• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.92-100
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• 2016

Low-temperature conversion of nitrogen oxides using plasma-assisted hydrocarbon selective catalytic reduction of (HC-SCR) was investigated. Plasma was created in the catalyst-packed bed so that it could directly interact with the catalyst. The effect of the reaction temperature, the shape of catalyst, the concentration of n-heptane as a reducing agent, the oxygen content, the water vapor content and the energy density on $NO_x$ removal was examined. $NO_x$ conversion efficiencies achieved with the plasma-catalytic hybrid process at a temperature of $250^{\circ}C$ and an specific energy input (SIE) of $42J\;L^{-1}$ were 83% and 69% for one-dimensional Ag catalyst ($Ag\;(nanowire)/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$) and spherical Ag catalyst ($Ag\;(sphere)/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$), respectively, whereas that obtained with the catalyst-alone was considerably lower (about 30%) even with $Ag\;(nanowire)/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$ under the same condition. The enhanced catalytic activity towards $NO_x$ conversion in the presence of plasma can be explained by the formation of more reactive $NO_2$ species and partially oxidized hydrocarbon intermediates from the oxidation of NO and n-heptane under plasma discharge. Increasing the SIE tended to improve $NO_x$ conversion efficiency, and so did the increase in the n-heptane concentration; however, a further increase in the n-heptane concentration beyond $C_1/NO_x$ ratio of 5 did not improve the $NO_x$ conversion efficiency any more. The increase in the humidity affected negatively the $NO_x$ conversion efficiency, resulting in lowering the $NO_x$ conversion efficiency at the higher water vapor content, because water molecules competed with $NO_x$ species for the same active site. The $NO_x$ conversion efficiency increased with increasing the oxygen content from 3 to 15%, in particular at low SIE values, because the formation of $NO_2$ and partially oxidized hydrocarbon intermediates was facilitated.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.131-138
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• 2019

Carbonylated proteins (CPs) are synthesized by the chemical reaction of basic amino acid residues in proteins with aldehyde compounds yielded by lipid peroxidation. CPs are excited by a range of light from UVA to blue light, and resulted in the generation of superoxide anion radicals ($^{\cdot}O_2{^-}$) by photosensitizing reaction. Then, they CPs induce new protein carbonylation in stratum corneum through ROS generation. Furthermore, the superoxide anion radicals produce CPs in the stratum corneum (SC) through lipid peroxidation and finally affects skin conditions including color and moisture functions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the production of stratum corneum carbonylated protein (SCCP) and the skin elasticity. 46 healthy female Koream at the ages of 30 ~ 50 years old were participated in this study for 8 weeks. The skin test was experiment conducted into two groups; placebo group (N = 23) used cream that did not contain active ingredients, and the other group (N = 23) used cream containing the elasticity improving ingredients. Test areas were the crow 's feet and the cheek. Various non-invasive methods were carried out to measure biophysical parameters on human skin indicating that dermis density and skin wrinkle were measured by using DUB scanner and Primos premium, respectively. Skin elasticity were measured using dermal torque meter (DTM310) and balistometer (BLS780). SCCP was assessed in a simple and non-invasive method using skin surface biopsy on the cheek of the subject. The amount of SCCP was determined using image analysis. All measurements were taken at 0, 4 and 8 8week. Results revealed that the amount of CP in SC was reduced when the skin wrinkle and skin elasticity related parameters were improved. This indicates that the correlation between the elasticity improvement and the amount of CP can be used as a anti-aging indicator and applicable to the skin clinical test for the measurement of skin aging in the future.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.129-137
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• 2023

