• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.12
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• pp.1808-1816
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activities and anti-inflammatory effects of water and ethanolic extracts from Allium hookeri roots and leaves. Antioxidant activities of Allium hookeri extracts were determined based on various radical scavenging activities using an ESR spectrophotometer, ferric reducing antioxidant power, 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethybenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging activity, and oxygen radical absorbance capacity assays. In addition, we investigated anti-inflammatory effects of Allium hookeri extract on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in RAW264.7 cells. We also explored the effects of extract from Allium hookeri root on suppression of pro-inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF-${\alpha}$ against LPS-induced activation of RAW264.7 cells. Our results demonstrated superior antioxidant activity for leaf extract of Allium hookeri compared to extract from root of Allium hookeri. On the other hand, root extract of Allium hookeri showed better anti-inflammatory activity compared to leaf extract. Our study suggests that Allium hookeri extract exhibits strong antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory effects and can be developed as a potential therapeutic candidate for diseases involving oxidative stress and inflammation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.1215-1219
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• 2001

The present study was conducted to investigate effect of powdered herb of Aster scaber Thunb. (chamchwi) on antioxidant system in ethanol-administrated rats. Four week-old Sprague Dawley male rats which had initial body weights of 97.10$\pm$4.50 g were randomly divided into three groups: control (ethanol treated, vitamin E-deficient group); 5% chamchwi (ethanol-treated, 5% chamchwi powder-supplemented group): 10% chamchwi (ethanol-treated, 10% chamchwi powder-suplemented group). Three groups of rats were suplemented with three experimental diets for 4 weeks and orally administrated 10% ethanol (v/v) daily via drinking water in the last experimental week. Contents of TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substance). glutathione in liver and kidney and serum albumin were determined. The activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px) in liver and kidney were also analyzed. Relative weight of liver and spleen to body in chamchwi groups was lower than that in control group (p<0.05). The most remarkable result was that liver TBARS contents in chamchwi groups (5% chamchwi group, 46 $\mu\textrm{g}$ in MDA value; 10% chamchwi group, 35 $\mu\textrm{g}$) were significantly lower (p<0.05) than that in control group (66 $\mu\textrm{g}$). The supplement of chamchwi powder lowered the activity of manganese- superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), catalase in liver and GSH-px in kidney. The levels of glutathione in liver and kidney and serum albumin were not significantly different in all experimental groups (p<0.05). These results indicate that powdered herb of Aster scaber decreases lipid peroxidation and acitvity of Mn-SOD increased by alcohol-induced oxidative stress in liver of rats.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.1661-1666
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• 1999

Yungmijihwgang-Won, Yollyunggobon-Dan and Palmi-Hwan, Korea traditional prescriptions composed of oriental medical herbs, have been used successfully to improve human health and regimen. This study was designed to examine the mechanism of healthful effects of the Korea traditional prescriptions through its antioxidative potentials. Using in vitro antioxidative activity assay system such as DPPH radical quenching assay, superoxide anion radical scavenging assay and inhibition of TBARS production, three Korea traditional prescriptions were observed to have nearly the same antioxidative potentials as ascorbic acid, a well-known strong water-soluble antioxidant. Moreover, we observed reinforced antioxidative effects of these drugs in liver from mouse fed these drugs with 4 weeks. When liver homogenate was incubated with 2.2'-azobis(amidinopropane) dihydrochloride(AAPH), as a free radical initiator, we observed that oxidative damages were decreased and antioxidative potentials were increased in liver homogenate treated these drugs. However, enzymatic antioxidative system as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase was not affected by drug administration.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.230-242
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• 2017

In the Arabidopsis genome, approximately 80 MAP3Ks (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinases) have been identified. However, only a few of them have been characterized, and the functions of most MAP3Ks are largely unknown. In this paper, we report the function of MAP3K16 and several other MAP3Ks, MAP3K14/15/17/18, whose expression is salt-inducible. We prepared MAP3K16 overexpression (OX) lines and analyzed their phenotypes. The result showed that the transgenic plants were ABA-insensitive during seed germination and cotyledon greening stage but their root growth was ABA-hypersensitive. The OX lines were more susceptible to water-deficit condition at later growth stage in soil. A MAP3K16 knockout (KO) line, on the other hand, exhibited opposite phenotypes. In similar transgenic analyses, we found that MAP3K14/15/17/18 OX and KO lines displayed similar phenotypes to those of MA3K16, suggesting the functional redundancy among them. MAP3K16 possesses in vitro kinase activity, and we carried out two-hybrid analyses to identify MAP3K16 substrates. Our results indicate that MAP3K16 interacts with MKK3 and the negative regulator of ABA response, ABR1, in yeast. Furthermore, MAP3K16 recombinant protein could phosphorylate MKK3 and ABR1, suggesting that they might be MAP3K16 substrates. Collectively, our results demonstrate that MAP3K16 and MAP3K14/15/17/18 are involved in ABA response, playing negative or positive roles depending on developmental stage and that MAP3K16 may function via MKK3 and ABR1.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.582-590
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• 2018

