• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.321-332
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• 2007

Objectives : Anticancer and immune-modulating effects of several Korean medical prescriptions including Yukgunja-tang, Bohwa-tang, Sogam-Won, and Kamiboa-tang were investigated. Methods : In vitro anti-cancer effects were measured by cytotoxicity MTT assay using SNU-1 gastric cancer cell lines, In vivo anti-cancer effects were measured by increased life span of S-180 sarcoma-injected ICR mouse. Immune-modulating effects were analyzed by measuring hemagglutinin titer, appearance of rosette forming cells, lymphocyte proliferation, and phagocytic index in methotrexate-pretreated mice. Results : In vitro assay showed that only Sogam-won showed cytotoxic effect with $IC_{50}$ of 87.9 ${\mu}g/ml$. All other prescriptions showed no cytotoxic effects against SNU-1 gastric cancer cell line. However, in vivo assay showed that Sogam-won showed lowest anti-cancer effects in contrast to its highest cytotoxic effects, Kamiboa-tang, which showed no cytotoxic effect, showed the highest in vivo anticancer effects, with increased life span of 140%. Kamiboa-tang showed significant immune-enhancing activities by significantly increasing rosette forming cells, lymphocyte proliferation, and phagocytic index in methotrexate-pretreated mice (P<0.05). Conclusion : The anticancer effect of Kamiboa-tang is not mediated by direct inhibition of cancer cells but is mediated by improving immune reactions against cancer cells.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.148-151
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• 2006

We have previously reported that 2.4 kb of L-plastin promoter (LP) could regulate the expression of adenoviral vector (AV) exogenous genes in a tumor cell specific manner. In the present study, we tested if the replication competent AdLPE1A vector results in a direct cytotoxic effect in hepatocelluar carcinoma (HCC) cells. In vitro cytotoxicity tests were carried out with replication-competent (AdLPE1A) and -incompetent (AdLPCD) LP-driven vectors. AdLPE1A is an AV in which LP was inserted 5' to the E1A and E1B genes. The AdLPCD vector contains LP and the E. coli cytosine deaminase (CD) gene in transcription unit. Exposure of cells to AdLPE1A generated a significant cytotoxic effect as compared to the control. Almost 90% of the cell had manifested the characteristic cytopatic effect on day 9 after infection of cells with 10 MOI of AdLPE1A. On the other hand, almost 35% of the cells were left when the cells had been treated with 100 MOI of AdLPCD together with 5-FC on day 9 when compared with the cells which had never been exposed neither 5-FC nor AdLPCD. These results showed that the replication competent AdLPE1A vector could kill the HepG2 cells directly by the oncolytic effect of the virus. The replication competent AV vector carrying viral E1A generated greater cytotoxic effect than the replication incompetent AV, which contains the CD prodrug activation transcription unit without E1A, in HepG2 cells.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.405-409
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• 1991

The polysaccharide was predominantly composed of glucose (79.60%), galactose (9.68%), mannose(8.67%), fructose (1.96%;) and xylose (0.09%). Major amino acid in protein was consisted of cystein, aspartic acid, valine and glutamic acid. The tumor growth inhibition ratio of the polysaccharide against Sarcoma 180 was at highest level of 64.96%, when administerd at the concentration of 50 mg/kg and life prologation ratio showed 28.91% at the concentration of 50 mg/kg. The direct cytotoxic effect of polysaccharide was not observed in the tumor bearing mice with Sarcoma 180 in vitro.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5371-5376
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• 2015

Berberine (B1), isolated from stems of Coscinium fenestratum (Goetgh.) Colebr, was used as a principle structure to synthesize three phenolic derivatives: berberrubine (B2) with a single phenolic group, berberrubine chloride (B3) as a chloride counter ion derivative, and 2,3,9,10-tetra-hydroxyberberine chloride (B4) with four phenolic groups, to investigate their direct and indirect antioxidant activities. For DPPH assay, compounds B4, B3, and B2 showed good direct antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ values=$10.7{\pm}1.76$, $55.2{\pm}2.24$, and $87.4{\pm}6.65{\mu}M$, respectively) whereas the $IC_{50}$ value of berberine was higher than $500{\mu}M$. Moreover, compound B4 exhibited a better DPPH scavenging activity than BHT as a standard antioxidant ($IC_{50}=72.7{\pm}7.22{\mu}M$) due to the ortho position of hydroxyl groups and its capacity to undergo intramolecular hydrogen bonding. For cytotoxicity assay against human fibrosarcoma cells (HT1080) using MTT reagent, the sequence of $IC_{50}$ value at 7-day treatment stated that B1 < B4 < B2 ($0.44{\pm}0.03$, $2.88{\pm}0.23$, and $6.05{\pm}0.64{\mu}M$, respectively). Berberine derivatives, B2 and B4, showed approximately the same level of CAT expression and significant up-regulation of SOD expression in a dose-dependent manner compared to berberine treatment for 7-day exposure using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. Our findings show a better direct-antioxidant activity of the derivatives containing phenolic groups than berberine in a cell-free system. For cell-based system, berberine was able to exert better cytotoxic activity than its derivatives. Berberine derivatives containing a single and four phenolic groups showed improved up-regulation of SOD gene expression. Cytotoxic action might not be the main effect of berberine derivatives. Other pharmacological targets of these derivatives should be further investigated to confirm the medical benefit of phenolic groups introduced into the berberine molecule.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.81-89
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• 1995