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an essential role in a variety of cellular physiological phenomena. The present study assessed the signaling axis that mediates the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-induced migration of SKOV-3 cells. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) stimulated SKOV-3 cell migration in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Similarly, LPA stimulated SKOV-3 cell migration and the phosphorylation of Akt in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The pharmacological inhibition of LPA receptors (LPA₁/LPA₃) significantly suppressed LPA-induced SKOV-3 cell migration. However, IGF-1-induced SKOV-3 cell migration was not affected by the inhibition of LPA1 and LPA3. Pharmacological inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) or Rho-associated kinase (ROCK) significantly suppressed LPA-induced migration, whereas the inhibition of MAPK kinase (MEK) had no effect. Inhibition of PI3K or ROCK completely suppressed LPA-induced ROS generation, and suppression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NOX) or chelation of ROS by N-acetylcysteine (NAC) blocked LPA-induced SKOV-3 cell migration. LPA-induced ROS generation was suppressed by silencing Rictor or Akt1 but not Raptor or Akt2. Silencing Rictor or Akt1 significantly suppressed LPA-induced SKOV-3 cell migration, whereas silencing Raptor or Akt2 had no effect. Finally, the overexpression of the constitutively active form Akt1 (CA-Akt1) significantly enhanced the LPA-induced migration of SKOV-3 cells. Given these results, we suggest that LPA stimulates SKOV-3 cell migration by ROS generation, which is mediated by the mTORC2/Akt1/NOX signaling axis.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 1986

The fatty acid compositions of phospholipids extracted from leaves and leaf mitochondria, which were sampled from several horicultural plants grown under blue color-deficient sunlight (BCDS), were determined and compared with those from plants grown under natural white colored sunlight(WCS). It was found that the mitochondria isolated from plants grown under BCDS contained phospholipid whose degree of unsaturation in unit of number of double bonds per lipid molecule was remarkably higher than that from plants grown under WCS, the relative increment being $8{\sim}49%$. This was significantly larger than the relative increment, $4{\sim}8%$ for total phospholipid extracted from whole leaves grown under BCDS campared to WCS. This observation demonstrated that the blue light effect of sunlight on the chemical property of cellular membranes, as long as it was concerned with fatty acid composition, arose mainly at the mitochondrial membrane. Also observing that the degree of unsaturation of mitochondrial phospholipid was much lower than that of total phospholipid, it was interpreted that this was the consequence of rather active oxidative destruction of lipid-fatty acid components occuring in mitochondrial membrane by the reactive oxygen species, especially superoxide($O_2-$), which was known to be produced in mitochondrial inner membrane through the side reactions of the respiratory electron transport chain and also probably through the photosensitized reaction involving oxygen induced by blue colored light. Thus, it may be tentatively concluded that the extent of photosensitization in mitochondrial membrane could be considerably reduced under BCDS resulting in lowering of the $O_2-$ level in the respirating organelle The possible involvement of photodynamic action in membrane oxidation was also indicated by the fact that the typical fat-soluble antioxidant, ${\alpha}-tocopherol$, was found to be contained on a higher level in leaves under BCDS than those under WCS.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 2016

To elucidate the new biologically active ingredient in commercial instant coffee, a crude polysaccharide (ICP-0) was isolated by ethanol precipitation, and its immunostimulatory activity was estimated. ICP-0 mainly consisted of galactose (55.5%), mannose (25.7%), arabinose (6.0%), and galacturonic acid (10.1%), suggesting the possibility of its existence as a mixture of galactomannan or pectic polysaccharide. ICP-0 showed proliferative activity in peritoneal macrophages and splenocytes. ICP-0 dose-dependently augmented the production of nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species by peritoneal macrophages. In addition, murine peritoneal macrophages stimulated by ICP-0 showed enhanced production of various cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$, interleukin-6, and interleukin-12) as compared to unstimulated murine peritoneal macrophages. In an in vitro assay for assessing intestinal immunomodulation, the ICP-0-treated Peyer's patch cells showed higher bone marrow cell proliferation activity at $100{\mu}g/mL$ and higher production of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, compared to the untreated Peyer's patch cells. These results suggest that polysaccharides in commercial instant coffee have a potentiality for macrophage functions and the intestinal immune system.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.141-147
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• 2018