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and outgrowth endothelial cells (OECs) play a pivotal role in vascular regeneration in ischemic tissues; however, their therapeutic application in clinical settings is limited due to the low quality and quantity of patient-derived circulating EPCs. To solve this problem, we evaluated whether three priming small molecules (tauroursodeoxycholic acid, fucoidan, and oleuropein) could enhance the angiogenic potential of EPCs. Such enhancement would promote the cellular bioactivities and help to develop functionally improved EPC therapeutics for ischemic diseases by accelerating the priming effect of the defined physiological molecules. We found that preconditioning of each of the three small molecules significantly induced the differentiation potential of $CD34^+$ stem cells into EPC lineage cells. Notably, long-term priming of OECs with the three chemical cocktail (OEC-3C) increased the proliferation potential of EPCs via ERK activation. The migration, invasion, and tube-forming capacities were also significantly enhanced in OEC-3Cs compared with unprimed OECs. Further, the cell survival ratio was dramatically increased in OEC-3Cs against $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress via the augmented expression of Bcl-2, a pro-survival protein. In conclusion, we identified three small molecules for enhancing the bioactivities of ex vivo-expanded OECs for vascular repair. Long-term 3C priming might be a promising methodology for EPC-based therapy against ischemic diseases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.11
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• pp.1293-1299
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• 2017

Obesity contributes to the development of diseases, such as type II diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and cancer. In addition, oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is recognized widely as a contributing factor in the development of chronic diseases. This study was examined the antioxidant and anti-adipogenic activities of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. 3T3-L1 cells were differentiated with or without EGCG for 6 days. The production of glutathione (GSH) and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured. EGCG inhibited significantly the lipid accumulation and the expression of adipogenic specific proteins including CCAAT/enhancer binding protein ${\alpha}$ and adipocyte fatty acid binding protein. The production of intracellular ROS was decreased significantly by EGCG in 3T3-L1 cells. EGCG increased the GSH production and the activities of GPx, GR, CAT, and SOD. Moreover, EGCG increased the protein expression of glutamate-cysteine ligase and heme oxygenase-1 in 3T3-L1 cells. These results suggest that EGCG increased the activity and expression of antioxidant enzymes and suppressed the lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells. Therefore, the use of phytochemicals that can maintain the GSH redox balance in adipose tissue could be promising for reducing obesity.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2002

Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) phosphorylates the second messenger diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid and it may play a role in signal transduction in Escherichia coli as well as in eukaryotic cells. In addition, DGK is important for microorganisms to adapt to several physiological stimuli. In Bacillus subtilis, the effect of stress on dgk transcription was examined by northern hybridization. The high level of dgk transcription was induced against high osmolarity, low pH value and low temperature. Transcriptional analysis revealed that the dgk gene and dgk upstream locus (ORF2, ORF3 and ORF4) were transcribed as a polycistronic mRNA to form an approximately 2.5 kb transcript.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.318-326
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• 2002

The pathogenic marine bacterium Vibrio vulnificus is the causative agent of food-borne diseases such as life-threatening septicemia. To better understand this organism's strategies to survive osmotic stress, a mutant that was more sensitive to high osmolarity was screened from a library of mutants constructed by a random transposon mutagenesis. By a transposon-tagging method, putAP genes encoding a proline dehydrogenase and a proline permease were identified and cloned from V. vulnificus. The amino acid sequences deduced from nucleotide sequences of putAP from V. vulnificus were 38 to $59\%$ similar to those of PutA and PutP reported from other Enterobacteriaceae. Functions of putAP genes were assessed by the construction of mutants, whose putAP genes were inactivated by allelic exchanges. When proline as the sole carbon or nitrogen source was used, the putA mutant was not able to grow to the substantial level, revealing the proline dehydrogenase is the only enzyme for metabolic conversion of proline into other amino acids. Although the growth rate of the putP mutant on proline as the sole carbon or nitrogen source was significantly reduced, the mutant still grew. This indicated that at least one more proline permease is produced by V. vulnificus. The putP mutant decreased approximately $2-log_10$ CFU/ml after a hyperosmotic challenge, while the parent strain decreased approximately $l-log_10$ CFU/ml. This result suggests that the gene product of putP contributes to the osmotic tolerance of V. vulnificus.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.146-154
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• 1980