The antitumor activities of the cell bound polysaccharide(CBP), water soluble polysaccharide(WSP) and sulfated polysaccharide(SP) of Zoogloea sp. were observe. The results obtained were as follows : 1) The CBP, WSP, and SP showed cytotoxic effect on the Meth A cells in vitro, however, the effect of CBP and WSP was more ten-fold greater than that pf SP. 2) When CBP, WSP, and SP was inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of the Meth A cells transplanted mice, the average survival days tended to prolonged slightly as compared with the control. 3) When Meth A cells were transplanted subcutaneously into the back side of mice, and then CBP, WSP, and Sp was inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of mice, the tumor growth inhibition ratio was 46.9% for WSP, 40.4% for CBP, and 16.2% for SP. 4) The phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages elicited with CBP, WSP, and SP was significantly increased than that of control. 5) The production of nitric oxide in the peritoneal macrophages stimulated with CBP, WSP, SP, and LPS aloneo was not increased than that of control. The production of nitric oxide in the peritoneal macrophages stimulated with IFN-r and CBP, IFN-r and WSP and IFN-r and SP was significantly increased than that of control, but in the case of stimulated with IFN-r and WSP was increased 50% for CBP and SP. These results suggest that the CBP, WSP and SP of Zoogloea sp. showed direct cytotoxic effect and tumor growth inhibition on Meth A cells in vitro and in vivo, and induced nitric oxide production of activated macrophages.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.293-301
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• 2019

Combination chemotherapy is more effective than mono-chemotherapy and is widely used in clinical practice for enhanced cancer treatment. In this study, we investigated the potential synergistic effects of acetaminophen, a common component in many cold medicines, and romidepsin, a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, in the A549 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line. The combination of acetaminophen and romidepsin also exerted significant cytotoxicity and apoptosis induced by activation of caspase-3 on tumor cells in vitro. Moreover, combination therapy significantly induced increased production of chemokines that stimulate migration of activated T-cells into tumor cells. This mechanism can lead to active T-cell mediated anti-tumor immunity in addition to the direct cytotoxic chemotherapeutic effect. Activated T-cells led to enhanced cytotoxicity in drug-treated A549 cells through interaction with tumor cells. These results suggested that the interaction between the two drugs is synergistic and significant. In conclusion, our data showed that the use of romidepsin and low concentrations acetaminophen could induce effective anti-tumor effects via enhanced tumor immune and direct cytotoxic chemotherapeutic responses. The combination of acetaminophen with romidepsin should be considered as a promising strategy for the treatment of lung cancer.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.177-182
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• 2009

Macrophages play an important role in the first line of immunologic effects against tumor cells. The effects of nonsaponin red ginseng (NSRG) components on macrophage functions like tumoricidal activity, phagocytic activity, and NO production in young (8-weeks-old) and aged (82-weeks-old) male C57BL/6 mice were assessed in vitro, respectively. The treatment of tumor cells (melanoma B16 cells) with the supernatants of NSRG-treated macrophages resulted in an increase of cytotoxicity at 300 $\mu$g/ml in the aged mice, whereas the supernatants did not have a cytotoxic effect in the young mice. It was observed that the supernatants induced the increase of tumor cell proliferation at 150 $\mu$g/ml in the young mice, suggesting that the supernatants contain growth factors rather than cytotoxic molecules. In addition, NSRG alone had a direct cytotoxic effect on the B16 tumor cells. NSRG had no effect on the NO production by the macrophages in the young mice, while it significantly increased the level of NO release in the aged mice. There was no difference in the phagocytic activities of the macrophages by NSRG in both groups of mice. These results suggest that NSRG has differential effects on the macrophage functions in young and aged mice.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.409-428
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• 1994