Background: Astilbe chinensis (Maxim.) Franch. Et Savat. is a plant belonging to Saxifragaceae family and contains various active ingredients including astilbin and bergenin. It has been used as a traditional Korean medicine to improve fever, pain, and cough. Recently, a number of Korean medical resources have been studied for cancer and inflammation treatment, but A. chinensis (Maxim.) Franch. Et Savat. has not yet been investigated. Consequently, this study investigated the inhibitory effect of ethanol extracts from A. chinensis (Maxim.) Franch. Et Savat. (ARE) on oxidative stress and colorectal cancer using RAW264.7 and the human colorectal cancer cell line HCT-116. Methods and Results: In total, $500{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ ARE reduced cell viability by $38.96{\pm}1.32%$, and increased caspase-3 activity by $133.08{\pm}3.41%$ in HCT-116 cells. Moreover, TUNEL signaling and the early apoptosis ratio ($34.56{\pm}1.67%$) increased by $500{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ ARE treatment. $H_2O_2$-induced oxidative stress and cell death were diminished by $500{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ ARE treatment through decreasing ROS (reactive oxygen species). Conclusions: The inhibitory effects of ARE against human colorectal cancer cells is mediated by apoptosis and caspase-3 activation, and $H_2O_2$-induced ROS generation and cell death are decreased by ARE treatment in RAW264.7 cells. However, further study is required to explore how ARE treatment is involved in the signaling pathway to decrease ROS.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.216-222
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• 2018

Desmodium heterocarpon is one of vines belongs to Fabaceae family, mainly distributed in Asian countries such as Korea and Japan. This study was conducted to explore new nutraceutical resources from the plant kingdom possessing biological activities. To fulfill this purpose, the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities of D. heterocarpon ethanol extract (DHEE) were evaluated by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity assay, nitric oxide (NO) inhibitory activity assay, and the analysis of related protein expressions by Western blot hybridization. DHEE exhibited potent anti-oxidative activity as confirmed by DPPH radical scavenging capacity against DPPH similar with ascorbic acid, a well-known anti-oxidative agent, used as a positive control. DHEE also effectively suppressed hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$)-induced ROS on RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cells. Furthermore, DHEE induced the expression of the anti-oxidative enzyme heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), and its upstream transcription factor, nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) as a dose dependent manner. DHEE inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced nitric oxide (NO) formation as a consequence of inducible NO synthase (iNOS) down regulation. Taken together, these results suggest that DHEE has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities and thus appears to be useful sources as potential anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. The identification of active compounds that confer biological activities of DHEE might be needed.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.1016-1021
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• 2018

Clostridium difficile toxin A causes pseudomembranous colitis. The pathogenesis of toxin A-induced colonic inflammation includes toxin A-dependent epithelial cell apoptosis, resulting in the loss of barrier function provided by epithelial cells against luminal pathogens. Toxin A-dependent epithelial cell apoptosis has been linked to toxin A-induced production of reaction oxygen species and subsequent p38MAPK activation; $p21^{CIP1/WAF1}$ upregulation-dependent cell cycle arrest; cytoskeletal disaggregation; and/or the induction of Fas ligand on epithelial cells. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying toxin A-induced apoptosis remain poorly understood. This study tested whether toxin A could block the Wnt signaling pathway, which is involved in gut epithelial cell proliferation, differentiation and antiapoptotic progression. Toxin A treatment of nontransformed human colonocytes (NCM460) rapidly reduced ${\beta}$-catenin protein, an essential component of the Wnt signaling pathway. Exposure of mouse ileum to toxin A also significantly reduced ${\beta}$-catenin protein levels. MG132 inhibition of proteasome-dependent protein degradation resulted in the recovery of toxin A-mediated reduction of ${\beta}$-catenin, indicating that toxin A may activate intracellular processes, such as $GSK3{\beta}$, to promote degradation of ${\beta}$-catenin. Immunoblot analysis showed that toxin A increased active phosphorylation of $GSK3{\beta}$. Because the Wnt signaling pathway is essential for gut epithelial cell proliferation and anti-apoptotic processes, our results suggest that toxin A-mediated inhibition of the Wnt signaling pathway may be required for maximal toxin A-induced apoptosis of gut epithelial cells.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.333-341
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• 2018

