• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.367-373
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• 2014

In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity of methyl gallate (MG), which is the major biologically active component of Galla Rhois, in RC-58T/h/SA#4 human prostate cancer cells. MG inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Cell death induced by MG increased the population of cells in sub-G1 phase, formation of apoptotic bodies, nuclear condensation, and DNA fragmentation. Apoptosis induced by MG was associated with activation of initiator caspases-8 and -9 as well as effector caspase-3. Endocrine disruptors such as dioxin and bisphenol A increased growth of RC-58T/h/SA#4 cells in charcoal-treated FBS (cFBS) medium. Cell proliferation was highest upon treatment with 1 nM and $0.1{\mu}M$ dioxin and bisphenol A, respectively. MG also dose-dependently inhibited cell proliferation in RC-58T/h/SA#4 cells treated with endocrine disruptors. These results indicate that MG exerts anticancer effects on RC-58T/h/SA#4 primary human prostate cancer cells.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.1824-1836
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• 2020

Objective: On the hypothesis that grazing of cattle prompts organs to secrete or internalize circulating microRNAs (c-miRNAs) in parallel with changes in energy metabolism, we aimed to clarify biological events in adipose, skeletal muscle, and liver tissues in grazing Japanese Shorthorn (JSH) steers by a transcriptomic approach. Methods: The subcutaneous fat (SCF), biceps femoris muscle (BFM), and liver in JSH steers after three months of grazing or housing were analyzed using microarray and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), followed by gene ontology (GO) and functional annotation analyses. Results: The results of transcriptomics indicated that SCF was highly responsive to grazing compared to BFM and liver tissues. The 'Exosome', 'Carbohydrate metabolism' and 'Lipid metabolism' were extracted as the relevant GO terms in SCF and BFM, and/or liver from the >1.5-fold-altered mRNAs in grazing steers. The qPCR analyses showed a trend of upregulated gene expression related to exosome secretion and internalization (charged multivesicular body protein 4A, vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 4B, vesicle associated membrane protein 7, caveolin 1) in the BFM and SCF, as well as upregulation of lipolysis-associated mRNAs (carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A, hormone-sensitive lipase, perilipin 1, adipose triglyceride lipase, fatty acid binding protein 4) and most of the microRNAs (miRNAs) in SCF. Moreover, gene expression related to fatty acid uptake and inter-organ signaling (solute carrier family 27 member 4 and angiopoietin-like 4) was upregulated in BFM, suggesting activation of SCF-BFM organ crosstalk for energy metabolism. Meanwhile, expression of plasma exosomal miR-16a, miR-19b, miR-21-5p, and miR-142-5p was reduced. According to bioinformatic analyses, the c-miRNA target genes are associated with the terms 'Endosome', 'Caveola', 'Endocytosis', 'Carbohydrate metabolism', and with pathways related to environmental information processing and the endocrine system. Conclusion: Exosome and fatty acid metabolism-related gene expression was altered in SCF of grazing cattle, which could be regulated by miRNA such as miR-142-5p. These changes occurred coordinately in both the SCF and BFM, suggesting involvement of exosome in the SCF-BFM organ crosstalk to modulate energy metabolism.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to estimate genetic and environmental factors, which can affect Idiopathic true Precocious puberty, and to evaluate the clinical and endocrinologic characteristics. Methods: Retrospective and Comparative analysis of 76 children (72 girls and 4 boys) has been diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty, and treated with GnRHa from December 2008 to July 2011. Results: 1. The Average chronological age (CA. yr) of children diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty was $8.40{\pm}0.81$ (girls), $9.93{\pm}0.12$ (boys). 2. The Average height & weight percentile (%ile) of the girls diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty was $67.38{\pm}22.04$, $67.69{\pm}23.20$. 3. The girls' mothers have diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty, and they were shorter than the average. This shows that mother's small height and idiopathic true precocious puberty are closely related to each other. 4. BMI percentile (%ile) of girls diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty was $63.26{\pm}24.86$. 23.6% of children were diagnosed with overweight or obesity. This result shows that obesity and idiopathic true precocious puberty are proportionally related. 5. Birth weights (kg) of the children diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty were $3.16{\pm}0.43$ (girls), $3.15{\pm}0.38$ (boys). 8.3% of children were diagnosed with Intrauterine growth retardation. 6. The Average bone ages (BA. yr) of the children diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty were $10.51{\pm}0.99$ (girls), $12.10{\pm}0.97$ (boys). The Average BA-CA was $2.11{\pm}0.81$ (girls), $2.00{\pm}0.87$ (boys). 7. The Average predicted adults' height (PAH. cm) of the children diagnosed with idiopathic true precocious puberty was $151.61{\pm}4.00$ (girls), $163.50{\pm}2.15$ (boys). The Average MPH-PAH was $6.84{\pm}4.91$ (girls), $6.00{\pm}5.35$ (boys). 8. 23.6% of the children treated with GnRHa were co-treated with Growth Hormone. Conclusions: Estimated factors which cause Idiopathic true precocious puberty are mother's small height, obesity, and Intrauterine growth retardation. However, the studies of Oriental Medicine for Idiopathic true precocious puberty were lacking. Further clinical and experimental researches are needed.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.37-48
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• 2010

