• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.11
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• pp.1717-1726
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• 2013

Fermentation characteristics and health functionalities of kimchi by inoculating kimchi lactic acid bacteria (LAB) starters were studied. We manufactured single LAB starter kimchi (Lactobacillus plantarum pnuK, Lactobacillus plantarum 3099K, Leuconostoc mesenteroides pnuK), mixed LAB starter kimchi (Lb. plantarum pnu/Leu. mesenteroides pnuK, Lb. plantarum 3099/Leu. mesenteroides pnuK) with inoculum size of $10^6$ CFU/g, as well as naturally fermented kimchi (NK), and fermented them for 6 days at $15^{\circ}C$. The pH and acidity of the early phase of fermentation were not different, but kimchi with the starters showed rapid changes in the pH and acidity from 2 days of fermentation. As the fermentation progressed, the level of total aerobic bacteria and Lactobacillus sp. increased similarly with or without Lb. plantarum (LP) inoculation. However, the level of Leuconostoc sp. was high in kimchi inoculated with Leuconostoc sp. starter. In the sensory evaluation test, kimchi with starters received higher overall acceptability scores than those of NK; mixed starter added kimchi earned the highest score. In DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, kimchi with the starters exhibited higher activity than that of NK. In the MTT assay of HCT-116 and HT-29 human colon cancer cells, NK showed inhibition rates of 63.4 and 51.9%, but LPpnuK achieved 77.1 and 68.8%, respectively. This study showed that inoculating starters in kimchi increased in vitro antioxidant and anticancer activities, and single starter (LP) added kimchi revealed higher functionality than the kimchi with mixed starter. Kimchis with the starters effectively up-regulated the gene expressions of the pro-apoptotic gene of Bax, but down-regulated Bcl-2. They promoted expressions of p53 and p21, and suppressed expressions of inflammation-related genes, iNOS and COX-2, compared with NK. Taken together, it is expected that using starters may help manufacture kimchi with improved sensory quality and health functionality.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1079-1085
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• 2012

Obesity is an important issue worldwide as it may associated with increased prevalence of metabolic diseases. Mung bean is known as a functional food for decreasing the glycemic index and lipid profile of plasma. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-obesity effects of vitexin from mung bean on the regulation of adipocyte differentiation and adipocytokine secretion. When 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with vitexin from days 0 to 14 at various levels of 25, 50, 100, and $200{\mu}M$, there was no change in cell viability. Vitexin treatment at 50, 100, and $200{\mu}M$ decreased triacylglycerol levels in cells, but only $100{\mu}M$ vitexin induced lipolysis. At $200{\mu}M$ of vitexin, phosphorylation of p38 and ERK, which causes secretion of inflammatory adipocytokines, was depressed, whereas there was an increase in expression of $PPAR{\gamma}$, the key regulator of adipocyte differentiation. Phosphorylation of AMPK increased at $100{\mu}M$ vitexin. TNF-${\alpha}$ and aP2 mRNA expression increased at $25{\mu}M$ vitexin, whereas only TNF-${\alpha}$ mRNA expression increased at $200{\mu}M$ vitexin. Further, the mRNA levels of TNF-${\alpha}$ and aP2 decreased at other concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. Since we observed that mRNA expression of C/EBP, SREBP1, and $PPAR{\gamma}$ did not change upon vitexin treatment, our future studies will investigate other genes such as mTOR, which is related with apoptosis signaling, or SIRT1, which is associated with inhibition of adipogenesis. Our results indicate that vitexin at concentrations between 100 and $200{\mu}M$ is suitable in vivo for the development of mung bean as an anti-obesity therapy or functional food.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.24-40
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• 2007

Background : Accumulating evidence shows that interleukin(IL)-1 plays a critical role in inflammation and connective tissue destruction observed in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. IL-1 induces gene expression related to cytokines, chemokines and matrix metalloproteinases by activation of many different transcription factors. Materials and Methods : The chondrosarcoma cell line, SW1353, is known to be a valuable in vitro system for investigating catabolic gene regulation by IL-$1{\beta}$ in chondrocytic cells. To explore and analyze the changes in gene expression by IL-1 responsible for arthritis, SW1353 was treated with IL-1 for 1, 6 and 24 h and then total RNAs were purified for each time. The changes in gene expression were analyzed with 17k human cDNA microarrays and validated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Results : Greater than a two-fold change was observed in 1,200 genes including metallothioneins, matrix metalloproteinases, extracellular matrix proteins, antioxidant proteins, cytoskeleton proteins, cell cycle regulatory proteins, proteins for cell growth and apoptosis, signaling proteins and transcription factors. These changes appeared to be correlate with the pathophysiological changes observed in early osteoarthritis. Conclusion : cDNA microarray analysis revealed a marked variability in gene expression, and provided insight into the overall molecular changes. The result of this study provide initial information for further studies to identify therapeutic targets in osteoarthritis pathogenesis.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1111-1120
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• 2017

