• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.185-194
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of short-term foresters on brain waves and pulse waves. For this purpose, 484 foresters who visited the natural recreation forest located in Cheongpyeong city, Gyeonggi province, measured the before and after experiences of EEG and pulse waves, and the following results were obtained. First, foresters have been shown to be effective on concentration, brain activity, and brain stress. Second, foresters had positive effects on cardiac health and autonomic health. In other words, when various substances released from the forest come into the body through the respiratory system, it firstly affects the heart activity positively, and it seems to be able to expect various improvements by acting on the emotional side of the brain. Therefore, based on the scientific basis of the forest experience, it is expected that the experience of forests will be widely used as a guide for healthy life by creating conditions for participation by many people. In addition, the mechanism of respiration, heartbeat, and brain interaction is also possible, and various experimental studies on the forest experience in the future are important.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.41-44
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• 2013

Although tongcao has been reported to have anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects, there is no report of the chemopreventive effect of tongcao in cancer cells. In the present study, we investigated the anti-proliferative activity of methanol extract of tongcao (MET) and its molecular target in HEp-2 human cervical cancer cells using MTS assay, western blot analysis, and DAPI staining. MET significantly decreases cell viability and induces apoptotic cell death. It affects Bid protein to be truncated resulting in the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria to cytosol whereas it did not affect other Bcl-2 family members. Thus, we clearly suggest that tongcao can be a potential naturally occurring plants having chemopreventive activity in cervical cancer.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.141-147
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• 2013

Hypoxia has been shown to promote inflammation, including the release of proinflammatory cytokines, but it is poorly investigated how hypoxia directly affects inflammasome signaling pathways. To explore whether hypoxic stress modulates inflammasome activity, we examined the effect of cobalt chloride ($CoCl_2$)-induced hypoxia on caspase-1 activation in primary mixed glial cultures of the neonatal mouse brain. Unexpectedly, hypoxia induced by oxygen-glucose deprivation or $CoCl_2$ treatment failed to activate caspase-1 in microglial BV-2 cells and primary mixed glial cultures. Of particular interest, $CoCl_2$-induced hypoxic condition considerably inhibited NLRP3-dependent caspase-1 activation in mixed glial cells, but not in bone marrow-derived macrophages. $CoCl_2$-mediated inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activity was also observed in the isolated brain microglial cells, but $CoCl_2$ did not affect poly dA:dT-triggered AIM2 inflammasome activity in mixed glial cells. Our results collectively demonstrate that $CoCl_2$-induced hypoxia may negatively regulate NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in brain glial cells, but its physiological significance remains to be determined.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.508-514
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• 2018

An electroencephalogram (EEG) evaluates the electrical activity generated by brain cell interactions that occur during brain activity, and an EEG can evaluate the brain activity caused by hand movement. In this study, a 16-channel EEG was used to measure the EEG generated before and after hand movement. The measured data can be classified as a supervised learning model, a support vector machine (SVM). To shorten the learning time of the SVM, a feature extraction and vector dimension reduction by filtering is proposed that minimizes motion-related information loss and compresses EEG information. The classification results showed an average of 72.7% accuracy between the sitting position and the hand movement at the electrodes of the frontal lobe.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.706-716
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• 1995

