• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.109-120
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• 2011

Objectives: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the efficacy of KHchunggan-tang aqueous extract on the experimental nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) induced by palmitate. Materials and Methods: To generate a cellular model of NAFLD, we used HepG2 cells, a human hepatoma cell line, treated with 0.5 mM palmitate. By this cellular model, effects of KHchunggan-tang aqueous extract were evaluated. Intracellular lipid accumulation, free radical formation, and apoptosis were detected by Nile red staining, 2',7'-dichloroflourescin diacetate(H2DCF-DA), and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole(DAPI)/propidium iodide(PI) staining, respectively. Some proteins related with NAFLD were determined by western blot. Results: Typical pathological features of NAFLD occurred in the cellular model. Palmitate increased the levels of intracellular lipid vacuoles, decreased cell viability, and increased apoptosis. Palmitate increased free radical formation and lipid peroxidation, too. However, KHchunggan-tang aqueous extract reduced palmitate-induced pathologic features, i.e. steatosis, free radical formation, and apoptosis. In addition, KHchunggan-tang aqueous extract suppressed palmitate-activated c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK) signaling, and SP600125, a JNK inhibitor, significantly reversed the palmitate-induced pathologic changes as KHchunggan-tang aqueous extract. It means that the signaling pathway other than JNK can be involved in the KHchunggan-tang mediated cellular protection of palmitate-treated Hep G2 cells. Conclusions: These results suggest that KHchunggan-tang aqueous extract has hepatoprotective effects on NAFLD with combined properties in cellular steatosis, ROS production, and cytoprotection, and thus may have valuable clinical applications for treatment of this chronic liver disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.86-90
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• 2003

Alagille syndrome is a autosomal dominant disorder characterized by intrahepatic bile duct paucity and resultant chronic cholestasis in combination with cardiac(mainly peripheral pulmonary stenosis), skeletal, ocular, and facial abnormalities. In addition to the pulmonary stenosis, in large series, anecdotal reports of vascular lesions have concerned the renal artery, aorta, hepatic artery, carotid artery, celiac artery or subclavian artery. Theses diffuse vascular abnormalities, which appear to be a feature of Alagille syndrome, suggest Notch signaling pathway defects affect angiogenesis. The associations of Alagille syndrome with moyamoya disease, the chronic cerebrovascular occlusive disease, were reported and suggested as additional evidence of vasculopathy of Alagille syndrome. We report another 25 month-old Alagille syndrome girl who presented with acute left hemiparesis and was diagnosed with moyamoya disease through the cerebral angiographic study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5067-5072
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• 2013

Background: The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway plays a significant role in apoptosis, cellular proliferation and motility. The aim of the present study was to analyze mutations and gene expression profiles of the PI3KCA gene to determine any role in breast carcinomas. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 38 breast cancers for mutations in the two PIK3CA hotspots in exons 9 and 20 by direct sequencing of DNA obtained from biopsy samples. We have also analyzed expression of the PI3KCA gene in 38 breast carcinoma tumor and corresponding control tissue samples at the mRNA level by RT-PCR. The Fisher's exact test ($2{\times}2$ only) was performed using MedCalc software for to examine associations with mRNA levels. Results: In the present study a total of 13 cases demonstrated somatic mutations. In 9/13 cases 1633 G>A (E545K) were found in exon 9, whereas in exon 20, 4/13 cases had 3140A>G mutation. Our combined analysis showed PI3KCA mutations present in 34% of human breast cancer patients. In our study, we have also clearly found significantly higher expression in breast cancer tissues in comparison with control tissues (p=0.001). Conclusions: PIK3CA mutation is an emerging tumor marker that, in the future, might be used in the process of choosing a treatment. The detection of PI3KCA mutation might have important clinical implications for diagnosis, progression and therapy.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.524-529
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• 2006