Ferulate is a phenolic compound abundant in wheat germ and bran and has been investigated for its beneficial activities. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of ferulate against the oxidative stress-induced imbalance of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs), protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), and serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), in connection with our previous finding that oxidative stress-induced imbalance of PTKs and PTPs is linked with proinflammatory nuclear factor-kappa B $(NF-{\kappa}B)$ activation. To test the effects of ferulate on this process, we utilized two oxidative stress-induced inflammatory models. First, YPEN-1 cells were pretreated with ferulate for 1 hr prior to the administration of 2,2'-Azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride (AAPH). Second, 20-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were fed ferulate for 10 days. After ferulate treatment, the activities of PTKs, PTPs, and PP2A were measured because these proteins either directly or indirectly promote $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. Our results revealed that in YPEN-1 cells, ferulate effectively suppressed AAPH-induced increases in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity, as well as AAPH-induced PTK activation. Furthermore, ferulate also inhibited AAPH-induced PTP and PP2A inactivation. In the aged kidney model, ferulate suppressed aging-induced activation of PTKs and ameliorated aging-induced inactivation of PTPs and PP2A. Thus, herein we demonstrated that ferulate could modulate PTK/PTP balance against oxidative stress-induced inactivation of PTPs and PP2A, which is closely linked with $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. Based on these results, the ability of ferulate to modulate oxidative stress-related inflammatory processes is established, which suggests that this compound could act as a novel therapeutic agent.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2009

Curcumin is a major active component of the food flovour tumeric. It has been used for the treatment of many diseases such as inflammatory and infectious diseases, cancer and other disease due to its antioxidant properties. Curcumin is a powerful scavenger of many free radicals such as superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and nitric oxide. The objective of this study was to investigate the antioxidative effects of curcumin against hydrogen peroxide on semen quality during in vitro storage of boar semen. The sperm treated with different concentration of curcumin (1, 5 and 10 ${\mu}M$) in the presence or absence of hydrogen peroxide (250 ${\mu}M\;H_2O_2$) were incubated for 3, 6 and 9 hr at $37^{\circ}C$ and analyzed sperm characteristics such as motility, membrane integrity (MI), lipid peroxidation (LPO), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA fragmentation (DF). The sperm motility and MI in $H_2O_2$ treated group ($47.8%{\pm}6.8$ and $24.8%{\pm}2.2$) were significantly decreased when compare to curcumin treated group ($79.8%{\pm}2.7$ and $34.6%{\pm}1.0$, respectively) irrespective of incubation periods(p<0.05). The LPO of spermatozoal plasma membrane was measured by thiobarbituric acid (TBA) reactions for malondialdehyde (MDA), MDA level in control ($11.6{\pm}0.6\;nmol/L{\times}10^6$) and curcumin groups ($10.7{\pm}0.3\;nmol/L{\times}10^6$) were lower than those of curcumin plus $H_2O_2$ ($17.1{\pm}0.8\;nmol/L{\times}10^6$) or $H_2O_2$ group ($22.5{\pm}1.9\;nmol/L{\times}10^6$) from 3 to 9 hr incubation periods. The DF by sperm chromatin dispersion (SCD) test and ROS production measured by 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence intensity were no significantly difference through all experimental groups (p>0.05). Correlation among evaluation methods for sperm quality, motility vs MI and DF vs ROS was positively correlated while motility vs DF and ROS vs LPO were negatively correlated in all treatment groups. These results demonstrate that curcumin can effectively improve the sperm quality during in vitro storage of boar semen through its hydrogen peroxide scavenging mechanism as an antioxidant.