The effects of various electrodeposition conditions (deposition temperature and cathode current density) on preferred orientation and microhardness of electrodeposited Ni-Sn and Sn-Zn alloys were studied. At deposition temperatures from 25$^{\circ}$ to 95$^{\circ}C$ and constant cathode current density of 270 and 530 A/$m^2$ Ni-Sn and Sn-Zn were codeposited in chloride-fluoride acid and stannate-cyanide alkaline electrolyte bath respectively. Ni-Sn alloy deposited at temperatures from 25$^{\circ}$ to 35$^{\circ}C$ was composed of single phase of $Ni_3Sn_4$ with 73 wt.% Sn and the one deposited at temperatures from 45$^{\circ}$ to 95$^{\circ}C$ was made of multiphase mixture of NiSn, $Ni_3Sn_2$ and $Ni_3Sn_4$ with nearly equiatomic composition (65.5 wt.% Sn). The random orientation of thermody-namically metastable NiSn phase (hexagonal structure) predominated at deposition temperature range 25$^{\circ}$-45$^{\circ}C$, and the strong (110) preferred orientation was found at 65$^{\circ}$-85$^{\circ}C$ and then disappeared again at 95$^{\circ}C$. The microhardness of Ni-Sn deposits increased with deposition temperature up to 85$^{\circ}C$, and then decreased at constant cathode current density. The preferred orientation and the maximum microhardness were discussed in terms of lattice contractile stress which result from desorption of hydrogen atom absorbed in deposit lattice. The Sn content of Sn-Zn alloy deposits increased with deposition temperature up to 75$^{\circ}C$, and then decreased at constant cathode current density of 530 A/$m^2$. It also decreased with cathode current density up to 530 A/$m^2$, and then increased at constant deposition temperature of 25$^{\circ}C$. Sn-Zn alloy deposits were composed of two-phase mixture of ${beta}$-Sn and Zn. The preferred orientations of ${beta}$-Sn (tetragonal structure) changed with deposition temperature. The microhardness of Sn-Zn deposits decreased with deposition temperature. It also increased with cathode density up to 530 A/$m^2$, and then decreased at constant deposition temperature of 25$^{\circ}C$. The microhardness of Sn-Zn deposits was observed to be determinded more by the Sn content than by the preferred orientation.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.276-287
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• 2008

Diabetic mellitus in an older population is associated with increased basal oxidative stress and free radical accentuated by hyperglycemic challenge. Enhanced free radical in diabetic elderly can cause the oxidative damage and such damage can be protected by antioxidant defense system. It is believed that vitamin C, A and E are the most abundant and effective antioxidants in human plasma. The purpose of this study was to determine the antioxidant status in Korean diabetic elderly using the case-control study. The antioxidant status was examined by determining plasma levels of antioxidant vitamins (vitamin C, A, E, ${\beta}$-carotene), total antioxidant status (TAS) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and intakes of vitamin C, A, ${\beta}$-carotene and retiol. Fasting glucose and HbA1c levels and serum lipid profiles (triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol) were also determined. Diabetic subjects were 122 elderly persons over 60 years old, visiting public health center, and control subjects were 96 healthy elderly persons living in Ulsan, Korea and they were matched by age, gender, smoking and drinking status. The diabetic and control subjects were divided into sub-groups according to the status of using diet therapy and vitamin supplement. The subjects were interviewed to collect data on their general characteristics, disease history, vitamin supplement, diet therapy and health-related habits by questionnaires. Their dietary intakes were obtained by means of semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires (SQFFQ). Fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c levels were significantly higher in diabetes than in control subjects, and plasma total cholesterol level of diabetes was not significantly different from that of control subjects. However serum HDL cholesterol level of diabetes was significantly lower and serum TG level of diabetes was significantly higher than those of control group. The average vitamin A and ${\beta}$-carotene intakes of diabetes were significantly higher than those of control subjects. There was no significant difference in plasma vitamin C, ${\beta}$-carotene, and TBARS levels between two groups, but plasma vitamin A, E and TAS levels were significantly higher in diabetes than those in control group. Plasma vitamin A and TAS levels of diabetic subjects using diet therapy were higher than those of control using diet therapy, and plasma vitamin E, ${\beta}$-carotene and TAS levels of diabetic subjects using vitamin supplements were significantly higher than those of controls using vitamin supplements. These results suggested that diabetic mellitus could enhance antioxidant defences against reactive oxygen species and interest in healthy eating such as consumption of more antioxidant nutrients.