For the repairing of bone defect, autogenous or allogenic bone grafting remains the standard. However, these methods have numerous disadvantages including limited amount, donor site morbidity and spread of diseases. Tissue engineering technique by culturing stem cells may allow for a smart solution for this problem. Adipose tissue contains mesenchymal stem cells that can be differentiate into bone, cartilage, fat or muscle by exposing them to specific growth conditions. In this study, the authors procured the stem cell from buccal fat pad and differentiate them into osteoblast and are to examine the bone induction capacity. Buccal fat-derived cells (BFDC) were obtained from human buccal fat pad and cultured. BFDC were analyzed for presence of stem cell by immunofluorescent staining against CD-34, CD-105 and STRO-1. After BFDC were differentiated in osteogenic medium for three passages, their ability to differentiate into osteogenic pathway were checked by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, Alizarin red staining and RT-PCR for osteocalcin (OC) gene expression. Immunofluorescent and biochemical assays demonstrated that BFDC might be a distinguished stem cells and mineralization was accompanied by increased activity or expression of ALP and OC. And calcium phosphate deposition was also detected in their extracelluar matrix. The current study supports the presence of stem cells within the buccal fat pad and the potential implications for human bone tissue engineering for maxillofacial reconstruction.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2008

Loss of E-cadherin (E-cad) expression has been found in multiple cancers and is postulated to facilitate tumor cell dissociation and metastais. Promotor methylation may provides an alternative pathway for loss of gene function. This study evaluated the role of hypermethylation in the down-regulation of E-cad in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We examined the E-cad expression by immunohistochemical staining and detected methylation status by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) in 20 OSCC tissues. Overally, 12 (60%) cases of hypermethylation of E-cad were detected and we found there were no correlation between methylation and age, histologic grade, lympn node metastasis, tumor size and clinical stage. However, Eleven (73.3%) of 15 samples which was negative for E-cad staining showed hypermethylation of E-cad promotor region. On the other hand, only one (20%) of 5 E-cad positive sample was observed with methylated status. The underexpression of E-cad was found to be related to promotor hypermethylation (p=0.035). In conclusion, we suggest that hypermethylation play a role in inactivation of E-cad gene and may be a appreciable biomarker for diagnosis and treatment of OSCC.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1115-1119
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• 2001

Objective : Management strategies for pediatric chiasmatic-hypothalamic gliomas(CHG) include surgery, irradiation, chemotherapy and a combination of these modalities. This study was performed in order to compare the efficacy of various methods of treatment and to describe its optimal management. Material and Method : We have reviewed the results of management of 6 children with a diagnosis of CHG, who were observed closely during the last 8 years. The patients were aged 7 months to 15 years. Our patients presented with diencephalic syndrome, endocrine dysfunction, and progressive visual loss. None of these had evidence of neurofibromatosis-1. Treatment consisted of surgery alone(2), surgry and irradiation(2), surgery, irradiation and chemotherapy(1), and surgery and chemotherapy(1). Results : Four children had large exophytic suprasellar tumors and two showed diffuse midline lesions. Obstructive hydrocephalus was present in all patients. Pathologic examination revealed anaplastic astrocytoma in 1 and lowgrade astrocytoma in 5. Two patients, recently treated with radiation therapy following radical subtotal resection, showed significant tumor reductions and good clinical status. Four patients had partial tumor resection. Of these patients, two developed disease stabilization during follow-up period of 7 and 8 years, respectively. Life-threatening complications were noted in remaining two patients. Conclusion : CHG may follow an unpredicatable course and show a various reponse to each treatment modality. Further studies are indicated to define the optimal method of treatment of CHG in childhood.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.159-165
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• 2013

Objectives Mechanisms of clinical synergistic effects, induced by co-treatments of lithium and valproate, are unclear. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) has been suggested to play important roles in mechanisms of the action of mood stabilizers. In this study, effects of co-treatments of lithium and valproate on the ERK1/2 signal pathway and its down-stream transcription factors, ELK1 and C-FOS, were investigated in vitro. Methods PC12 cells, human pheochromocytoma cells, were treated with lithium chloride (30 mM), valproate (1 mM) or lithium chloride + valproate. The phosphorylation of ERK1/2 was analyzed with immunoblot analysis. Transcriptional activities of ELK1 and C-FOS were analyzed with reporter gene assay. Results Single treatment of lithium and valproate increased the phosphorylation of ERK and transcriptional activities of ELK1 and C-FOS, respectively. Combined treatments of lithium and valproate induced more robust increase in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and transcriptional activities of ELK1 and C-FOS, compared to those in response to single treatment of lithium or valproate. Conclusions Co-treatments of lithium and valproate induced synergistic increase in the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 and transcriptional activities of its down-stream transcription factors, ELK1 and C-FOS, compared to effects of single treatment. The findings might suggest potentiating effects of lithium and valproate augmentation treatment strategy.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1538-1545
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• 2007