This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of age and dietary linolenic acid content and the linolenic acid/linoleic acid (LAN/LA) ratio on the brain lipid composition and membrane-bound enzyme, acetylcholinesterase(AchE) activities. AchE was selected as a test case for the relationship between cell lipid composition and cell membrane function. The male rats were fed diets with 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 of LNA/LA ratio within 8% LNA(H-LNA) or 4% LNA(L-LAN) of total fatty acid content for different feeding period(1, 4, 12 month). The fats used s source were sesame oil, perilla oil, soybean oil and beef tallow. The AchE activity of brain crude synaptosomal fraction was reduced with advancing age, showing 20-30% reduction in 12M compared with 1 M, and the P/C ratio was reduced in old rats. In 1 and 4 monthed rats, AchE activites was higher in H-LAN-0.2 and L-LNA-0.2 and 0.4 group. In accordance with rising of AchE activities was higher in H-LNA-0.2 and L-LNA-0.2 and 0.4 group. In accordance with rising of AchE activities, the PC/PE ratio increasedin those groups. Paricularly in L-LNA, the PC/PE ratio increased as the AchE activites for decline of membrane fluidity with increasing cholesterol and decreasing P/C ratio when rats were old. Also, AchE activity increaed with increasing PC/PE ratio which depended on the dietary LNA/LA ratio within each LNA content. Therefore, it is concluded that the lipid composition of cell membrane influenced the AchE activiteis, which was mediated by aging and the modification of dietary LNA/LA ratio.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.239-244
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• 2007

Hoxc8 is one of the homeotic developmental control genes regulating the expression of many downstream target genes, through which animal body pattern is established during embryonic development. In previous proteomics analysis, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) which is also known as cyclin, has been implied to be regulated by Hoxc8 in F9 murine embryonic teratocarcinoma cell. When the 5' upstream region of PCNA was analyzed, it turned out to contain 20 Hox core binding sites (ATTA) in about 1.17 kbp (kilo base pairs) region ($-520{\sim}-1690$). In order to test whether this region is responsible for Hoxc8 regulation, the upstream 2.3 kbp fragment of PCNA was amplified through PCR and then cloned into the pGL3 basic vector containing a luciferase gene as a reporter. When the luciferase activity was measured in the presence of effector plasmid (pcDNA : c8) expressing murine Hoxc8, the PCNA promoter driven reporter activity was reduced. To confirm whether this reduction is due to the Hoxc8 protein, the siRNA against Hoxc8 (5'-GUA UCA GAC CUU GGA ACU A-3' and 5'-UAG UUC CAA GGU CUG AUA C-3') was prepared. Interestingly enough, siRNA treatment up regulated the luciferase activity which was down regulated by Hoxc8, indicating that Hoxc8 indeed regulates the expression of PCNA, in particular, down regulation in NIN3T3 cells. These results altogether indicate that Hoxc8 might orchestrate the pattern formation by regulating PCNA which is one of the important proteins involved in several processes such as DNA replication and methylation, chromatin remodeling, cell cycle regulation, differentiation, as well as programmed cell death.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.65-76
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• 2010

1. Objectives The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Soyangin Hyeongbangdojeok-san(HBDJS) on acute cocaine-induced behavior effect and gene expression in the rat brain. 2. Methods Experimental animals were composed of saline(SAL), cocaine(COC), HBDJS + COC, HBDJS + SAL group. Rats received HBDJS(100, 200 mg/kg, p.o.) 1 h prior to cocaine hydrochloride(20 mg/kg, i.p.) treatment respectively. After cocaine injection, locomotor activity and rearing were measured in a rectangular container equipped with a video camera above the center of the floor for 60 min. In addiction, c-Fos expression in the rat brain was detected using immunohistochemistry 2 h after cocaine injection. And the effect of HBDJS on acute cocaine-induced pERK, pElk, pCREB upstream of c-Fos expression was detected using western blotting and immunohistochemistry 15 min after cocaine challenge. 3. Results The present results show that HBDJS at dose of 200 mg/kg attenuated cocaine-induced both locomotor activity and rearing. Also HBDJS at dose of 200 mg/kg significantly decreased c-Fos expression in the rat brain(nucleus accumebns and striatum). However HBDJS at dose of 200 mg/kg have no effect on cocaine-induced pERK, pCREB, pElK-1 expression. HBDJS is c-Fos expression through ERK-independent pathway. 4. Conclusions. These results suggest that HBDJS may be effective in suppressing the reinforcing effects of cocaine.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 1999