The diacylhydrazine insecticides, methoxyfenozide, chromafenozide and tebufenozide are new-generation insecticides. These insecticides induce premature molting and cause the death of insects by mimicking their hormone. Also, these insecticides have already been widely used for vegetables planting in worldwide. Highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the most widely used procedure for determination of each compound residues in crops. However, simultaneous analysis method of these diacylhydrazine insecticides was not reported. The purpose of this study is to develop a simultaneous determination procedure of methoxyfenozide, chromafenozide and tebufenozide residue in crops using HPLC-UVD/MS method. These insecticide residues were extracted with acetone from representative samples of five raw products which comprised hulled rice, soybean, apple, pepper, and Chinese cabbage. The extract was diluted with saline water, and dichloromethane partition was followed to recover these insecticides from the aqueous phase. Florisil column chromatography was additionally employed for final cleanup of the extracts. The analytes were quantitated by HPLCUVD/MS, using a $C_{18}$ column. The crops were fortified with each insecticide at two levels per crop. Mean recoveries ranged from 89.0 to 104.8% in five representative agricultural commodities. The coefficients of variation were less than 3.9%. Quantitative limits of methoxyfenozide, chromafenozide and tebufenozide were 0.04 mg/kg in crop samples. A HPLC-UVD/MS with selected-ion monitoring was also provided to confirm the suspected residues. The proposed simultaneous analysis method was reproducible and sensitive enough to determine the residues of methoxyfenozide, chromafenozide and tebufenozide in agricultural commodities.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.181-186
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• 2005

This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of rooting on tissue cultured M.9 (Malus domestica Bork. cv, tcM.9) after layering in field. We investigated an appearance period of first root in shoot, rooting ratio, contents of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), inorganic matters, sugars, and lignin in rooting areas of stems by layering. First root in shoot of tcM.9 and natural M.9 appeared 25 and 30 days after layering (DAL), respectively. Rooting ratio was much higher in tcM.9 than in natural M.9. The content of IAA was higher in tcM.9 than in natural M.9 before layering, but it was reversed at 20 and 30 DAL. In contrast, the content of ABA was much higher in natural M.9 than in tcM.9 in case of both before and 10 and 20 DAL. The contents of N, B, Mn, and Zn were significantly higher in tcM.9 than in natural M.9 both before and 10 and 20 DAL. The contents of sugars in tcM.9 had the similar pattern of the contents of inorganic materials. There were statistically significant differences in the contents of sucrose and glucose at 30 DAL as well as the content of maltose at 20 and 30 DAL. The content of lignin was significantly higher in tcM.9 than in natural M.9 before layering and 10 and 30 DAL while there was no difference 20 DAL. Therefore, improvement of rooting ability in the tissue cultured root stock M.9 might be due to the changes of inorganic matters or lignin rather than that of sugars and hormones.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.264-270
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• 2017

Brassinosteroid (BR), a plant steroid hormone, plays a critical role in the growth and developmental processes through its canonical signaling and crosstalk with various internal and external signaling pathways. Recent studies have revealed the essential interplay mechanisms between BR and ABA during seed germination and early seedling establishment. However, molecular mechanisms for this important signaling crosstalk are largely unknown. To understand the crosstalk between BR-mediated signaling pathways and ABA functions during early seedling development, we carried out a comparative genome-wide transcriptome analysis with an Agilent Arabidopsis $4{\times}44K$ oligo chip. We selected and compared the expression patterns of ABA response genes in ABA-insensitive bes1-D mutant with wild type seedlings on which ABA was exogenously applied. As a result, we identified 2,353 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ABA-treated bes1-D and wild type seedlings. GO enrichment analysis revealed that ABA signaling, response, and metabolism were critically down-regulated by BR-activated signaling pathways. In addition, the genome-wide transcriptome analysis data revealed that BR-regulated signaling pathways were tightly connected to diverse signal cues including abiotic/biotic stress, auxin, ROS etc. In this study, we newly identified the molecular mechanisms of BR-mediated repression of ABA signaling outputs. Also, our data suggest that interplay among diverse signaling pathways is critical for the adaptive response of the plant to various environmental factors.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.1064-1072
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• 2013