Endodontic surgery is performed when conventional endodontic therapy fails or is contraindicated. In such cases, retrograde filling materials including amalgam, composite resin, and various cements have been used. Biocompatibilty and margin sealing ability of retrograde filling materials are important for the long term success of endodontic surgery. In vitro cell culture is frequently used as the method of measuring the biocompatibilty of dental materials. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of six kinds of retrograde filling materials including newly developed light curing glass ionomer cements. Each material was mixed according to. the manufacture's instruction and evaluated as : freshly mixed, 24-hour after mixing, and 168-hour after mixing respectively. The elution solution was extracted after 24-hour contact with materials using media. Cytotoxicity was evaluated by direct contact, or elution contact. Test results of radiochromium($^{51}Cr$) release, cell viability using tetrazolium dye (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl dimethyltetrazolium bromide(MTT) test and lactate dehydrogenase(LD) of damaged L929 cells were analyzed. In the $^{51}Cr$ release of direct contact, all experimental retrograde filling materials except amalgam and glass ionomer cement showed increased cytotoxicity compared to control. In the $^{51}Cr$ release of elution solution, the released $^{51}Cr$ was so minimal that it was impossible. to evlauate the cytotoxicity exactly. The elution solutions of glass ionomer cement and IRM showed marked cytotoxicity in MTT test. LD enzyme activity was highest in tests of direct contact with composite, light curing composite, and light curing glass ionomer cement and IRM. Amalgam revealed least cytotoxicity while IRM showed cytotoxicity using all three methods. Composite, light curing composite and light curing glass iomomer cement were cytotoxic in the tests of $^{51}Cr$ release and LD activity. Glass ionomer cement showed cytotoxic effect only in the MTT method. From these results it is suggested that the standardization and optimization of cytotoxicity testing, especially using elution solutions, should be strongly advised.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.25-25
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• 1995

The antitumor activities of the cell bound polysaccharide(CBP), water soluble polysaccharide(WSP) and sulfated polysaccharide(SP) of Zoogloea sp. were observe. The results obtained were as follows : 1) The CBP, WSP, and SP showed cytotoxic effect on the Meth A cells in vitro, however, the effect of CBP and WSP was more ten-fold greater than that pf SP. 2) When CBP, WSP, and SP was inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of the Meth A cells transplanted mice, the average survival days tended to prolonged slightly as compared with the control. 3) When Meth A cells were transplanted subcutaneously into the back side of mice, and then CBP, WSP, and Sp was inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of mice, the tumor growth inhibition ratio was 46.9% for WSP, 40.4% for CBP, and 16.2% for SP. 4) The phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages elicited with CBP, WSP, and SP was significantly increased than that of control. 5) The production of nitric oxide in the peritoneal macrophages stimulated with CBP, WSP, SP, and LPS aloneo was not increased than that of control. The production of nitric oxide in the peritoneal macrophages stimulated with IFN-r and CBP, IFN-r and WSP and IFN-r and SP was significantly increased than that of control, but in the case of stimulated with IFN-r and WSP was increased 50% for CBP and SP. These results suggest that the CBP, WSP and SP of Zoogloea sp. showed direct cytotoxic effect and tumor growth inhibition on Meth A cells in vitro and in vivo, and induced nitric oxide production of activated macrophages.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.209-214
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• 2004

Cytotoxic anticancer chemotherapeutic agents generally produce severe side effects, while reducing host resistance to cancer and infections, especially through the destruction of lymphoid and bone marrow cells. In this study, we have investigated the effect of chitosan on cytotoxic activity against cancer cells and life span in mice. The direct cytotoxicity of chitosan or chitosan-combinated chemotherapeutic agents for tumor cells was observed. In addition, the effect of life span extention was counted on sarcoma 180 mice injected with chitosan-combinated mitomycin C. The effect of growth inhibion for cancer cells, K562 and Yac-1 was shown in the cytotoxicity test of chitosan or chitosan-combinated chemotherapeutic agents. Also, the effect of life span extension was observed on sarcoma 180 mice injected with chitosan-combinated mitomycin C. Our results suggest that life span extension in sarcom 180 mice exposed with chitosan-combinated chemotherapeutic agents showed the probability of its usefulness for cancer therapy if more research results were accumulated.