Nuclear factor $_{\kappa}B\;(NF-_{\kappa}B)$ activation is modulated by various protein kinases. Activation of $NF-_{\kappa}B$ is known to be important in the regulation of cell viability. The present study investigated the effect of inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinase (PTK), protein kinase C (PKC) and protein kinase A (PKA) on $NF-_{\kappa}B$ activity and the viability of bovine cerebral endothelial cells (BCECs). In serum-deprivation-induced BCEC death, low doses of $TNF{\alpha}$ showed a protective effect. $TNF{\alpha}$ induced $NF-_{\kappa}B$ activation within 4 h in serum-deprivation. PTK inhibitors (herbimycin A and genistein) and PKC inhibitor (calphostin C) prevented $NF-_{\kappa}B$ activation stimulated by $TNF{\alpha}.$ Likewise, these inhibitors prevented the protective effect of $TNF{\alpha}.$ In contrast to $TNF{\alpha}-stimulated\;NF-_{\kappa}B$ activity, basal $NF-_{\kappa}B$ activity of BCECs in media containing serum was suppressed only by calphostin C, but not by herbimycin A. As well BCEC death was also induced only by calphostin C in serum-condition. H 89, a PKA inhibitor, did not affect the basal and $TNF{\alpha}-stimulated\;NF-_{\kappa}B$ activities and the protective effect of $TNF{\alpha}$ on cell death. These data suggest that modulation of $NF-_{\kappa}B$ activation could be a possible mechanism for regulating cell viability by protein kinases in BCECs.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.85-88
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• 2007

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) can degrade a wide range of extracellular matrix components. It has been reported that MMP-9 are activated after focal ischemia in experimental animals. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major constituent of green tea polyphenols, is a potent free radical scavenger and reduces the neuronal damage caused by oxygen free radicals. And it has been known that EGCG could reduce the infarction volume in focal brain ischemia and inhibit MMP-9 activity. To delineate the relationship between the anti-ischemic action and the MMP-9-inhibiting action of EGCG, we investigated the effect of EGCG on brain infarction and the activity of matrix metalloproteinase-9 induced by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) in ICR mice. EGCG (40 mg/kg, i.p. $15{\sim}30min$ prior to MCAO) significantly decreased infarction volume at 24 hr after MCAO. GM 6001 (50 mg/kg, i.p. $15{\sim}30min$ prior to MCAO), a MMP inhibitor, also significantly reduced infarction volume. In zymogram, MMP-9 activities began to increase at ipsilateral cortex at 2 hr after MCAO, and the increments of MMP-9 activities were attenuated by EGCG treatment. Western blot for MMP-9 also showed patterns similar to that of zymogram. These findings demonstrate that the anti-ischemic action of EGCG ire mouse focal cerebral ischemia involves its inhibitory effect on MMP-9.

• BMB Reports
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.555-563
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• 1996

A membrane-bound phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PI 4-kinase) was separated in a sucrose gradient and solubilized with 1% Triton X-100 from mouse brain. The enzyme was purified 2,952-fold by various chromatographic techniques including DEAE-cellulose, PI-Sepharose and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration. The molecular weight of PI 4-kinase was approximately 76 kDa by gel filtration and 70.8 kDa by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified enzyme exhibited specific activity of 11.2 nmol/min/mg protein and pi value of 4.7. Kinetic analysis of the PI 4-kinase indicated apparent $K_m$, values of 190 ${\mu}M$ and 120 ${\mu}M$ for phosphatidylinositol and ATP, respectively. The maximal activity of this purified enzyme was observed at pH 7.4 at an incubation temperature of $37^{\circ}C$. The enzyme activity was significantly activated by $Mg^{2+}$, $Mn^{2+}$ and $Fe^{2+}$, and inhibited severely by $Ca^{2+}$. PI 4-kinase was proved to be pure in its immunoblot test by polyclonal antibody prepared from immunized rabbit sera. By this test, we were able to detect the existence of the same type of PI 4-kinase from other mouse organ tissues, such as liver, heart, kidney and spleen. Furthermore, similar immunoblot analysis with the same antisera recognized the different epitopes of PI 4-kinase proteins from various organs of rabbit, chinese hamster and rat.