 % in area was achieved.