This study was conducted to select pepper lines that were tolerant to excessive water injury among the pepper germplasm and investigate the genetic characteristics of those lines to contribute to the breeding of pepper cultivars with stable productivity in abnormal weather. Each of the tolerant and susceptible lines went through immersion treatment, and differentially expressed genes between them were analyzed. The tolerant line showed increased expression of the CA02g26670 gene, which is involved in the CONSTANS protein pathway and regulation of flowering by day length, but it exhibited decreased expressions of CA01g21450, CA01g22480, CA01g34470, CA02g00370 and CA02g00380. The susceptible line showed increased gene expressions of CA02g09720, CA02g21290, CA03g16520, CA07g 02110, and CA12g17910, which are involved in the inhibition of proteolytic enzyme activity, DNA binding, inhibition of cell wall-degrading enzyme, and inhibition of nodulin, respectively. Meanwhile the expressions of CA02g02820, CA03g21390, CA06g17700 and CA07g18230 decreased in the susceptible line, in relation to calcium-ion binding, high temperature, synthesis of phosphocholine and cold stress, respectively. The expressions of genes related to apoptosis and peroxidase increased, while that of CA02g16990, which functions as a nucleoside transporter, decreased in both the tolerant and susceptible lines. Based on the different gene expressions between the tolerant and susceptible lines, further studies are needed on breeding abiotic stress-tolerant lines.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.671-680
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• 2017

This study was conducted to examine the effects and potential mechanisms of action of black soybean extracts and fermented black soybean extracts by Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) and Bifidobacterium animals subsp. lactis BB-12 (BB-12) on proliferation of human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPC). We examined changes in pH, total polyphenol, sugar, and reducing sugar contents according to fermentation period of black soybean extracts. Assay using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide was performed to determine cell toxicity levels of the four black soybean extracts [black soybean water extract (BWE), black soybean ethanol extract (BEE), fermented BWE (F-BEW), and fermented BEE (F-BEE)]. Changes in mRNA expression levels of hair growth promoting factors and hair growth inhibiting factors by the four black soybean extracts were measured by real-time PCR. In addition, phosphorylation levels of mitogen-activated protein kinase family proteins were measured by western blot analysis. As a result, fermentation of black soybeans significantly reduced pH, total polyphenols, and sugar/reducing sugar contents. All four black soybean extracts showed no cellular toxicity in HFDPC. In fact, BEE significantly enhanced cell viability of HFDPC at $100{\mu}g/mL$ compared to control. BWE, BEE, and BWE-F significantly increased mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, and all four extracts increased mRNA expression of fibroblast growth factor. However, mRNA expression levels of apoptosis-related genes were not affected by black soybean extracts in HFDPC. Furthermore, BWE, BEE, and BWE-F significantly increased phosphorylation levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinase compared to control. Taken together, we demonstrated that black soybean extracts enhanced proliferation of human follicle dermal papilla cells partially via activation of hair growth promoting factors, although no particular significant effects on proliferation were observed by fermentation of black soybeans.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.89-95
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• 2015

The addition of growth factors and cytokines to in vitro culture (IVC) media could affect embryo development and the quality of the resulting blastocysts. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of porcine induced pluripotent stem cell (piPSC)-culture conditioned medium (CM) on the in vitro maturation (IVM) and development of parthenogentic embryos (parthenotes) in pigs. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) or activated oocytes were cultured in IVM or IVC medium supplemented with 0 (control), 25, or 50% of stem cell medium (SM) or CM, respectively. The maturation rate of CM-25% group was significantly improved when compared with control group (p<0.05), but that was not different among SM or CM groups. Blastocyst formation rate was significantly higher in CM-25% group (29.2%) than that of control (20.7%), SM-50% (19.6%) and CM-50% (23.66%, p<0.05). Cell number and the apoptotic cell index in blastocysts was significantly lower in SM-25% than in CM-25% group (p<0.05). The embryo quality related genes, OCT4, KLF4, TERT and ZFP42, were significantly increased in CM-25% group compared with control (p<0.05). In conclusion, the addition of 25% of CM to IVM and IVC medium positively influences not only the developmental potential also quality of parthenotes in pig.