Circadian rhythm is controlled by hormonal oscillations governing the physiology of all living organisms. In mammals, the main function of the pineal gland is to transform the circadian rhythm generated in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus into rhythmic signals of circulating melatonin characterized by a largely nocturnal increase that closely reflects the duration of night time. The pineal gland has lost direct photosensitivity, but responds to light via multi-synaptic pathways that include a subset of retinal ganglion cells. Rhythmic control is achieved through a tight coupling between environmental lighting and arylalkylamine-N-acetyltransferase (AANAT) expression, which is the rhythm-controlling enzyme in melatonin synthesis. Previous studies on the nocturnal expression of AANAT protein have described transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational regulatory mechanisms. Molecular mechanisms for dependent AANAT expression provide novel aspects for melatonin's circadian rhythmicity. Extensive animal research has linked pineal melatonin for the expression of seasonal rhythmicity in many mammalian species to the modulation of circadian rhythms and to sleep regulation. It has value in treating various circadian rhythm disorders, such as jet lag or shift-work sleep disorders. Melatonin, also, in a broad range of effects with a significant regulation influences many of the body's physiological functions. In addition, this hormone is known to influence reproductive, cardiovascular, and immunological regulation as well as psychiatric disorders.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.181-191
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• 2008

Objective: Environmental chemicals alter reproduction, growth, and survival by changing the normal function of the endocrine system. Bisphenol A (BPA), one of the endocrine disruptors, is known to be an estrogen receptor agonist. Therefore, we hypothesized that BPA may affect male reproduction including spermatogenesis in the mouse testis. Methods: We used 7-week-old ICR mice. The first experiment group received BPA in sesame oil (vehicle, 1 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, and 100 mg/kg) by i.p. injection and mice were sacrificed 24 hr later. The second experiment group received BPA (vehicle, 10 ${\mu}g/kg$, 1 mg/kg, and 100 mg/kg) daily for 14 days by subcutaneous injection. Expression of cell type-specific marker genes in the testis was evaluated by RT-PCR. Histological analysis, immunofluorescence staining, and TUNEL staining were also performed. Results: RT-PCR analyses showed that expression of luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR), a marker gene for the Leydig cell, was notably decreased in the testes of high dose-exposed mice. No obvious difference in the histology of testes was noted among treatment groups. Immunostaining of LHR in the first experiment group did not show noticeable difference in LHR protein expression in Leydig cells. Immunohistochemistry also revealed heightened expression of the immunoreactive Bax in the treatment group, and this was accompanied by positive TUNEL staining in the interstitial area within testis where Leydig cells reside. Conclusions: Our result suggests that BPA affects Leydig cell functions by altering gene expression and by increasing apoptosis in the mouse testis.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.346-351
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• 2011

This research was done to identify the mass propagation method in winter daphne (Daphne odora Thunb) using its softwood cuttings and to investigate its plant characters established at different light and soil conditions as an indoor plant. Cuttings from winter daphne were taken and grown in different treatment consisted of rooting media (perlite, vermiculite, perlite + vermiculite (1 : 1) and commercial horticulture media soil), indole butyric acid (IBA) hormone concentrations (0, 100, 500, 1000 ppm and Rootone) and date of cutting. Transplants were grown at different light intensities (100, 1000, 2500 lux and control) and growing media. Results showed that cuttings grown in perlite + vermiculite (1 : 1) gave higher percentage (100%) rooting. Cuttings treated with Rootone and IBA 100 ppm showed good rooting growth and cutting taken in June, 25 gave the highest rooting (96.7%). The best plant growth obtained at 1000 lux (56~60 ${\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$) followed by 2500 lux (125~130 ${\mu}mol{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}s^{-1}$) and scoria mixed with commercial horticulture media soil showed better growth of transplants.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.79-83
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• 2012

It has been known that the proteome profiles in the period of growth and development of rice are changed by the growth conditions including temperature, soil, and fertilization. In this study, the proteome profiles of Odae polished white rice grown in Chulwon and Chilgog were compared on 2-dimensional(D) gels. The differentially expressed proteins were selected from the 112 identified total proteins and classified into functional groups. The most significantly differentially expressed proteins were stress responsive proteins; Ent-kaur-16-ene synthase, which is responsible for synthesizing a plant hormone gibberellin, was expressed in Chulwon rice and heat shock proteins were in Chilgog rice, respectively. Xylanase inhibitor protein, which inhibits the enzyme xylanase produced by pathogenic fungi and Bacilli, was expressed significantly high in Chilgog rice grown at high temperature. Differential expressions of transporter proteins were observed both in Chulwon and Chilgog rice. Regarding the facts that Chilgog rice contained relatively higher amount of proteins than Chulwon rice and Chulwon rice showed large number of proteins were differentially expressed, it can be concluded that different cultivation conditions could change the protein expression profiles in rice in various ways, including elevation of protein amount or differential expressions of specific proteins, etc. The results suggest that the characteristics of the profiles of the proteome in the polished white rice are definitely changed by the environmental factors including high temperature. The results can be utilized for the development of the proper cultivation conditions for the production of high quality rice with good palatability.