Clavulanic acid (CA) is an inhibitor of ${\beta}$-lactamase that is produced from Streptomyces clavuligerus NRRL3585 and is used in combination with other antibiotics in clinical treatments. In order to increase the production of CA, the replicative and integrative expressions of ccaR (encoding for a specific regulator of the CA biosynthetic operon) and cas2 (encoding for the rate-limiting enzyme in the CA biosynthetic pathway) were applied. Six recombinant plasmids were designed for this study. The pIBRHL1, pIBRHL3, and pIBRHL13 were constructed for overexpression, whereas pNQ3, pNQ2, and pNQ1 were constructed for chromosomal integration with ccaR, cas2, and ccaR-cas2, respectively. All of these plasmids were transformed into S. clavuligerus NRRL3585. CA production in transformants resulted in a significantly enhanced amount greater than that of the wild type, a 2.25-fold increase with pIBRHLl, a 9.28-fold increase with pNQ3, a 5.06-fold increase with pIBRHL3, a 2.93-fold increase with pNQ2 integration, a 5.79-fold increase with pIBRHLl3, and a 23.8-fold increase with pNQ1. The integrative pNQl strain has been successfully applied to enhance production.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.1723-1729
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• 2018

The aim of this work is to investigate the protective efficacy of emodin, an active, naturally-occurring anthraquinone derivative of several traditional Chinese herbs, against Brucella abortus infection in macrophages. Brucella were incubated with different concentrations of emodin and showed that bacterial survival rates were markedly reduced in a dose-dependent manner at increasing incubation time points. Through bacterial infection assay, the highest non-cytotoxic concentration of emodin demonstrated attenuated invasion of Brucella into macrophages, however it did not inhibit the growth of these pathogens within the host cells. On the other hand, emodin effectively decreased the number of bacteria that adhered to host cells, which indicated its potential as an anti-adhesin agent. Furthermore, using immunoblotting and FACS assay for detecting MAPK signaling proteins and F-actin polymerization, respectively, the results showed that the emodin-incubated cells displayed modest reduction in the phosphorylation levels of ERK1/2 and inhibition of F-actin polymerization as compared to control cells. These findings indicate the potential use of emodin as a naturally-occurring alternative method for the prevention of animal brucellosis although this requires confirmation of safe clinical doses.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.7.1-7.5
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• 2018

Background: Mice are widely accepted research models of great clinical significance. Maintenance of laboratory mice breed is an essential aspect for performing research activities in various fields of science. Infanticide is one of the prominent causes of litter loss during maintenance of laboratory mice stock. The present study is an effort to monitor the effect of change in ambient temperature of female mice below the normal range on cannibalism and infanticide during early postparturition phase. Adult female Swiss albino mice have been divided into two groups of control and treatment. On the day of litter group one was maintained under controlled temperature conditions (minimum $20^{\circ}C$ to maximum $23^{\circ}C$) throughout, while female mice belong to group two have been exposed to variation of room temperature (maximum $15^{\circ}C$ to minimum $10^{\circ}C$ for two nights and one day) until 36 h postparturition. Results: The effects of temperature changes were observed on the infanticide behaviour of dams along with the survival of pups in early postparturition phase till 36 h after delivery. The significant statistical difference (P < 0.05) was reported in infanticide behaviour of dams when control and treatment group was compared. It is observed that decrement in surrounding temperature promotes decrement in the ambient body temperature of dams during early postparturition. It is proposed that alteration of hypothalamic homeostasis due to temperature change induces cannibalism and infanticide behaviour. Lack of thermoregulation during early postparturition creates the sense of insecurity, in-satiety, anxiety and stress. Conclusions: Authors strongly recommend the maintenance of body and surrounding temperature to prevent infanticidal behaviour and cannibalism within Swiss albino mice population. Further investigations are advisable to authenticate the active behavioural and biochemical pathway behind the phenomena.